Climate change, pollution, habitat loss and agricultural and horticultural intensification, among others, are putting ecosystems under pressure and threatening biodiversity. Modern technologies have led to a huge increase in our productive capabilities, but are also increasingly giving rise to fundamental questions about the relationship between humans and nature. How can and should humans and nature relate to each other? This question manifests itself in many places, at multiple scales and in different forms.
Connecting character
A better understanding of ecological, economic, social, political and cultural factors is key to determining the optimal relationship between people and nature and developing strategies for doing so. This includes looking at the effects of human actions on nature. Part of this is the question of irreversibility of processes. Knowledge about species, systems and processes in relation to environmental properties is relevant here. A second aspect concerns the functions of nature for humans. Traditionally, this mainly concerns the food supply, but in addition, the question of nature's function for physical and mental health is becoming increasingly relevant. Furthermore, nature is also a source of both aesthetics and innovation. Think of biomimicry, where nature serves as a model for artificially created systems. In addition, the appreciation of the state of nature is the subject of study. How should we value man's dealings with both nature in general and animals in particular? Is biodiversity loss a problem in itself? Do humans have responsibilities in this beyond purely functional arguments? On what can these be based? Finally, we need to develop both fundamental and practical courses of action for dealing between humans and nature. Simulation models and scenario studies at different time and space scales can help explore options and inform choices. For this, questions on the factors that determine environmentally friendly or unfriendly behaviour as well as questions on influencing behaviour and alternative systems of production and consumption are also very important.
