“Gregory Bateson highlighted the ecological dangers of our linear, purposeful thinking and predicted the solutions in the late 1960s and early 1970s, before the current environmental movement developed. Bateson argued that our conscious purpose is damaging to the wider ecology as it separates us from it – “We are not outside the ecology for which we plan”. He saw remedies in the arts, aesthetics, love and contact with the natural world.”
Our efforts to engage people with nature are often based on knowledge and identification. A national paper last weekend gave a couple of good examples – watching birds had 6 pages on identification, while going to the local woods was about ticking off 10 species, including goshawk and pine martin! This is raising expectations of what might be seen, but also our current research suggests it’s not the way to get people connected to nature.
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Séamus Sweeney 