During June 14-17, Erica von Essen and Sanne Van Donink participated in the conference Pathways, a human dimensions of wildlife conference series held annually. This year was in Oxford.

Erica held an interactive session Uncomfortable ecologies, taboos, and controversial pathways to coexistence together with George Holmes, Hanna Pettersson and Bethany Smith, where audiences were encouraged to discuss trade-offs and dilemmas, as well as controversial opinions, related to wildlife management and conservation.

Erica and Sanne also actively participated in Susan Boonman Berson's workshop "Messages in the landscape: Notes on multispecies communication" where participants illustrated the sensory dimensions of interspecies encounters.
.

 We also workshopped ideas at the seminal and well-attended workshop "What it takes for human–wildlife coexistence"

In a session on urban wildlife (the only such session!), Erica introduced the BiodiverCities project to the world of Pathways attendees:

Expected outputs of BiodiverCities (2026-)

By integrating qualitative and quantitative research, and bringing together ecology, conservation biology, urban planning, communication studies, and social sciences, BiodiverCities aims to shift current reactive, siloed practices toward more coordinated and proactive urban wildlife governance.

We produce:

• Geographical, methodological, and thematic analyses of human–wildlife interactions.
• Practical applications of interspecies etiquette through decision-support tools for city planning and neighbourhood-level action.
• Strategies for enhancing wildlife literacy, strengthening stewardship, and navigating contentious interventions such as relocation, rescue, non-intervention, or culling.
• A generalizable trajectory of phases in urban wildlife exposure, including anticipated public responses at each stage.
• Risk-perception portfolios for wildlife in different contexts.
• Communication tools to reduce social polarization around wildlife issues.

Societal Outcomes

• Enhanced training and educational resources for wildlife monitors, city officials, and pest-control practitioners.
• Improved citizen-science and digital engagement pathways, including updates to wildlife-monitoring apps and community-linked nest cams.
• Stronger infrastructure and procedures for public participation.
• More harmonized wildlife management across city departments and districts.

Long-term Impacts

• More reciprocal human–wildlife relations and shared ecological space.
• Proactive, long-range biodiversity management beyond crisis response.
• More transparent, collaborative, and accountable governance across sectors.