People & Partners

Kinga Psiuk

Kinga Psiuk holds a BSc in Psychology (cum laude) with a focus on social psychology and behavioural science from Radboud University in the Netherlands, and a MSc in Social-Ecological Resilience from Stockholm Resilience Centre (SRC) at Stockholm University. Her thesis explored people’s subjective perceptions of the complex human-baboon interactions in Cape Town, South Africa, and the values guiding these.

After graduating Kinga continued working on the Unruly Natures project and was responsible for laying the groundwork for the participatory process, including establishing connections with residents, animal rights groups, and other stakeholders, to develop and implement a communications strategy, as well as designing a survey and collecting data. Kinga is also part of the New Normal project which conducted fieldwork in Wainwright, Alaska, and which explored environmental changes in the region using a participatory, art-based method (photovoice).

In her PhD, Kinga explores the concept of social-ecological identity to understand how the ability to relate to other human and non-human beings can increase understanding, trust, and empathy between divided groups, promote connectedness and respect between humans and baboons, and support sustainable baboon management. To do that she uses a range of participatory methods such as immersive theatre, facilitated negotiations, and multispecies visioning.

• Values
• Subjectivity
• Social-ecological identity
• Wildlife governance
• Conflict transformation
• Relational approaches and participatory methods