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International audience; To contain the spread of the COVID-19 outbreak, the French government ordered a national lockdown from March 17th to May 10th 2020. At the beginning of the spring, French people thus experienced a strict limitation of their movement in public places, with very limited access to nature. Between April 22nd and May, 11rst, we realized an online survey to question the effects of this unprecedented situation on both the people’s relationship with the nearby nature and their representations of environmental issues. Indeed, crisis and environmental sociologies question how environmental issues are requalified by individuals (Chateauraynaud, 2017) in relation with unevenly distributed resources and experiences. The inquiry focused on the sociodemographic characteristics of participants; their lockdown experience ; their environmental behaviours and daily relationship with nature before and during lockdown; and “opinion about how this crisis could transform how environment issues would be collectively engaged in the short and long terms. This study gathered in three weeks 1,200 responses, nationally, with various sociodemographic characteristics. This contribution will explore how, in times of a global pandemic, people build different and competing framings (Gusfield, 1981) of the environmental issues, with various understandings of the causal relationships between the environmental crisis and the COVID-19 outbreak. It will then examine how this is related to individual socioeconomic characteristics and material conditions of lockdown experience. Also, it will question the capacity of questionnaire-based surveys to capture how the cognitive categories used to frame environmental issues are transformed in times of crisis.

The main aim of this paper is to illustrate human–nature relations from a comparative study of the contexts of later Merleau-Ponty and the Zhuangzi. I argue that the Zhuangzi has its own phenomenology of the natural world, which is worth comparing to Merleau-Pontian later phenomenology. To compare the arguments on human–nature relations in the contexts of later Merleau-Ponty and the Zhuangzi in detail, first, I briefly compare the cultural philosophies of nature in ancient Greece and China and their possible influences on our contemporary understanding of nature. Second, I compare the concept of “flesh” of Merleau-Ponty with the concept of “vital energy” in the Zhuangzi and point out the main roles of these concepts in their respective theories of the natural world. Third, I use the “reversibility thesis” created by Merleau-Ponty to analyze the ontological significance of illness in the arguments of Merleau-Ponty and the Zhuangzi. Fourth, inspired by Merleau-Pontian and Zhuangzian ideas about language and expression, I expound on a view of illness as a primordial language of nature and its possible role in mediating human–nature relations. Ultimately, I conclude that the comparative study of thoughts on human–nature relations in the literatures of later Merleau-Ponty and the Zhuangzi can help us reconsider and readjust our main attitudes toward nature, illness and nonhuman beings in the contemporary postpandemic era.

International audience; The degradation and preservation of natural resources are often sources of tensions and conflicts between stakeholders in territories. The ecosystem service (ES) framework has been widely used to analyse these processes and design more effective governance arrangements. In this contribution, we develop the non-conventional idea that integrating the contested concept of ecosystem disservice (EDS), which refers to the nuisances associated with ecosystems, improves the understanding of these processes, and may eventually help towards more environmental justice. We focus on three case studies where environmental issues provide both ES and EDS: wild boar in the Mont Lozère (France), farm trees in the coteaux de Gascogne (France), and elephant in Hwange (Zimbabwe). In total, 119 semi-structured interviews or anonymous essays were conducted and analysed through two axes: i) people’s representations and practices around E(D)S, and ii) E(D)S governance. Our results show that the concept of EDS, associated with ES, helps reveal the complexity and ambivalence of stakeholders’ representations. It also allows to assess the role of practices in reinforcing or mitigating ecological nuisances that are not necessarily linked with ecological dynamics. This concept also enriches the understanding of stakeholders’ positions and governance issues, for example in revealing contradictions and side effects of certain environmental policies. Despite the existent controversies around it, the concept of EDS seems promising for rethinking environmental governance in territories.; Les processus de dégradation et de préservation des ressources naturelles s’accompagnent souvent de tensions et conflits entre les acteurs des territoires. Le cadre des services écosystémiques (SE) est désormais communément utilisé pour analyser ces processus et penser les termes d’une meilleure gouvernance. Nous développons ici l’idée impertinente selon laquelle l’intégration du concept très contesté de disservice écosystémique (DSE), qui qualifie les nuisances associées aux écosystèmes, améliore la compréhension de ces dynamiques et porte les germes d’une meilleure justice environnementale. Nous mobilisons trois cas d’étude dans lesquels les enjeux environnementaux sont sources de SE et DSE: le sanglier dans le Mont Lozère (France), les arbres champêtres dans les coteaux de Gascogne (France) et l’éléphant à Hwange (Zimbabwe). Au total, 119 entretiens semi-directifs ou essais anonymes ont été collectés et analysés selon deux axes autour des SE et DSE: i) les représentations et pratiques, ii) la gouvernance. Nos résultats montrent que le concept de DSE, associé à celui de SE, est utile pour révéler la complexité, voire l’ambivalence, des représentations des acteurs. Il permet en outre d’évaluer le rôle des pratiques dans le renforcement ou l’atténuation de nuisances écologiques qui ne sont pas toujours reliées à des dynamiques écologiques. Ce concept enrichit aussi la compréhension des positionnements des acteurs et des enjeux de gouvernance, permettant par exemple de révéler les contradictions et effets pervers de certaines politiques environnementales. Malgré les controverses dont il a fait l’objet, le concept de DSE semble donc prometteur pour repenser la gouvernance environnementale dans les territoires.

Calls for a reconnection to nature and the biosphere have been growing louder over the last decades. Cultural landscapes are rapidly changing, posing a threat to ecosystems and biodiversity, but also to human–nature connections. Human–nature connectedness may be a potential lever to shift the unsustainable trajectory that we are currently proceeding, but is also negatively influenced by it. To concretize the call for a reconnection to nature, we used the leverage points perspective on five empirical case studies with focus on human–nature connectedness. Based on the synthesis of our yearlong work, in this perspective paper, we propose four leverage points to foster a sustainability transformation: (1) maintain and enhance the structural diversity of landscapes, (2) maintain and enhance economically and ecologically sustainable small-scale agriculture, (3) strengthen sense of place and (4) strengthen sense of agency in actors. Intervening in these leverage points could be effective to foster human–nature connectedness and ultimately contribute towards a sustainable trajectory. We further argue that the interconnection between leverage points is equally important as their systemic depth. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13280-021-01504-2.

This paper proposes a new exploration of the Nature/Culture antagonism by focusing on the problems of marine mammal hunting, and more specifically, seal hunting. Ethnographic surveys carried out in different areas of the European cultural area allow for a renewed approach to this subject, which has been dealt with many times in the context of seal hunting. Based on a medium-immersion study of certain coastal communities, this work proposes a re-evaluation of the controversy in the face of the progress made in concepts and political instruments, particularly supranational ones, and the changing role of actors, between humans and non-humans., Cet article se propose de réaliser une nouvelle exploration de l’antagonisme Nature/Culture en s’intéressant à la problématique de la chasse aux mammifères marins, et plus particulièrement, la chasse aux phoques. Des enquêtes ethnographiques menées sur différents terrains de l’aire culturelle européenne permettent un renouvellement de l’approche sur ce sujet maintes fois traité de la chasse aux phoques par différentes publications. S’appuyant ainsi sur un terrain de moyenne immersion auprès de certaines communautés côtières de trois pays, ce travail propose une réévaluation de la controverse autour de la chasse au phoque, face à l’avancée des concepts, mais aussi des instruments politiques, notamment supranationaux, et de l’évolution de rôle des acteurs, entre humains et non-humains.

This paper proposes a new exploration of the Nature/Culture antagonism by focusing on the problems of marine mammal hunting, and more specifically, seal hunting. Ethnographic surveys carried out in different areas of the European cultural area allow for a renewed approach to this subject, which has been dealt with many times in the context of seal hunting. Based on a medium-immersion study of certain coastal communities, this work proposes a re-evaluation of the controversy in the face of the progress made in concepts and political instruments, particularly supranational ones, and the changing role of actors, between humans and non-humans., Cet article se propose de réaliser une nouvelle exploration de l’antagonisme Nature/Culture en s’intéressant à la problématique de la chasse aux mammifères marins, et plus particulièrement, la chasse aux phoques. Des enquêtes ethnographiques menées sur différents terrains de l’aire culturelle européenne permettent un renouvellement de l’approche sur ce sujet maintes fois traité de la chasse aux phoques par différentes publications. S’appuyant ainsi sur un terrain de moyenne immersion auprès de certaines communautés côtières de trois pays, ce travail propose une réévaluation de la controverse autour de la chasse au phoque, face à l’avancée des concepts, mais aussi des instruments politiques, notamment supranationaux, et de l’évolution de rôle des acteurs, entre humains et non-humains.

International audience; Cet article expose et analyse les usages de la forêt chez les peuples fenniques et sames. Les peuples fenniques et sames forment le groupe occidental des peuples finno-ougriens ; plusieurs d’entre eux sont des peuples minoritaires. Ils vivent en Scandinavie, Estonie, Lettonie, et Russie. Proches de la nature, et habitants généralement en zone rurale (habitat isolé ou en villages forestiers), les représentations et symboliques de ces peuples sont sous-tendues par une cosmogonie et une cosmologie particulières, empreintes de rapports Homme-Nature fortement ancrés. La forêt boréale constitue l’environnement au sein duquel les sociétés fenniques se sont installées, formant un socio-écosystème unique. Cet article détaille les usages traditionnels de la forêt chez ces communautés, et interroge leurs perpétuations et leurs soutenabilités. Parallèlement, sont évoquées les mutations affectant ces usages.

International audience; This paper proposes a new exploration of the Nature/Culture antagonism by focusing on the problems of marine mammal hunting, and more specifically, seal hunting. Ethnographic surveys carried out in different areas of the European cultural area allow for a renewed approach to this subject, which has been dealt with many times in the context of seal hunting. Based on a medium-immersion study of certain coastal communities, this work proposes a re-evaluation of the controversy in the face of the progress made in concepts and political instruments, particularly supranational ones, and the changing role of actors, between humans and non-humans.; Cet article se propose de réaliser une nouvelle exploration de l’antagonisme Nature/Culture en s’intéressant à la problématique de la chasse aux mammifères marins, et plus particulièrement, la chasse aux phoques. Des enquêtes ethnographiques menées sur différents terrains de l’aire culturelle européenne permettent un renouvellement de l’approche sur ce sujet maintes fois traité de la chasse aux phoques par différentes publications. S’appuyant ainsi sur un terrain de moyenne immersion auprès de certaines communautés côtières de trois pays, ce travail propose une réévaluation de la controverse autour de la chasse au phoque, face à l’avancée des concepts, mais aussi des instruments politiques, notamment supranationaux, et de l’évolution de rôle des acteurs, entre humains et non-humains.

Les processus de dégradation et de préservation des ressources naturelles s’accompagnent souvent de tensions et conflits entre les acteurs des territoires. Le cadre des services écosystémiques (SE) est désormais communément utilisé pour analyser ces processus et penser les termes d’une meilleure gouvernance. Nous développons ici l’idée impertinente selon laquelle l’intégration du concept très contesté de disservice écosystémique (DSE), qui qualifie les nuisances associées aux écosystèmes, améliore la compréhension de ces dynamiques et porte les germes d’une meilleure justice environnementale. Nous mobilisons trois cas d’étude dans lesquels les enjeux environnementaux sont sources de SE et DSE : le sanglier dans le Mont Lozère (France), les arbres champêtres dans les coteaux de Gascogne (France) et l’éléphant à Hwange (Zimbabwe). Au total, 119 entretiens semi-directifs ou essais anonymes ont été collectés et analysés selon deux axes autour des SE et DSE : i) les représentations et pratiques, ii) la gouvernance. Nos résultats montrent que le concept de DSE, associé à celui de SE, est utile pour révéler la complexité, voire l’ambivalence, des représentations des acteurs. Il permet en outre d’évaluer le rôle des pratiques dans le renforcement ou l’atténuation de nuisances écologiques qui ne sont pas toujours reliées à des dynamiques écologiques. Ce concept enrichit aussi la compréhension des positionnements des acteurs et des enjeux de gouvernance, permettant par exemple de révéler les contradictions et effets pervers de certaines politiques environnementales. Malgré les controverses dont il a fait l’objet, le concept de DSE semble donc prometteur pour repenser la gouvernance environnementale dans les territoires., The degradation and preservation of natural resources are often sources of tensions and conflicts between stakeholders in territories. The ecosystem service (ES) framework has been widely used to analyse these processes and design more effective governance arrangements. In this contribution, we develop the non-conventional idea that integrating the contested concept of ecosystem disservice (EDS), which refers to the nuisances associated with ecosystems, improves the understanding of these processes, and may eventually help towards more environmental justice. We focus on three case studies where environmental issues provide both ES and EDS: wild boar in the Mont Lozère (France), farm trees in the coteaux de Gascogne (France), and elephant in Hwange (Zimbabwe). In total, 119 semi-structured interviews or anonymous essays were conducted and analysed through two axes: i) people’s representations and practices around E(D)S, and ii) E(D)S governance. Our results show that the concept of EDS, associated with ES, helps reveal the complexity and ambivalence of stakeholders’ representations. It also allows to assess the role of practices in reinforcing or mitigating ecological nuisances that are not necessarily linked with ecological dynamics. This concept also enriches the understanding of stakeholders’ positions and governance issues, for example in revealing contradictions and side effects of certain environmental policies. Despite the existent controversies around it, the concept of EDS seems promising for rethinking environmental governance in territories.

International audience; This article discusses and analyses forest uses among Finnic and Sami peoples. The Finnic and Sami peoples form the western group of Finno-Ugric peoples; several of them are minority peoples. They live in Scandinavia, Estonia, Latvia and Russia generally close to nature, in rural areas (isolated settlements or forest villages). A particular cosmogony and cosmology marked by a strong human/nature relationship underpins their repre- sentations and symbols. The boreal forest is the environment in which Finnic societies have settled, for- ming a unique social-ecological system. This papers details the traditional uses of the forest in these communities, and examines their perpetuation and sustainability. In parallel, the changes affecting these uses are discussed.; Cet article expose et analyse les usages de la forêt chez les peuples fenniques et sames. Les peuples fen- niques et sames forment le groupe occidental des peuples finno-ougriens ; plusieurs d’entre eux sont des peuples minoritaires. Ils vivent en Scandinavie, Estonie, Lettonie et Russie. Proches de la nature, et habitants généralement en zone rurale (habitat isolé ou en villages forestiers), les représentations et symboliques de ces peuples sont sous-tendues par une cosmogonie et une cosmologie particulières, empreintes de rapports Homme-Nature fortement ancrés. La forêt boréale constitue l’environnement au sein duquel les sociétés fen- niques se sont installées, formant un socioécosystème unique. Cet article détaille les usages traditionnels de la forêt chez ces communautés, et interroge leurs perpétuations et leurs soutenabilités. Parallèlement sont évoquées les mutations affectant ces usages.

Ecosystem services (ES) are gaining increasing attention as a promising concept to more actively consider and plan for the varied benefits of the urban environment. Yet, to have an impact on decision-making, the concept must spread from academia to practice. To understand how ES have been taken up in planning discourses we conducted a cross-case comparison of planning documents in Berlin, New York, Salzburg, Seattle and Stockholm. We found: (1) explicit references to the ES concept were primarily in documents from Stockholm and New York, two cities in countries that entered into ES discourses early. (2) Implicit references and thus potential linkages between the ES concept and planning discourses were found frequently among all cities, especially in Seattle. (3) The thematic scope, represented by 21 different ES, is comparably broad among the cases, while cultural services and habitat provision are most frequently emphasized. (4) High-level policies were shown to promote the adoption of the ES concept in planning. We find that the ES concept holds potential to strengthen a holistic consideration of urban nature and its benefits in planning. We also revealed potential for further development of ES approaches with regard to mitigation of environmental impacts and improving urban resilience.

Publisher's version (útgefin grein), Í greininni er fjallað um atvinnu og atvinnuuppbyggingu í dreifbýli, hvernig hún horfir við íbúum á landsbyggðinni og hvaða áhrif hún hefur á stöðu kynjanna. Seinni hluta síðustu aldar einkenndust aðgerðir stjórnvalda af tilraunum til að bregðast við samdrætti í landbúnaðarframleiðslu, of stórum skipastóli og minnkandi afla. Margt bendir til þess að skammtímasjónarmið og skortur á heildarstefnumótun og langtímamarkmiðum hafi hamlað árangri á þessu sviði. Í greininni er fjallað um atvinnustefnu stjórnvalda í ljósi reynslu kvenna og karla á sunnanverðum Vestfjörðum, sem skilgreindir eru sem „varnarsvæði“ í búsetuþróun. Fram kemur að hin opinbera atvinnustefna hefur orðið mörgum á landsbyggðinni dýrkeypt og tortryggni gætir gagnvart stjórnvaldsaðgerðum. Karlar hafa bitra reynslu af stórtækum uppbyggingaráformum stjórnvalda í einstökum atvinnugreinum meðan konur telja sig eiga erfiðara uppdráttar en karlar hvað varðar styrki og stuðning. Enda þótt kveðið hafi verið á um jafnréttissjónarmið í opinberri stefnumótun síðan í lok síðustu aldar hafa atvinnuskapandi aðgerðir ekki tekið mið af mismunandi aðstæðum og möguleikum kvenna og karla. Brýnt er að atvinnu- og byggðastefna byggist á vel ígrunduðum langtímasjónarmiðum og taki mið af kynja- og jafnréttissjónarmiðum., The article addresses employment and employment policies in rural areas. We explore men and women’s employment opportunities in rural areas, and whether it has gendered consequences. During the last decades policy making in rural areas has been characterized by attempts to respond to reductions in agricultural production and reduced fishing. Long term policy has been lacking and short term measures have been pursued without sufficient preparation and concern for long term effects. The article discusses the experience of men and women’s employment opportunities in the South Westfjords, which turned out to be a painful experience. There is scepticism towards public governance, men have bitter experiences of grandiose plans and activities encouraged by the government whereas women consider themselves discriminated against regarding support and financing. Although gender equality has been a part of public policy for a long period these measures have not taken gender into account. It is important that employment policy and rural policy is well informed and receptive to gender perspectives.

This article offers a theoretical discussion on urbanization, nature and development and some of the links and interdependencies that connect these concepts. The focus is on some of the underlying dynamics and issues of our current development project defined as capitalist industrialization. The article illustrates the role of cities for human development and then argues that the relationship between society and nature could be - and indeed already has been - thought from a different perspective. Finally, the article discusses the transition from “campesinato” (peasantry) to traditional communities as product of extensive urbanization, as form of resistance and as potential blueprint for an alternative development and, potentially, for the Lefebvrian urban-utopia. Resumo: Este artigo oferece uma discussão teórica sobre urbanização, natureza e desenvolvimento e algumas relações possíveis entre esses temas e conceitos. Discutimos algumas questões e dinâmicas subjacentes ao nosso projeto de desenvolvimento atual, definido como industrialização capitalista. O artigo ilustra o papel das cidades para o desenvolvimento humano e, em seguida, argumenta que a relação entre sociedade e natureza poderia ser - e de fato já foi - pensada numa perspectiva diferente. Finalmente, o artigo discute a transição da categoria teórica "campesinato" para a categoria de comunidade tradicional, e como essa transição é influenciada pelo processo de urbanização extensiva pela qual o Brasil passou nas décadas recentes. Argumenta que tal transição é parte da formação de resistências e pode contribuir para a reflexão sobre um modelo potencial para um desenvolvimento alternativo e, potencialmente, para a utopia urbana de Lefebvre.

nonPeerReviewed

The Power of a Small Green Place is an ethnographic case study among the volunteers and urban wilds of Ottawa’s Fletcher Wildlife Garden (FWG). Through the conceptual lens of the geographical concept of place – with its wide range of physical, relational and deeper meaningful considerations – this urban wildlife habitat project emerged as a place of profound significance. Volunteers working to create and maintain the FWG’s diverse habitats benefit from opportunities to engage in physical outdoor activity, establish social connections, make contact with the natural world, find deep personal satisfaction and meaning, and experience healthier and mutually beneficial relations with nature. This case study fills a knowledge gap in geography regarding the significant relationships that can emerge between people and the land they work with, thereby contributing to geography’s “latest turn earthward” examining practices and relationships of cultivation with the land. The case study also contributes to a growing interdisciplinary dialogue on human-nature relations and their implications in the context of future environmental and societal uncertainties.