Emerging Plant Communication in Contemporary Societies: Beyond the Human World (ISTE Invoiced)

Biodiversity is collapsing. It is increasingly necessary to rethink how contemporary societies relate to the living world. This is all the more important given that calls for change are still regularly downplayed – or even dismissed in the public sphere. The protection of natural environments and their inhabitants, both human and nonhuman, too often remains subordinate to economic considerations that are deemed to take precedence. The plant world occupies a unique place, one that is still rarely highlighted, given the many issues involved.

Emerging Plant Communication in Contemporary Societies opens up several avenues for reflection, through the prism of communication, to better understand the relationships our societies have with the plant world. Key topics include the ambivalence in the representation of green tourism, forests and heritage mediation of the plant world; encounters with emblematic plants; and the understanding of the mechanisms of plant communication and how it can shed light on our own communication systems. This collective work is an invitation to look beyond the human world.

Natacha Souillard is an associate professor at Aix-Marseille University (IMSIC), France. Her research focuses on forms of participation, mobilization and discourse associated with socio-environmental issues.

Amélie Coulbaut-Lazzarini is an associate professor at Grenoble Alpes University (GRESEC), France. Her research focuses on environmental mediation and research-creation to help (re)establish links with living things.

Céline Pascual Espuny is a professor at Aix-Marseille University (IMSIC), France. She works on issues of behavioral change and the circulation of environmental issues in the public sphere.