Centring relationships and kin-building in global conservation partnerships
Main Room
The majority of discourse on global partnerships in conservation has focused on funding. In this session, we explore what ethical, decolonised conservation partnerships really look like beyond funding. Hear honest stories from the front lines about power, grief, joy, and what it takes to build mutually generative and supportive relationships that allow for self-strengthening of locally-led conservation.
In the global conservation discourse, much of the conversation around partnerships between global institutions and local communities has focused on funding. While direct and long-term funding is indispensable to support locally-led conservation, ethical, decolonised and equitable partnerships entail a vital ingredient that often gets left out: relationships. A decolonised and Indigenous approach to conservation calls us to centre ‘relational accountability’ in all aspects. But what does relational accountability mean in the context of conservation partnerships? Who gets to define the terms and the tone of a partnership particularly when one party holds substantially more power over the other? This session is an open and honest conversation between traditionally ‘unequal’ partners’– global funders, local/regional NGOs and local communities –about what it means to be in a relationship that is mutually generative, kin-based, humble, and joyful. We unpack these relationships, which range from friendship, laughter, joy, and happiness, to shared grief, frustration, disappointment, and emotional violence. Through two case studies of global-national-local partnerships, we take a deep dive into why deeply emotive relationships are key to the self-strengthening of local communities and territories.