Experiencing Nature in Food Forests in Utrecht: Building connection, affect, and emotional attachment with the more than human world

Abstract

Food forests can serve many functions, one of which is addressing nature estrangement in (semi)urban environments. The problem of nature estrangement is not so much caused by technology, urbanization, or even having less contact with nature, but by over-rationalisation, objectivization, suppressed emotions, and anthropocentrism. To reshape our relation to nature we must first change the way we think about and perceive it. Therefore, I sought to answer the following question: in what ways can experiences of nature in food forests in Utrecht provide opportunities for creating connection, affect, and emotional attachment with the more than human world? To answer the research questions, I first conducted a literature review to explore the various theories and debates about the influence of environmental aesthetics on the perception people have of nature and their encounters with the natural environment. Somewhat simultaneously, I started working in a food forest near Utrecht. Through these personal experiences working in the natural environment, I could apply the theoretical concepts I had learned and build a framework from that, and guide my literature review based on my new understandings of the food forest. Lastly, in order to see if I could make the framework useful and applicable to others, and try to gain further insights to deepen the framework further, I conducted three focus groups. In these focus groups I attempted to share my insights in a way that would enable the participants to engage in emotionally meaningful encounters with their environment. Through the focus groups three main criteria or circumstances were identified. To conclude, the imagination framework I used was useful in facilitating emotionally meaningful encounters with the more than human world. In addition to the framework, focusing on fostering ‘openness’ and ‘willingness’ in designing or shaping encounters with nature, proved essential for making these encounters successful in creating connection, affect, and emotional attachment. This dialogical aspect of the encounters, being both open to receiving and communicating on nature’s terms, and the willingness to take an active role in exploring and reaching out to the environment, demands a great deal from the people concerned. Therefore, special attention to how the design of these encounters can invite and aid in creating respectful, autonomous, and safe experiences is required. Only when these criteria were upheld and fostered was there an opportunity for creating connection, affect and emotional attachment with the more than human world around them.

Key words: Human-nature relationships, environmental aesthetics, food forests, imagination