Dr Carolyn Petersen

Personal statement:

I am a researcher with over twenty years’ experience of working in environmental social science research, including in academic, governmental agency and voluntary sector contexts, both in the UK and internationally. My primary research interest is in participation and engagement related to the ways people interact with the environment and its governance. I have worked on a number of interdisciplinary projects focusing on environmental governance, policy and practice including on nature recovery, nature-based solutions and adaptation to climate change; land management, farming and biodiversity; sustainable tourism; and environment-health and wellbeing links, using mixed methods (interviews, surveys, focus groups, experiments, etc).

Key topic areas of research or interest:

My key topics of research interest and for generating impact are:
– Nature-based solutions and adaptation to climate change (e.g. heat effects, flooding, etc).
– Governance, policy learning and innovation in nature-based solutions.
– Knowledge co-production and policy learning, including at the science-policy-practice interface.
– Nature recovery and biodiversity renewal.
– Farming and environmental management – including knowledge co-production and adaptation/resilience to climate change effects.
– Sustainable tourism.
– Links between the environment and health and wellbeing.

Publications:

Petersen, C., Læssøe, J., Russel, D., Elze, S., Banzhaf, E. 2025. Interactive walkable floor maps as a science-policy-interface tool for nature-based solutions. Nature-Based Solutions 8(2025) 100262 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nbsj.2025.100262

Petersen, C.J., Kelly, C., Merrell, I., Trapano, L., Wilkinson, T., Dobson, S. and Coles, T. 2025. Local businesses as boundary actors shaping sustainable tourism futures in Biosphere Reserves. Tourism Geographies, 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1080/14616688.2025.2515090

Petersen, C.J., Russel, D.J., Jensen, A., Pedersen, A.B. and Kirsop-Taylor, N., 2025. Evaluation of innovative policy for Nature-based Solutions: Analysis from three European city case studies. Discover Cities 2(28) https://doi.org/10.1007/s44327-025-00083-1

Masquelier, C., Petersen, C.J. and Lobley, M. 2025. When farmers and scientists collaborate, biodiversity and agriculture can thrive – here’s how. The Conversation 1st April 2025. Available on: https://theconversation.com/when-farmers-and-scientists-collaborate-biodiversity-and-agriculture-can-thrive-heres-how-250333

Hardiman, R., Pedersen, A.B., Jensen, A., Dai, K.G. and Petersen, C., 2024. Public Participation and NGO activity in Nature-Based Solutions in Urban areas of China. Nature-Based Solutions 6(100183): 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nbsj.2024.100183

Petersen, C.J., Russel, D.J., Jensen, A., Pedersen, A.B., Banzhaf, E. and Kaltenegger, I., 2024. Walkable maps and policy innovation for nature: a novel methodology for understanding policy learning. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 23: 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1177/16094069241254006
Wilkinson, T., Coles, T. and Petersen, C., (2022). Mindful continuation? Stakeholder preferences for future tourism development during the COVID-19 crisis. Tourism Geographies, pp.1-19. https://doi.org/10.1080/14616688.2022.2158216