Relational values of the Murray-Darling Basin: a literature review

Abstract

This report presents a review of literature on ‘relational values’ in the Murray Darling Basin (MDB). Relational values represent the principles, preferences, and virtues associated with individual and collective relationships to nature (Chan et al. 2016). Relational values encompass, rather than separate, value categories that are typically referred to as social or cultural. Importantly, proponents of the concept see relational values as derivative of relationships and responsibilities that shape how people engage with, and care about, nature. Profiling relational values enables the conversation about why people care about the MDB to move beyond the binary economic versus environmental values discourse, that dominates debates about water policy and marginalises some of the ways that people value the Basin. Show more