Connection With More-Than-Human: Green Spaces During COVID-19

Keywords: green space, COVID-19, pandemics, multispecies connection, human/nature connectedness, climate crisis
Session Type: Virtual Guided Poster
Day: Thursday
Session Start / End Time: 4/8/2021 04:40 PM (Pacific Time (US & Canada)) - 4/8/2021 05:55 PM (Pacific Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 53

Abstract

To mitigate the climate crisis, we must interrogate people’s connection with ecosystems and the more-than-human dimensions of ecosystems. Understanding the relationships with mammals, plants, or bodies of water can help increase empathy and influence environmental attitudes. Green spaces are optimal study sites for such interrogation, as they host a variety of interactions between the human and more-than-human realms. Do connections to more-than-human nature in green space potentially find new relevance during the COVID-19 pandemic, as we experience increased social isolation? We explore how lifestyle disruptions during the pandemic may facilitate novel connections with the more-than-human. Through a survey (n=1209) and follow-up interviews (n=78) with college-aged students across the United States, we found 99% of the interview participants reported a connection with a more-than-human aspect in their green space. Moreover, the majority of interviewees indicated that their connections to the more-than-human were directly related to the pandemic. Further analysis of lifestyle changes during the pandemic revealed that interviewees who reported a pandemic-related connection were more likely to have reported changes to their well-being or time spent outside. If changes during the pandemic incite novel connections with the more-than-human, inevitable climatic disruptions may do the same. A non-hierarchical perspective further contends that these novel connections reflect the recognition of the interconnections between human and more-than-human needed to help mitigate future climate impacts. Thus, the findings in this study suggest that emerging multispecies connections are necessary to address the climate crisis.