Conservation and Development Lab / CRI Seminar
Prof. Mark Buntaine, University of California, Santa Barbara
Seeding Cooperation: Evidence on Group Interventions in Conservation and Climate Resilience
Understanding how external interventions influence group-level cooperation, institutions, and collective capacity is central to addressing today’s conservation and climate challenges. Emerging evidence from forest conservation programs in Mexico and Peru, along with group experiments on pollution reduction in Uganda, demonstrates how external actors can help groups organize, sustain cooperation, and achieve shared environmental and public service goals in lasting ways.
Mark Buntaine investigates how improved governance can support the implementation of environmental policies in low- and middle-income countries. In the past several years, he led experimental projects that tested whether citizen participation in policy implementation improved solid waste services, reduced air and water pollution, and strengthened forest management. He collaborates with and advises governmental and non-governmental partners on the effective implementation of environmental policies, with a focus on designing institutions that ensure governments are accountable to the people they serve.