In this introductory chapter, we propose a re-evaluation of the arts’ role in biological conservation and ecological restoration by introducing the concept of biocultural communication. Traditionally dominated by scientific methodologies, conservation and restoration have often sidelined the epistemic, ethical, and communicative potential inherent in the arts and humanities. In response to this limitation, we develop a transdisciplinary framework that integrates science, art, and cultural diversity to promote more inclusive and context-sensitive conservation and restoration efforts. Biocultural communication enhances and transforms scientific and ecological communication by embracing transdisciplinary, intercultural, and interspecies dialogues. In this way, it fosters pluralistic engagements among both human and other-than-human communities. In contrast to the deficit model of science communication—which assumes public ignorance—the biocultural perspective acknowledges the significance of local knowledge, symbolic connections to the environment, and the agency of other-than-human beings. Through case studies from Latin America, Asia, and Europe, included in Linking Arts with Biocultural Conservation, Restoration, and Communication, we present artistic expressions—from installations and exhibitions to traditional practices and oral narratives—that contribute to processes of biocultural communication as well as of conservation and restoration. These processes stimulate cultural revitalization and environmental education. The arts offer a threefold contribution: (i) they enable us to visualize relationships often overlooked by global society; (ii) they recover collective memories; and (iii) they foster a biocultural ethic of co-inhabitation in biocultural diversity. We assert that systematically incorporating the arts into conservation and restoration not only broadens its scope but also provides conceptual and practical tools to address disciplinary fragmentation and counter biocultural homogenization. This chapter sets forth the central objective of the book: to encourage us to understand and envision models of biocultural conservation and conservation that stimulate the regeneration of complex networks of meanings, affections, and both symbolic and material relationships linking human communities with the diversity of co-inhabitants with whom we share our habitats, territories, and the whole biosphere.

错误:搜索内容不能为空,请输入英文关键词
错误:关键词超出字数限制,请精简
高级检索

Biocultural Communication: Arts and Sciences for Conserving Biological and Cultural Diversity

  • Danqiong Zhu,
  • Ricardo Rozzi

摘要

In this introductory chapter, we propose a re-evaluation of the arts’ role in biological conservation and ecological restoration by introducing the concept of biocultural communication. Traditionally dominated by scientific methodologies, conservation and restoration have often sidelined the epistemic, ethical, and communicative potential inherent in the arts and humanities. In response to this limitation, we develop a transdisciplinary framework that integrates science, art, and cultural diversity to promote more inclusive and context-sensitive conservation and restoration efforts. Biocultural communication enhances and transforms scientific and ecological communication by embracing transdisciplinary, intercultural, and interspecies dialogues. In this way, it fosters pluralistic engagements among both human and other-than-human communities. In contrast to the deficit model of science communication—which assumes public ignorance—the biocultural perspective acknowledges the significance of local knowledge, symbolic connections to the environment, and the agency of other-than-human beings. Through case studies from Latin America, Asia, and Europe, included in Linking Arts with Biocultural Conservation, Restoration, and Communication, we present artistic expressions—from installations and exhibitions to traditional practices and oral narratives—that contribute to processes of biocultural communication as well as of conservation and restoration. These processes stimulate cultural revitalization and environmental education. The arts offer a threefold contribution: (i) they enable us to visualize relationships often overlooked by global society; (ii) they recover collective memories; and (iii) they foster a biocultural ethic of co-inhabitation in biocultural diversity. We assert that systematically incorporating the arts into conservation and restoration not only broadens its scope but also provides conceptual and practical tools to address disciplinary fragmentation and counter biocultural homogenization. This chapter sets forth the central objective of the book: to encourage us to understand and envision models of biocultural conservation and conservation that stimulate the regeneration of complex networks of meanings, affections, and both symbolic and material relationships linking human communities with the diversity of co-inhabitants with whom we share our habitats, territories, and the whole biosphere.