Abstract
This chapter explores how visual arts can communicate shared views and help to reconcile different understandings of desirable futures. I review experiences of the use of art to build shared understanding of environmental problems amongst different actors or stakeholders. I focus on the “landscape” as the area of interest and define landscapes and seascapes as the geographic space in which environmental outcomes are best perceived by people. Building consensus on desired future situations is one of the greatest challenges in confronting our current environmental dilemmas. A shared vision of a future scenario can provide a common goal for everyone. Visual techniques have become ubiquitous during recent decades, and we have grown accustomed to visual representations on social media, television, billboards, marketing and PowerPoint presentations in the classroom and at big international events. In many areas of human endeavour, people are using animated videos and short films to present ideas. I review experiences from my own activities which range from mural painting to providing focus for debate at global environmental conferences to participatory drawing of future scenarios with local communities in environmentally sensitive areas.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Agerbeck, B. 2012. The Graphic Facilitator’s Guide: How to Use Your Listening, Thinking and Drawing Skills to Make Meaning. Chicago: Loosetooth.com Library.
Bell, S., and S. Morse. 2012. How People Use Rich Pictures to Help Them Think and Act. Systemic Practice and Action Research 26 (4): 331–348. doi:10.1007/s11213-012-9236-x.
Bell, S., and S. Morse. 2013. Rich Pictures: A Means to Explore the ‘Sustainable Mind’? Sustainable Development 21(1): 30–47.
Boedhihartono, A.K. 2012. Visualizing Sustainable Landscapes: Understanding and Negotiating Conservation and Development Trade-offs Using Visual Techniques. Gland, Switzerland: IUCN. To download this e-book click on IUCN website https://portals.iucn.org/library/node/10074.
Boedhihartono, A.K., D. Endamana, M. Ruiz-Perez, and J. Sayer. 2015. Landscape Scenarios Visualized by Baka and Aka Pygmies in the Congo Basin. International Journal of Sustainable Development and World Ecology 22 (4): 279–291. doi:10.1080/13504509.2015.1039094.
Boedhihartono, A.K., and J. Sayer. 2012. Forest Landscape Restoration: Restoring What and for Whom? In Forest Landscape Restoration. World Forests, ed. J. Stanturf, D. Lamb and P. Madsen, vol 15. Dordrecht: Springer.
Checkland, P., and J. Scholes 1999. Soft Systems Methodology: A 30-Year Retrospective. Chichester, UK and New York: Wiley.
Clark, W.C., T.P. Tomich, M. van Noordwijk, D. Guston, D. Catacutan, N.M. Dickson, and E. McNie. 2011. Boundary Work for Sustainable Development: Natural Resource Management at the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). In Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 4615–4622.
Cooperrider, D.L., and D.K. Whitney. 1999. Appreciative Inquiry. Williston, VT: Berrett-Koehler Communications.
Cooperrider, D.L., D.K. Whitney, and J.M. Stavros. 2008. Essentials of Appreciative Inquiry. Brunswick, OH: Crown Custom Publishing.
Farina, A. 2000. The Cultural Landscape as a Model for the Integration of Ecology and Economics. BioScience 50 (4): 313–320. doi:10.1641/0006-3568(2000)050[0313:tclaam]2.3.co;2.
Gobster, P.H., J.I. Nassauer, T.C. Daniel, and G. Fry. (2007). The Shared Landscape: What Does Aesthetics Have to Do With Ecology? Landscape Ecology 22 (7): 959–972. doi:10.1007/s10980-007-9110-x.
IUCN. 2008. Learning From Landscapes. ArborVitae Special. https://cmsdata.iucn.org/downloads/a_avspecial_learning_from_landscapes_1.pdf.
Kovacevic, M. (2013). Drawing, role-playing and 3D maps improve land use planning. CIFOR Forest News online, http://blog.cifor.org/18914/drawing-role-playing-and-3d-maps-improve-land-use-planning?fnl=en.
Levang, P., S. Sitorus, and E. Dounias. 2007. City Life in the Midst of the Forest: A Punan Hunter-Gatherer’s Vision of Conservation and Development. Ecology and Society 12 (1): 18.
Lewis, J.L., and S.R.J. Sheppard. 2006. Culture and Communication: Can Landscape Visualization Improve Forest Management Consultation with Indigenous Communities? Landscape and Urban Planning 77 (3): 291–313. doi:10.1016/j.landurbplan.2005.04.004.
Meiboudi, H., H. Karimzadegan, and S.M.R. Khalilnejad. 2011. Enhancing Children’s Environmental Awareness in Kindergarten of Mashhad City Using Mural Painting. Procedia—Social and Behavioral Sciences 28: 1020–1028. doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2011.11.187.
Molineux, J., and T. Haslett. 2007. The Use of Soft Systems Methodology to Enhance Group Creativity. Systemic Practice and Action Research 20 (6): 477–496. doi:10.1007/s11213-007-9078-0.
Nassauer, J.I. 1997. Cultural Sustainability: Aligning Aesthetics and Ecology. Washington, DC: Island Press.
Othman, R., R. Harun, A. Muda, N.A. Rashid, and F. Othman. 2011. Environmental Education Through Mural Painting Activities as to Enhance Secondary School Students’ Knowledge and Awareness on Environment. World Applied Sciences Journal 14: 101–106.
Perelló, J., D. Murray-Rust, A. Nowak, and S. Bishop. 2012. Linking Science and Arts: Intimate Science, Shared Spaces and Living Experiments. The European Physical Journal Special Topics 214 (1): 597–634.
Sayer, J. 2009. Reconciling Conservation and Development: Are Landscapes the Answer? Biotropica 41 (6): 649–652.
Sayer, J., and B.M. Campbell. 2004. The Science of Sustainable Development: Local Livelihoods and the Global Environment. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Sayer, J., C. Margules, A.K. Boedhihartono, A. Dale, T. Sunderland, J. Supriatna, and R. Saryanthi. 2014. Landscape Approaches; What are the Pre-conditions for Success? Sustainability Science 10: 345–355. doi:10.1007/s11625-014-0281-5.
Sayer, J., T. Sunderland, J. Ghazoul, J.-L. Pfund, D. Sheil, E. Meijaard, … C. Garcia. 2013. Ten Principles for a Landscape Approach to Reconciling Agriculture, Conservation, and Other Competing Land Uses. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 110 (21): 8349–8356.
Schama, S. 1995. Landscape and Memory. New York: A.A. Knopf.
Sheppard, S. 2001. Guidance for Crystal Ball Gazers: Developing a Code of Ethics for Landscape Visualization. Landscape and Urban Planning 54: 183–199.
Sibbet, D. 2010. Visual Meetings: How Graphics, Sticky Notes and Idea Mapping Can Transform Group Productivity. Hoboken: Wiley.
Sletto, B.I. 2009. We Drew What We Imagined. Current Anthropology 50 (4): 443–476.
Sobel, D. 2008. Childhood and Nature: Design Principles for Educators. Portland: Stenhouse Publishers.
Acknowledgements
Special thanks to communities and local institutions in the different landscapes where I worked, IUCN, WWF, Burung Indonesia, CIFOR, FAO, Parks Victoria, Health and Climate Foundation, Samdhana Institute, Rights and Resources Initiative, Global Greengrants Fund, International Indigenous Peoples’ Forum on Climate Change, James Cook University, Tanah Air Beta, my students and Jeff Sayer , and all participants in the mural paintings.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2017 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Boedhihartono, A.K. (2017). Visualizing the Future We Want: Reconciling Art, Environment and Development. In: Clammer, J., Giri, A. (eds) The Aesthetics of Development. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95248-9_8
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95248-9_8
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, New York
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-95247-2
Online ISBN: 978-1-349-95248-9
eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)