Written by: Bronwin Patrickson

This special edition aims to acknowledge the ways that education (and re-education) efforts both within and beyond the walls of the academy can align with these sorts of grass roots actions. Eco-pedagogy (Åhlberg, 1998; Freire & Brasília, 2000) has always been linked to broader collective aspirations of humanity for a sustainable ecological and political future characterised by social justice, as much as environmental care. That broad view is similarly adopted in this special issue to include social change efforts in digital culture networks, assemblages and ecologies more generally. Our increasingly mediated world is characterised by a complex interplay of participation, sharing, curation, surveillance, subversion, exploitation, exclusion, inclusion and diverse individualism, as much as networked collectivism. Eco-pedagogy in these contexts can help to promote a balance between these various flows of influence. In order to fall into conversation with everyday culture however eco-pedagogy also needs to be flexible, which involves being structured and precise when required, but also perhaps less guarded and more open at times, informal, portable, personal, variable and even playful.

Written by: Antonio López

Abstract: Ecomedia literacy cultivates the exploration of ecomedia objects-- media texts (advertisements, news articles, television commercials, websites, films, etc.), platforms (streaming services, social networks, media organizations), gadgets (smart phones, tablets, computers, etc.), or hyperobjects (anamorphous disbursed phenomena that behaves like a system, such as the internet, fake news, or media industry). In this paper, I introduce an integrative method of analysis I devised called the “ecomediasphere.” The ecomediasphere prompts learners to explore the ecomedia object’s use and meaning from four different perspectives: lifeworld, culture, political economy, and materiality. Conceptually and theoretically, these four perspectives correspond with various lenses that inform digital media literacy and environmental literacy

Written by: Julia Scott-Stevenson

Abstract: In this article I explore how immersive nonfiction media works may offer a scaffold for an ecological imagination that entangles us, humans, within the environment, rather than othering nature and conceiving of it as something ‘out there’. Taking as a frame the intersection of documentary studies and emerging creative media technologies, and connecting this frame with Barad’s (2007) concept of entanglement and Zunino Harper’s (2016) construction of naturecultures, I examine discourses of nature in digital media representation. Immersive and experiential media forms offer a number of particular affordances which are reviewed here – including generating a sense of presence, use of embodiment and layering and scaling of environments. A number of non-fiction immersive media works are presented as case studies, in which I explore their use of these affordances and their engagement with ecological narratives. Using immersion to engender awe at nature is considered, and while studies seem to show that this is indeed possible, I suggest that there are contingent risks of othering nature. Instead, a development of a sense of bewilderment or shimmer – incorporating complexity, ritual, wonder, humanity and ecology – seems a more likely route to re-minding us of our nature entanglements. Similarly, there are parallels in othering nature and in crafting contained virtual worlds for participants to step into and out of. I argue, building on Speakman’s (2019) writing and creative practice, that an approach that further embeds us within and augments our existing reality, may be more effective in maintaining a sense of entanglement. There are certainly a multitude of rich creative routes to further explore this, and thus practice-led approaches are offered as a vital prong in the work to address climate and ecological crisis.

Written by: Alexia Barrable and David Booth

Abstract: Connection to nature, which describes the affective, experiential and cognitive aspects of our relationship with the natural world, has been positively associated with increased wellbeing, as well as pro-environmental beliefs and behaviours. It has also been identified as a worthwhile and distinct goal of education, both in terms of environmental education assessment, as well as in broader terms. This short article aims to explore the effect of using mobile technology to enhance our connection to nature, through a short-term intervention. A total of 57 undergraduates (age range 20 - 31) were randomised into two groups and undertook a short walk in urban nature, with the instruction to notice the beauty in nature and note three beautiful things. One of the groups was asked to record these beautiful things using mobile technology (photography, audio or video recording). Pre- and post-activity measures of the nature connection, using the Connection to Nature Scale (CNS) State were taken and analysed. Results showed that although the intervention had an overall positive effect on participants’ connection to nature, technology neither enhanced nor hindered it. Qualitative analysis of participants’ description of the activity shows a largely positive experience. Limitations of this small trial are presented, and the potential to build an application to engage young people with nature, for increased wellbeing and sustainability, is discussed as a future direction.

Written by: Ann Light

First printed in the 2019 Design Research For Change Symposium, Reprinted with permission

Abstract: Design is low on theory of transformation, which becomes problematic as the practices and outputs of design need to contribute to a culture of planetary adaptation for sustainability. In fact, design itself needs to be (re)designed to enact culture change. To make these shifts, design research can learn from cultural theory that positions culture as evolving and performative. Adopting these ideas helps to reveal the designed-therefore-designable nature of the world, which is a necessary prelude to mobilizing publics. The paper concludes with participatory collaborative thought experiments, influenced by cultural theory, that offer directions for changing design.

Elizabeth LaPensée, P.hD. is an award-winning designer, writer, artist, and researcher who creates and studies Indigenous-led media such as games and comics. She is Anishinaabe with family from Bay Mills, Métis, and Irish. She is an Assistant Professor of Media & Information and Writing, Rhetoric & American Cultures at Michigan State University.

Science fiction fans are likely to be familiar with Bruce Sterling, a multi-award winning writer associated with late 1980s cyber-punk genres of gritty low-life, high-tech fables. Sterling doesn’t just spin tales of alternate worlds, he also designs them – and he’s been doing it for a while. In 1999 he founded Viridian (viridiandesign.org), a techno-cultural project, come green art movement with “a built in expiration date” consciously positioned amongst the more “electrical and unnatural” tinges of green. Sterling’s dry, if enthusiastic launch manifesto declared Viridian “an art movement that looks like a mailing list, an ad campaign, a design team, an oppo research organization, a laboratory…”

Written by: Darshana Jayemanne

It is tricky to review books published in 2019, just before the pandemic. Playing Nature: Ecology in Videogames is a case in point: a book about ecology and games is timely. This is particularly so for the journal “Digital Culture and Education” – when so many are moving their teaching towards digital culture in ways they had not expected. This is as true for parents logging on to YouTube to remind themselves about long division as it is for university lecturers experimenting with OBS Studio. What can we teach from this book about play and ecology in digital culture at and after this juncture?