Mediated nature and public engagement

How do digital technologies shape our relationships with nature? In this strand of research, we investigate how biodiversity is experienced, represented, and made meaningful through contemporary media platforms. From livestreamed wildlife broadcasts to mobile species identification apps and online communities, we study how digital environments open up new ways for people to encounter and care about the natural world.

Our work explores what we call mediated nature – the diverse ways in which people come into contact with biodiversity not only through direct experiences, but also through screens, sensors, and stories. These mediated encounters can be deeply emotional, sensorial, and social. We ask how such experiences support personal connection to nature, foster collective engagement, and shape environmental awareness in times of ecological uncertainty.

A key focus lies on public service initiatives and participatory media formats. For example, we study Den Stora Älgvandringen, a popular Swedish slow-TV livestream following the spring migration of moose. Through digital ethnography and discourse analysis, we examine how this kind of programming brings people together around seasonal rituals, enables shared observation of wildlife, and cultivates a sense of community and belonging. Social media discussions, online comments, and curated highlights all become part of a broader media ecology where meanings of nature are negotiated and renewed.

We are also interested in the citizen science potential of digital tools. Apps like PlantNet and Merlin not only help users identify species but also contribute to biodiversity monitoring. By analyzing how these tools are used in educational settings, in everyday life, or by international audiences, we investigate how digital participation influences both individual learning and collective data practices.

We employ interdisciplinary approaches to further our understanding of how new forms of digital engagement shape contemporary human–nature relationships, and thus transect concepts in environmental psychology, conservation science, media and communication studies, and environmental humanities. It also opens up discussions about environmental citizenship, ecological memory, and the role of media in sustaining public attention to biodiversity in an age of distraction.