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Biophilia: an environmental humanities approach for a greener, kinder, wilder UU campus

Humans suffer when estranged from nature, tethered to screens in temperature-controlled, sterile, anthropogenic environments. Nature literacy – the ability to perceive and interpret the behaviour and attributes of the non-human beings that surround is – is low. Plant blindness is widespread. Meanwhile, the natural world is buffeted by multiple, overlapping calamities on a global scale: in the Netherlands, these include plummeting biodiversity, increased risk of both severe droughts and severe flooding associated with the climate crisis, and widespread agricultural pollution, associated with health risks to humans and whole ecosystems.

In Biophilia (1967), Frank O. Wilson urged a collective rediscovery of the joy and solace to be found by humans in interacting with, and nurturing, more than human beings, whether plants or animals. His appeal has lost none of its relevance; indeed, the urgency of the climate crisis and rising rates of digital addiction make it all the more urgent for universities to join civil society partners in exploring new ways to promote positive interactions with our non-human animals and the natural world around us.  

To foster a sense of community and shared purpose, students enrolled in the are invited to join an experimental pilot project exploring biophilia on and beyond campus. We have begun our experiments with a small pilot in the square of the ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ Library (in the city centre). Three environmentally friendly raised beds are the blank canvas for our first experiments! We have a budget to purchase seeds, plants, and other tools and materials, and students who join the project are warmly welcome to take ownership, and make their own informed choices about what to grow and how.

Ideas include setting up an edible garden – inviting interaction with passersby – a pollinator oasis, and an experimental drought and heat-stress resilient plot, in a square that (as of mid 2024) is underplanted and rather uninviting. Students are invited to take a led in designing and implementing these green spaces, keeping in mind goals of urban rewilding, multiplying biodiversity, improving climate resilience, and diversifying food pathways (prioritized according to student interest). The raised beds installed during the pilot phase will invite imaginaries of miniature ecosystems, in which no living creature is unwelcome, and create multifarious opportunities for informal education, engagement, and exchange.

While the guiding principles shaping this project are defined, there is also in built flexibility to accommodate the interests and inclinations of the student body, whose engagement is key. Thus, green spaces may focus on edible plants (voedselbos model), native species (crucial to buttressing invertebrate populations), planting for flood and drought resilience, rewilding & native plants, flood resilience, soil regeneration – and inspiration might come from guerilla gardening (seed bombs), environmental/food justice, permaculture and beyond.

Biophilia Learning Goals:

• Understanding the connection between contact with living things and wellbeing (biophilia)
• cultivating a basic understanding of sustainable gardening principles, seasonality, native plants, and of the role rewilding and afforestation can play in mitigating the climate crisis
• Understanding the role green spaces play in mitigating heat stress and/or pluvial flood risk in Utrecht
• Experience connection, a sense of agency and purpose vis-à-vis the climate crisis through engaging with diverse models of nature stewardship

Beyond these broad learning goals, activities prompted by green spaces are legion and span disciplinary boundaries: researching the history of urban green spaces and kitchen gardens in the Utrecht region, studying the role of green spaces in promoting wellbeing, plant cover and flood prevention. In particular, within the Environmental Humanities minor, the block 3 course Emergency! An environmental history of (un-)natural disasters engages students with the stages of the disaster cycle (from prevention to commemoration), and a demonstration of flood-resilient planting addresses a key learning goal in a hands on way. The green spaces are also conceived as a tool for community engagement, creating opportunity to educate the public about the value of natural spaces in urban areas, but also to forage, and share herbs & berries harvested. 

Funded by a USO grant 2024-2026, the Biophilia project explores new ways to build (human, social, environmental) resilience to the climate crisis.  Students are invited to learn not only about how to grow native plants and attract pollinators, but also about how to harness the power of their creativity and critical thinking skills to communicate the value of boosting biodiversity and fostering climate resilience in urban spaces. We hope that, through their efforts and imagination, the square of the ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ Library will become a welcoming beacon of green solace in the city centre.

As a student-centred project, Biophilia has a student-run instagram account: - check it out!