Human connection to nature has fallen by 60% in just 200 years. That’s not just a statistic—it’s a vulnerability. A recent Guardian article shows that urbanisation, biodiversity loss, and the breakdown of intergenerational relationships with the land have left many communities less resilient to ecological and social shocks.
A recent study led by Professor Miles Richardson (University of Derby) reveals a dramatic decline of over 60% since 1800 in human connection to nature. Dubbed the “extinction of experience,” this loss also echoes in literature, with words like moss or blossom steadily disappearing from the pages of books, symbolising a fracture in our ecological inner life. The study attributes this decline to urbanisation, biodiversity loss, and the breakdown of intergenerational natural connection (The Guardian).
Vulnerability: At the Core of the Challenge
This disconnect is not just cultural. It is a vulnerability. Disconnection from nature erodes communities’ resilience to both ecological shocks and social isolation. Those who are already marginalised by loneliness, poor mental health, lack of access to green space, or economic precarity feel this disconnection most keenly.
COEVOLVERS: Co-Designing NBS with Vulnerability in Focus
COEVOLVERS explicitly addresses this vulnerability by co-creating nature-based solutions (NBS) that are fair and inclusive for both vulnerable humans and non human species. The project works across seven Living Labs in Europe spanning Scotland, Finland, Estonia, Italy, Spain, Hungary, and cross border Czechia/Slovakia, each engaging with different vulnerabilities from social isolation to ecosystem degradation.
The Murray Park Living Lab in Scotland is a prime example. This urban greenspace is not just a patch of grass. It is a socio-ecological space where we co-explore how nature can address community vulnerabilities. Through participatory mapping, storytelling, and art based engagement, we are learning how local governance, community networks, and ecological restoration can work together to create inclusive and resilient spaces.
COEVOLVERS adopts a coevolutionary perspective, recognising that NBS emerge through evolving multispecies relationships rather than through top-down technical fixes. This approach builds governance structures that nurture mutual belonging between humans and nature.
Connecting the Dots: Nature Disconnection, Vulnerability, and NBS
Both the Guardian study and COEVOLVERS highlight the urgency of restoring human–nature relationships, but COEVOLVERS goes further by embedding vulnerability aware governance into the process of designing and implementing NBS.
NBS here are not just “green infrastructure”. They are relational practices, designed with sensitivity to vulnerability in both people and other life forms. Living Labs use participatory, art-based, and co-creative methods to strengthen community bonds and ensure that NBS are meaningful, equitable, and resilient.
From Disconnection to Resilience: A Shared Mission
Richardson’s study underscores the need for deeply transformative action, not surface level fixes. COEVOLVERS embodies that transformation, weaving ecological reconnection and social justice into the design of our shared spaces.
By centring vulnerability, whether it is the mental health of isolated individuals or the survival of non-human species, COEVOLVERS offers a vision for the future. NBS strengthen resilience through reciprocity, inclusion, and co-evolution.
If human nature disconnection is the crisis, then vulnerability aware, co-creative NBS offer a path toward healing, not just of landscapes but of communities, relationships, and our collective wellbeing.
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