Ecological Art and Nature-based Solutions Come Together in Battle Against Urbanization

The world has become increasingly urbanised in recent decades and cities are still expanding at fast rates all across the world. This urbanization and evolution of cities has numerous major environmental consequences, such as climate change or biodiversity loss due to habitat replacement, degradation, and fragmentation (1,2). These new, often socio-environmental, challenges that urban evolution brings, require novel solutions. One category in which ways to tackle these issues can be categorized, is nature-based solutions: solutions that incorporate sustainable management and use of natural processes (3,4). Nature-based solutions can thus be very valuable in the battle against urbanization and the changes that it brings. A, maybe somewhat unconventional, way of promoting and advancing or even creating nature-based solutions, is through the practice of ecological art. Conventional methods of communicating and promoting solutions to environmental issues, such as through main-stream news media or scientific reports, do not always prove extremely effective. This can partially be due to its impersonal nature and inability for people to connect with the content. Art on the other hand, is a very personal medium and allows people to form a more personal connection (4,5). Therefore, art provides a very impactful possibility to communicate about environmental issues and present novel solutions. This is where ecological art comes into play (4,6). This art form also shows a lot of potential in cities, not only to reach a large audience, but also to promote nature-based solutions that could battle urbanization and its repercussions (4).

What is ecological art?

Now, having established that ecological art is very promising in its ability to promote and advance nature-based solutions, let’s first delve into what ecological art actually comprises. In principle, ecological art encompasses all artworks set in or using the natural environment. However, nowadays this integration of art with nature is not the only defining feature of ecological art. Today, it generally is more social-ecological and activist in nature. It is created by artists concerned with the state of our environment, who inform their audience about nature and its processes or about environmental problems. In this way it can promote awareness, engagement and activism around major environmental issues (3–5,7). Its definition is vague and there are many forms that ecological art can take on. Sometimes for example, it can be a small painting that incorporates naturally growing vegetation to draw attention to nature’s beauty and encourage less removal of plants (Figure 1). Other times, an ecological art project could already be a nature-based solution in itself (Figure 2). Despite its variable definition and appearance forms, there are some concepts and characteristics that are very common in ecological art (3,5,6,8).

Firstly, ecological art is often problem-solving oriented. In such, it can be centred around reclaiming, repairing, and remediating damaged environments. It also often addresses ecological, social, and political issues. Very characteristic is the creation and promotion of all kinds of new possibilities and solutions regarding these issues. An example of these are the nature-based solutions, which ecological art often aims to complement, examine, and advocate for (4–6,8). Secondly, the art is often interdisciplinary and incorporates aspects from fields like ecology, climatology, social science, biotechnology. Thirdly, most significant concepts being covered in ecological art are ecology, ecosystem, biodiversity and sustainability. Fourthly, ecological art is often made as an experience. This allows for interaction or communication with the audience or for the audience to participate. The goal of the experience is to evoke strong emotions and provide a clear call to action and awareness (4,8). Last, but not least, the social and community-based aspect of ecological art is very characteristic. Whether the goal is to communicate issues (or solutions) to a larger community or to involve communities in carrying out an ecological art project, this can really help an audience learn about and make sense of the issue being explored. The experience and community aspects of ecological art really highlight its potential as a powerful communication tool (5,6,8,9).

Figure 1 – Green Smile by Xanoy

Figure 2 – Plantón Móvil by Lucia Monge (2010-present). This performative, public-facing approach addresses the issue of establishing and maintaining public green space. It originally launched in Lima, Peru, but still continuous in various other locations. During a performance local community members come together in a “walking forest”, where they move through the streets carrying plants and subsequently culminate in plantings where partipants directly contribute to building green spaces using the plants carried in the performance.

 

Urban potential

In general, ecological art helps the general public to better understand how the natural environment functions and how we interact with it, either by raising awareness of how it is being damaged or else by drawing attention to and promoting interdisciplinary environmental management solutions (4,8). Even though there are already many examples of this, I believe that ecological art could be increasingly valuable if it were applied more in urban landscapes to promote nature-based solutions. Possibly slightly ironic, but I think cities are especially a great place to address environmental issues caused by urbanization and to inspire action through nature-based solutions that tackle damaging urban evolution. Due to the high population density in urban areas, ecological art can reach and communicate to a very broad audience, who can then share information and inspiration among themselves and to many more people. Thereby a very sizable population can be informed on urban environmental issues and be called into action to apply nature-based solutions. Strengthening this effect, is the fact that the repercussions of urbanization are sometimes directly visible to the people living in cities, thereby increasing the audience’s motivation for action and self-transformation.

With the potential for ecological art to inspire, promote, and advance nature-based solutions in cities and artists’ unique visions on urban environmental issues, it could also be very helpful to include artists in processes of urban planning and decision making (4).

 

References

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2. Ancillotto L, Mosconi F, Labadessa R. A matter of connection: the importance of habitat networks for endangered butterflies in anthropogenic landscapes. Urban Ecosyst [Internet]. 2024; Available from: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-024-01542-0
3. Kagan S. The practice of ecological art. [plastik]. 2014;
4. Kennedy C, Irons E, Watts PL. Ecological art in cities: Exploring the potential for art to promote and advance nature-based solutions. In: Nature-Based Solutions for Cities. 2023.
5. Song YIK. Community participatory ecological art and education. Int J Art Des Educ. 2009;28(1).
6. Wallen R. Ecological art: A call for visionary intervention in a time of crisis. Leonardo. 2012;45(3).
7. Stoltz B. A Nature Thing: What Does Contemporary Ecological Art Produce? Arts. 2023;12(2).
8. Simon S. Systemic educational approaches to environmental issues: The contribution of ecological art. Syst Pract Action Res. 2006;19(2).
9. Drenthen M, Keulartz J. Environmental aesthetics: Crossing divides and breaking ground. Environmental Aesthetics: Crossing Divides and Breaking Ground. 2014.