Semiotics of multispecies environments: agencies, meaning making and communication conflicts
Personal Research Funding (PUT) project
January 2017 - December 2020
Overview
Multispecies environments (e.g. urban nature) result in problems of nature protection and communication conflicts, but they also have great unused potential for increasing environmental awareness. The project aims to study how different species use semiotic means for engaging in shared environments. We analyse how species’ Umwelten allow for relations with other species and environments, how shared sign repertoires emerge and what semiotic and cultural properties of humans influence these processes. The project includes four work packages: a) elaborating ecosemiotic methods (e.g. multispecies Umwelt analysis); b) conceptual-cultural basis for treating multispecies environments; c) multispecies urban nature: problems and potentials; d) interspecies relations in literature. The project’s outcomes are applications for modelling multispecies environments that support the development of participatory nature protection and better strategies in environmental management.
People
Timo Maran, Senior Researcher, University of Tartu, Department of Semiotics (Principal Investigator)
Riin Magnus, Researcher, University of Tartu, Department of Semiotics
Silver Rattasepp, junior researcher, University of Tartu, Department of Semiotics