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- Convenor:
-
Vitalija Povilaityte-Petri
(University of Mons)
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- Format:
- Panel
- Sessions:
- Friday 29 October, -
Time zone: Europe/London
Short Abstract:
In this panel we will discuss the relationship between people and the rest of nature. We will invite trans-disciplinary researchers to present and discuss their key findings on human-nature connections in relation to human health and pro-environmental behaviors.
Long Abstract:
Multiple benefits of connectedness with nature, engaging and volunteering in activities of nature sites have been linked previously to physical, social and psychological health and well-being and pro-environmental behaviours. Many studies analyse how nature spaces contribute to human connectedness with nature, place attachment, promotion of physical, mental and social health, protection of natural-cultural heritage, biocultural diversity and local knowledge. They also address how local ethnobotanical skills play in addressing health inequalities, social-economic issues and nature based integration-health solutions for diverse local ethnical communities or refugees.
In this panel we would like to focus on studies that try to understand the drivers to enhance human-nature connections for human health and pro-environmental behaviours. We would also like to learn about case studies which research cultural environments and public policies that promote stronger human-nature connections for health and nature conservation.
Accepted papers:
Session 1 Friday 29 October, 2021, -Alessandro Guglielmo (University of Milan)
Paper short abstract:
In this intervention, I will explore how ethical and aesthetical commitments shape human, non-human bodies, and environments conterminously. Through the case study of an Advaita sanctuary, I will show how religious practices constitute a mutual process of care in a peculiar “cosmoecology”.
Paper long abstract:
This intervention is drawn from my fieldwork experience in a Non-Traditional Modern Advaita sanctuary (located, for anonymity reasons, in an imaginary country called “Euroamerica”), which was carried on to collect ethnographical data for my Master's Dissertation. In this spiritual tradition originated in the Indian sub-continent, physical phenomena are understood to be illusory manifestations of an all-encompassing, unmanifest God. Humans and non-humans are thus conceived as progressing through a spiritual path to recognize their identity with such God, perceived as an embodied sat-cit-ananda (being-consciousness-bliss). I will show how cosmological connections constitute a mutual form of care for humans and non-humans alike. In particular, I will use the examples of the vegetation around the sanctuary, the chickens in its barnyard, and the timid behavior of a dog, highlighting how local ethical and aesthetical relations shaped a peculiar way of caring for the environment – and also feel as the environment was caring for people. Therefore, a mutual care process was established between humans, nonhumans, and their land. The ecological behavior of residents was in fact deeply connected to their cosmological commitment to a particular religious path and negotiated with the socio-political and environmental trajectories gravitating around the sanctuary. If Deborah Bird Rose believes that “people save what they love”, I will show how also the opposite is true: people, and much more than just people, are also saved by what they love – and save. Caring bonds mutually operate on bodies and environments, shaping human, non-human, and environmental health.
Emilia Pramova (CIFOR) Matthew J. Colloff (Australian National University) Améline Vallet (AgroParisTech) Houria Djoudi (CIFOR) Merelyn Valdivia (CIAT-Bioversity) Jacques Tassin (CIRAD) François Bousquet (cirad)
Paper short abstract:
We present a framework for exploring the sensory, affective, and cognitive dimensions of human-nature interactions. We demonstrate its use in a case study in the Peruvian Andes and discuss implications for environmental justice, tourism, and conservation, as well as for connectedness interventions.
Paper long abstract:
How we relate to nature is not an exclusively cognitive or aesthetic affair, consisting only of values, beliefs, and attitudes. Human-nature connections are produced through an interactivity of mind, body and environment, and sensory, affective, and cognitive experiences in nature are fundamental for building connectedness. We posit that exploring the diversity of these interactions and related experiences is central to understanding our relationship to nature. Such interactions have been studied in the Global North but research in non-Western societies remains scarce.
Building on the core ideas of embodied ecosystems, dwelling, and connectedness with nature, we present a simple framework to explore the sensory, affective, and cognitive dimensions of human-nature interactions, as well as the settings and activities that frame them. We demonstrate its use in a case study in the Peruvian Andes, where we applied an inductive, exploratory approach to elicit personal imageries and imaginings related to nature, place, and recreation. The narratives shared were rich with symbolism and personal sensory experiences, emotions, and memories, the majority of which were intimately tied to place. We discuss their significance for environmental justice, tourism, and conservation, and for planning connectedness interventions.
Fahmi Rizki Fahroji (University of Glasgow)
Paper short abstract:
Using heimat as an interpretive approach for explaining the German forest, this paper depicts human personal relations with the forest at regional context to measure that preserving forest means protecting nation, where human-forest attachment is culturally and psychologically rooted.
Paper long abstract:
Positioning the forest as a soul for the Germans, this study explores human personal relations with the forest. Examining within the concept of heimat (homeland), human attachment to the forest is identified on two factors; territoriality and emotional ties (sense of belonging). On territoriality factor, heimat stimulates connections between individuals and daily actions in the practice of forest use in Freiburg. Meanwhile, the emotional factor manifests the meaning of forest, in which the individuals absorb it personally, often due to deep connections, memory reproduction, and love of the forest. In this study, the findings of heimat discourse in the German forest is gathered through ethnographic research methods that conducted at the WaldHaus, Freiburg. Functionally, socio-cultural and ecological aspects have contributed to the formation of human actions and relations for nurturing the forest at WaldHaus. The idea of German forests and their identity characteristics, directly and indirectly expressed by the Freiburg society through environmental perceptions (calm, sense of home, freedom and energy) and daily activities (recreation, relaxation, escaping from the city and participating in one of the programs) at WaldHaus.
Key Words: attachment, Heimat, German forest, German soul, the practice of forest use