Think of a natural entity that you love … A tree, a lake, an animal, your pet, a sunset or even a whole forest. And now ask yourself: “What is it that connects me to this natural entity? Its beauty? The memory I have of it? The beliefs that I connect with it since my childhood?” What constitutes our relationship with nature, and why do we value some natural entities more than others, and why do some even disgust us?

These are questions that we explore with the People’s Place in Nature project led by Dr. Anna Deplazes Zemp and Prof. Dr. Norman Backhaus. Within this project we – Zélie Stauffer and Rafael Zinnenlauf –, in our PhDs, are focusing on a group whose environmental relationships are unique: a sample whose dialogue with nature is based mainly on the pleasure of observing birds!

As you may have seen by yourself, it is difficult to discern the core, the underlying dynamics of these very personal, cultural and contextual values, called relational values … everyone perceives their natural environment in a unique way, as part of their own vision, their own history, their own dialogue with nature, but also as part of a society or community.

To unlock birdwatchers’ environmental values, we are using a mixed methods approach combining qualitative and quantitative methods in order to get a broad and deep understanding of birdwatchers’ relationships with nature.

Rafael makes use of so-called “go-along interviews”, a qualitative social science method. As the name suggests, he accompanies birdwatchers into the field and conducts interviews about their birdwatching practices and their unique relationship with nature while engaging in the activity of birdwatching with them.

Zélie is conducting a quantitative survey, with which she is exploring the complexity of environmental values through individual and literary narratives, their richness and reception, to unravel the ingredients for sustainable environmental relationships.

Here is the link to the project and the link to the survey (German or French) if you or your friends wish to participate (it only takes 15 minutes and it’s fun)! The questionnaire is also intended for amateurs, you do not need to be an expert! 😊

Zélie Stauffer, Space, Nature and Society