Nature

Relationships between nature and society are diverse and often controversial. While many people ‘love’ nature, enjoy being in nature and strive to protect it, at the same time our environment is often treated as a mere resource to be used for economic development. Different attitudes, experiences, emotions and meanings of nature and animals can be a source of both human and interspecies conflict, but also provide inspiration for new forms of living together.

Researchers concerned with this theme aim to raise public awareness to our diverse and shifting relationships with nature, wildlife and animals. Shedding light on thought-provoking and sometimes unsettling ways of how humans and animals relate to each other and the various spaces we share, we propose novel ways to imagine and design for cohabitation with nature.