Humans with Nature Areas: Creative Workshop on Prototypes for a Life In Harmony With Nature
A special art-focused workshop “Humans with Nature Areas” was hosted by the Platform for Sustainable Development (SDGs) as a component of the Austrian Biodiversity Days event held between the 26th and 28th of February at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) in Vienna. This creative workshop explored the concept of establishing community-based spaces dedicated to nature-oriented living and sustainable land-use practices.
Leading the workshop were Dr. Elfriede Neuhold, Dr. Andrea Höltl, and MMag.a Katharina Ranjan from the University for Continuing Education Krems, alongside Sophia-Marie Horvath from BOKU. The workshop was one of several during the event, which also highlighted the presentation of the new IPBES NEXUS Report 2024, “Assessment of the Interlinkages between Biodiversity, Water, Food, and Health.”
Following the conceptual introduction by Elfriede Neuhold and the keynote presentations “Future Literacy” by Andrea Höltl and “The Potential of Art in Transdisciplinary Research” by Dipl.-Ing.in Sophia-Marie Horvath, participants were formed into four groups, three literature focussed and one dedicated to improvisational theatre.
The literature groups each explored one of five thematic aspects of the Humans-with-Nature Areas concept: (1) ecologically extensive agriculture and forestry, (2) nature-compatible infrastructure, (3) sustainable goods, (4) social forms of communal living, and (5) alternative legal frameworks. They produced visionary texts in both poetry and prose. The outcomes and highlights of the participants’ work were presented at the conclusion of the session.
In the improvisational theatre group, participants first approached a jointly selected aspect associatively and then used improvisational theatre methods to perform it. The process both evoked memories—such as childhood experiences in nature or with grandparents—and encouraged participants to physically express their visions of nature-compatible futures. This approach enabled the conceptual idea to become vivid and tangible for the participants. The experience of quickly achieving an inclusive sense of community was received very positively.
“Humans with Nature Areas” has also been integrated as a future module within the Future Dialogue of the UniNEtZ II Project, alongside other modules such as “Rescue Islands for Nature” and “Anchoring the Intrinsic Value of Nature in the Constitution”. The concept is intended to be further developed and a comprehensive report detailing the workshop’s content and outcomes will be published in the proceedings of the Biodiversity Days.
Foto: Katharina Ranjan