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Donna Choih is a 2026 graduate of the M.S. in Environmental Studies, Advocacy for Social Justice and Sustainability concentration at Antioch University, New England.

Thesis Committee:

Abigail Abrash Walton, PhD, Chairperson

Kelley Langhans, PhD

Semra Aytur, PhD

Keywords

process-based equity, climate justice, NbS governance, NbS behavior, social cohesion, democracy

Document Type

Thesis

Publication Date

2026

Abstract

Nature-based Solutions (NbS) governance and behavior have the potential to become more equitable, beginning with a closer examination of what equity entails. Governance and behavior together are the actions manifest from internal dispositions and thoughts that facilitate the process of decision-making, in this case, for equitable NbS. This critical review seeks to (1) address the gap in literature on human development and behavioral dimensions of procedural justice for NbS by further defining process-based equity (PbE), and (2) present a framework of best practices for equitable NbS. This framework, along with a complementary conceptual model, was developed using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines and qualitative thematic analysis. Eight studies were drawn from for the resulting framework, characterized by four themes and their defining features: (1) PbE as the centering of historically marginalized peoples in decision-making, mutual empowerment, and social learning, (2) co-governance as multi-scalar and cross-sectoral collaboration, reflexivity, decentralization, and support through economic resources, (3) social cohesion as including local knowledges and values, a shared sense of place, and strong social networks, and (4) social-ecology as encompassing the conservation of biodiversity, ecological knowledge, and understanding of humans and their environments as complex adaptive systems. Framework features were found to share the dimension of trust, necessary in order to achieve the outcome of co-governed, socially cohesive democracies for resilience by means of PbE in the design and implementation of NbS. Limitations involve search terms used, risk of bias, and inconsistency in scale of framework aspects. Future research areas include the incorporation of traditional ecological knowledge into NbS governance, i.e., Indigenous worldviews or cosmology, and state and tribal behavioral mechanisms for equitable NbS co-design. This thesis is available in open access at AURA (https://aura.antioch.edu).

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ORCiD: 0009-0004-4714-034X

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