Creative Methods for Biodiversity Governance: A Critical and Inclusive Approach to Participatory Learning

This chapter examines the design and development of an open-access online training course that aims to support inclusive and critically engaged biodiversity decision-making, by enabling the uptake of creative and participatory intervention methods. Designed as part of the PLANET4B project (understanding Plural values, intersectionality, Leverage points, Attitudes, Norms, behaviour and social lEarning in Transformation for Biodiversity decision making), the course draws directly on grounded insights and practical experiences from 11 place-based and sectoral case studies. The chapter argues that biodiversity loss is not only a techno-scientific empirical issue, but a deeply relational and structural challenge, requiring disruption of both exclusionary norms and hierarchical knowledge systems. An adapted version of Donella Meadows’ leverage points offers a framework to trace dynamics of change while accounting for intersectionality and situated power relations. Building on this framework, the chapter offers a critical appraisal of creative, discursive and experiential methods, emphasising the importance of designing and implementing approaches so that they address structural inequality, support reflexive practice, and foster place-based engagement. These conceptual ideas are translated into practice through a bespoke course design targeting four sets of key enabling players: policy makers, business, academic researchers and civil society. The design is informed by a clear rationale, a set of method selection criteria, and a framework for sharing and adapting the selected methods. By way of illustration, the discussion focuses on three methods featured in the online course: the Who Am I? game, participatory theatre, and debriefing. The chapter contributes to broader debates around the democratisation of knowledge, the politics of participation, and the role of learning in advancing ecological justice. It aligns closely with the ethos of No Limits to Hope, offering grounded tools and perspectives for understanding and enabling transformations in biodiversity governance.