Addressing the challenge of biodiversity loss requires Social-Ecological Systems (SES) to develop new pathways that reconfigure human-environment relationships. In this context, reconfiguring human-large carnivore coexistence represents a pressing concern for global biodiversity conservation. CoexHuB focuses on brown bears (Ursus arctos), a symbolic and iconic species presenting unique challenges for coexistence management in human-modified European landscapes.
By working with local partners to understand the ecological, social, and institutional factors that enable or hinder coexistence and to co-develop innovative solutions for coexistence, the project aims to ensure long-term conditions for human-bear coexistence. The project establishes ‘hubs’ of human-bear coexistence (CoexHuB) through interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary collaboration networks across three regions and a gradient of coexistence contexts: the Central Apennines, where bears are highly inbred, stationary and critically endangered; the Cantabrian mountains, where bears are endangered but slowly increasing; and Slovenia, where a high-density bear population is actively managed and of least conservation concern.
By adopting a social-ecological-institutional approach to policy design, CoexHuB aims to identify which coexistence actions and institutions are most likely to succeed under different context-specific conditions. This novel approach will provide an in-depth understanding of common barriers and opportunities for coexistence.
