The Vision
Connecting with nature
In the future, humans have brought themselves back from the brink of a climate disaster. How did they do it?
The simple answer is: they started to care. Humans realized that they are not separate from nature, but instead an integral part of the earth’s ecosyste–and one capable of creating major imbalance. They had forgotten what soil felt like beneath their feet; how to listen to the world around them; how to accept guidance from the wisdom of time that all natural things carry. But when they started to slow down, listen actively, look a little closer, the connection between themselves and the natural world not only became apparent again, but became a widely accepted norm. Humans tend to their relationship with nature as they tend to any human relationship–by spending quality time with it, providing acts of service, speaking and listening, physically tending to the land, and giving the gift of stewardship.
The Project
Cards: Artifacts for learning
The activities on these cards are some of the practices humans have adopted. They have been perspective-shifting, educating, and love-inducing. They have mobilized people to be the change we needed to save our beloved planet and all it has to offer us.
Connections cards are a set of 15 prompts intended to help humans foster a new connection, or nurture an existing connection, to the natural world. They can be used by humans of all ages.
The Practice
Guiding connection
The artist, Elexis Padrón, joined by photographer Lisa Anderson, explore some activities in Connection Cards.
The Consideration
How biomimicry was considered
- Animal-led Seed Dispersal: The cards will be printed on recycled seed paper (or a compostable alternative) using soy-based inks. Once someone has committed these practices to memory, the physical cards can be returned to the Earth by planting the seeds in the ground.
- The Art of Nature: One card in the set challenges the participant to find the Golden Ratio in nature.
The Plan of Action
How we can achieve this vision of the future
- The Covid-19 pandemic has showed us that a different work culture is possible. We can move away from commuter culture, as many jobs have been forced to realize the full potential of remote work. We can even move away from the forty hour work week. This will allow people to have more time for each other and for themselves. It would also help us to spend more of their leisure time outside since we would no longer be worked to the point of exhaustion every day.
- As more people begin to make time to reconnect with nature, they also begin to understand how deeply humans and nature affect and even depend on each other.
- We can uplift the practices of community care, mutual aid, and community-run gardens -even in the middle of a city- where people can spend time tending the land and growing their own food. Food deserts can become a thing of the past.
- These new practices can help us create positive experiences in nature, and inspire all of us to work together to protect it.
- We can also adopt these practices in schools as well. Gardens and other forms of outdoor classrooms can be created in elementary and middle schools across the globe. Green schoolyards are already happening in many cities.
- Once we start to learn how our everyday actions affect the planet, we can make changes to protect and preserve the natural world we love.
About The Artist
Elexis Padrón
Artist, educator, naturalist, and deeply curious human. Avid hiker and camper in a constant state of wonder with all things wild. She loves to read and nerd out about worm bins and other ways to reduce one’s carbon footprint.
