ABSTRACT
The climate emergency is a global crisis rooted in the consumption and mismanagement of Earth’s finite resources. Even though climate science has produced irrefutable evidence of humanity’s detrimental impact, we retain the cognitive capacity to disassociate ourselves from responsibility. The proliferation of global commodity networks and mechanisation has abstracted human perception from the realities of interconnected ecological systems, making it increasingly difficult to create meaningful, embodied narratives about the environment. At our most technologically advanced state, humanity often lacks the self-awareness to recognise the immediacy and urgency of the behavioural changes required in daily life.
This chapter argues that arts-based and ecosomatic practices offer a pathway to cultivate embodied ecological awareness, bridging the gap between knowledge and lived experience while inviting reflection on potential futures. By engaging with movement, interoception, and site-specific sensory perception, artistic practice can foster empathy for the living systems we inhabit, revealing the complex networks of fragile habitats that sustain life. Drawing upon my experience as an arts-based facilitator and illustrator, the chapter details an adaptable approach to environmental thinking, communicating critical ideas through discourse, creative exercises, and illustrative provocations. The focus is on how embodied and somatic engagement can shift habitual patterns of perception, fostering ethical and affective responses to environmental degradation. In doing so, these practices open imaginative spaces for rethinking human and more-than-human relationships and for envisioning ecological futures.
