Mombera Rising: operationalizing the Nature Futures Framework in Malawi

The AFRICAN FUTURES project worked with local communities across Africa, using the Nature Futures Framework to assert new narratives about what is possible for the continent. The project’s first case study collaborated with the M’mbelwa Ngoni traditional community (also called Mombera Kingdom) in northern Malawi. In the context of economic insecurity and rapidly changing land-use/land cover, the project convened traditional leaders and community members to envision desirable futures for nature and people, fostering a plurality of perspectives by using the Nature Futures Framework. Outputs included:
– participatory visions of sustainability transformation
– 3 visual artworks capturing the themes and hopes embedded in the visions
– a Causal Loop Diagram focusing on factors that impact the health of the area’s miombo woodland, an ecologically and culturally vital ecosystem
– 3 expert-led scenarios exploring different meanings of “woodland” revealed by the NFF’s value perspectives
– 3 science-fiction stories that coherently (and compellingly) articulate the visions’ ideas and navigate potential points of incompatibility and conflict.

For the local community, the process helped reveal the scope of what’s possible and articulate what the community wants for their future. The science-fiction stories compelled audiences both in Malawi and abroad, with positive coverage in national newspapers, selection for best-of-year lists, and award nominations. For the project, the learnings from this process informed the team’s approach to the following cases. We also hope that this case’s products will inform the bottom-up scenario planning process by which the Intergovernmental Platform for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services aims to create scenarios at regional and global scales.