Human impacts on the natural environment are an overwhelming debate in the 21st century. Glenn Albrecht, former Professor of Sustainability, suggests this overload of ecology information has invaded our minds emotionally, which we might not even be aware of it. In short, it is an earth-related mental health issue. However, not many of us understand the implications of our emotional reaction to this information.
It is essential to stimulate our sense of personal responsibility, which translates to accountability and action to limit these impacts and lead to a positive outcome. Albrecht thinks it is vital that people connect their emotions with the overwhelming environmental situation. He coined the term "soliphilia" to express the sense of belonging to the environment and to nurture people’s feelings of personal responsibility for nature and sustainable living. Kramarz and Park (2016) claim that to convert accountability is a key environmental process, all levels of society must work together to comprise effective global environmental governance.
The Create Art and Plant Trees project comes with an objective of "soliphilia" to encourage people to ignite their senses from nature and to get involved in community connection. This project was first run in March 2019 and involved individuals and organisations, including Otago Polytechnic Sustainable Practice, Sinclair Wetlands, and supportive friends who contributed their time to this project in various ways.
Art and Water triggers a question to my project. Where does the water come from, and where does it go? Geographically, water follows a channel from the wetlands through Lake Waipori and Lake Waihola and discharges to the Pacific Ocean at Taieri Mouth. The water comes from a number of ranges, including the Lammermoor and Lammerlaw Ranges, Rock and Pillar Range, Taieri Range and Kakanui range. In a picture, it would be a formation of river flows by the community.
Published at Art and Water 19, Dunedin School of Art
https://issuu.com/dunedinschoolofart/docs/art_water_exhibition_catalogue_2019
https://issuu.com/dunedinschoolofart/docs/art_water_exhibition_catalogue_2019
Sinclair Wetland Tree Project 2018
Albrecht, Glenn. “Environment Change, Distress & Human Emotion Solastalgia.” Filmed June 2010 in Sydney. TED Video,16:12. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GUGW8rOpLY.Worthy, Kenneth. “Soliphilia and Other Ways of Loving a Planet.” May 9, 2016.
Kramarz, Teresa., and Susan Park. “Accountability in Global Environmental Governance: A Meaningful Tool for Action?”Global Environmental Politics.” 16 , no.2 (May 2016) p.1-21. https://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/full/10.1162/GLEP_a_00349