Conservation Through Art

Conservation Education
Promoting Conservation through the Arts: Outreach
for Hearts and Minds
. . .if we are going to have a new
connection to the environment it
will have to happen in individual
hearts and souls . . . the artist can
help us fall in love with the earth
again.

Using complementary
intelligences in conservation education
would foster environmental
literacy for a greater variety of
people.

Art has the
potential to inform audiences or participants
in a new way about conservation
topics, and it can stimulate
new dialogues and actions.

The Long-Term Ecological
Reflections project invites authors
to “translate” forest restoration
activities at Andrews Forest in Oregon
into new metaphors and experiences
for readers.

We describe
several examples that provide
evidence of how the arts can stir
emotions and attract new audiences,
increase awareness, improve classroom
instruction, introduce newperspectives,
and foster environmental
stewardship.

Art has the
potential to inform audiences or participants
in a new way about conservation
topics, and it can stimulate
new dialogues and actions.

The theory
of multiple intelligences suggests that
educators should incorporate more
integrated skill sets, including musical
and kinesthetic intelligences, into
activities to enhance learning (Gardner
1999).

By engaging multiple senses and
emphasizing social interaction, the
arts can provide people with emotional
pleasure and support (Levinthal
1988).

The arts offer a way to make an
emotional connection to people, and
the visual and performing arts can
help conservation practitioners reach
new audiences.

This technocentric
approach may not incite people to
reflect on their values or personal
behaviors (Job 1996) or inspire
people to engage in sustainable
land-use or consumption patterns.

Medical practitioners
find that incorporating movement,
sound, art, and journal writing into
their therapeutic practices helped patients
identify feelings, explore unconscious
material, gain insight, and
solve problems (Rogers 1993).

We describe
several examples that provide
evidence of how the arts can stir
emotions and attract new audiences,
increase awareness, improve classroom
instruction, introduce newperspectives,
and foster environmental
stewardship.

By engaging multiple senses and
emphasizing social interaction, the
arts can provide people with emotional
pleasure and support (Levinthal
1988).

Subsequent behavioral changes
by audience members were not measured,
but a number of respondents
mentioned they were reexamining
how their consumer choices affected
their environment.

Conservation Education
Promoting Conservation through the Arts: Outreach
for Hearts and Minds
. . .if we are going to have a new
connection to the environment it
will have to happen in individual
hearts and souls . . . the artist can
help us fall in love with the earth
again.

A group of Canadian teachers and
musicians created a CD entitled Passengers,
with songs about conservation
that included aspects of the
elementary environmental science
curriculum.

The brain deems the information
more important and enhances
memory of the event.

The arts offer a way to make an
emotional connection to people, and
the visual and performing arts can
help conservation practitioners reach
new audiences.

This requires collaborating
with artists and the art community,
audiences with whom scientists and
educators may seldom interact.

Conservation Education 9
management, conflict resolution, and
urban sprawl.

Many families
may find participating in the
performing arts more appealing than
joining an environmental group.

The theory
of multiple intelligences suggests that
educators should incorporate more
integrated skill sets, including musical
and kinesthetic intelligences, into
activities to enhance learning (Gardner
1999).

Conservation Education
Promoting Conservation through the Arts: Outreach
for Hearts and Minds
. . .if we are going to have a new
connection to the environment it
will have to happen in individual
hearts and souls . . . the artist can
help us fall in love with the earth
again.

By engaging multiple senses and
emphasizing social interaction, the
arts can provide people with emotional
pleasure and support (Levinthal
1988).

The pageant involved 170 performers
and crew and combined music,
drama, and poetry to portray
a story of the destruction and protection
of nature (Curtis 2003).

The arts offer a way to make an
emotional connection to people, and
the visual and performing arts can
help conservation practitioners reach
new audiences.

The
extension team selected 10 issues to
illustrate the scope and complexity
of regional forestry concerns, including
wildlife habitat, aesthetic beauty,
harvest methods, jobs, forest health,
recreational use,water resources, fire
Conservation Biology
Volume 21, No. 1, February 2007
Jacobson et al.

We describe
several examples that provide
evidence of how the arts can stir
emotions and attract new audiences,
increase awareness, improve classroom
instruction, introduce newperspectives,
and foster environmental
stewardship.

The program
targets children’s literacy, critical
thinking skills, and creativity.

Applying these principles
to conservation issues could foster
closer relationships with nature
and more creative solutions to problems.

River of Words conducts training
workshops for teachers, park naturalists,
community groups, and resource
agencies on the use of this multidisciplinary,
hands-on approach.

Listening to music
can elevate endorphin levels, creating
a feeling of pleasure (Levinthal
1988).

Ideally, conservation education and
outreach promotes interdisciplinary
understanding of the natural and
built environment through the sciences,
arts, and humanities.

The song repeated simple slogans to
prompt compliance, such as: “Good
morning Madame, the cleanliness of
your house goeswell with the cleanliness
of your street.”

Accessing multipleways
of knowing and caring about
the world should help us to conserve
it.

We describe
several examples that provide
evidence of how the arts can stir
emotions and attract new audiences,
increase awareness, improve classroom
instruction, introduce newperspectives,
and foster environmental
stewardship.

The River of Words program
has resulted in community partnerships
in support of education
and watersheds, creek clean-ups and
restorations, and environmental poetry
clubs and art exhibitions (River
of Words 2005).

Darryl Cherney, Music Producer
(cited in Jacobson 1999)
All of the art programs we reviewed
here suggest that promoting
conservation through the arts
may reach a more diverse audience
and reach them more successfully
by engaging their hearts as well as
minds.

We describe
several examples that provide
evidence of how the arts can stir
emotions and attract new audiences,
increase awareness, improve classroom
instruction, introduce newperspectives,
and foster environmental
stewardship.

In many cultures songs are a traditional
way to pass on stories.

River of Words conducts training
workshops for teachers, park naturalists,
community groups, and resource
agencies on the use of this multidisciplinary,
hands-on approach.

Medical practitioners
find that incorporating movement,
sound, art, and journal writing into
their therapeutic practices helped patients
identify feelings, explore unconscious
material, gain insight, and
solve problems (Rogers 1993).

Performing Arts Improve Learning and
Reflection
Music should play a role in conservation
education because of its ability
to attract attention and invoke emotional
responses.

Medical practitioners
find that incorporating movement,
sound, art, and journal writing into
their therapeutic practices helped patients
identify feelings, explore unconscious
material, gain insight, and
solve problems (Rogers 1993).

This integration of science
themes with music allowed students
to have fun singing while rehearsing
the learner outcomes specified
in their curriculum.

On the
positive side, when emotional input
is added to learning experiences, it
makes them more memorable and
exciting.

Applying these principles
to conservation issues could foster
closer relationships with nature
and more creative solutions to problems.

Results indicated that audience
members could identify the
environmental message of the work
and reported a greater appreciation
of their community (Curtis 2003).

The Long-Term Ecological
Reflections project invites authors
to “translate” forest restoration
activities at Andrews Forest in Oregon
into new metaphors and experiences
for readers.

The pageant involved 170 performers
and crew and combined music,
drama, and poetry to portray
a story of the destruction and protection
of nature (Curtis 2003).

The
extension team selected 10 issues to
illustrate the scope and complexity
of regional forestry concerns, including
wildlife habitat, aesthetic beauty,
harvest methods, jobs, forest health,
recreational use,water resources, fire
Conservation Biology
Volume 21, No. 1, February 2007
Jacobson et al.

Art can provoke
reactions that typical education and
outreach methods do not.

By engaging multiple senses and
emphasizing social interaction, the
arts can provide people with emotional
pleasure and support (Levinthal
1988).

Results indicated that audience
members could identify the
environmental message of the work
and reported a greater appreciation
of their community (Curtis 2003).

Project leaders
conducted a written before-and-after
survey to assess changes in participants’
perceptions.

Visual Arts Attract New Audiences and
Facilitate Dialog
Environmental organizations often
use art exhibits to raise funds and
stimulate social interaction.

The pageant involved 170 performers
and crew and combined music,
drama, and poetry to portray
a story of the destruction and protection
of nature (Curtis 2003).

A planning assessment revealed that
people throw their waste on the
streets and out their windows.

This integration of science
themes with music allowed students
to have fun singing while rehearsing
the learner outcomes specified
in their curriculum.

Visual Arts Attract New Audiences and
Facilitate Dialog
Environmental organizations often
use art exhibits to raise funds and
stimulate social interaction.

Writing
and reading poems helped medical
students better understand a
sick patient’s feelings and their own
relationship to disease and healing
(Grace 2004).

The River of Words program
has resulted in community partnerships
in support of education
and watersheds, creek clean-ups and
restorations, and environmental poetry
clubs and art exhibitions (River
of Words 2005).

A comparison of journal entries
made at the beginning and end
of a course showed the development
of greater understanding and care for
the chosen landscape (Rous 2000).

The theory
of multiple intelligences suggests that
educators should incorporate more
integrated skill sets, including musical
and kinesthetic intelligences, into
activities to enhance learning (Gardner
1999).

A
dramatic performance of The Plague
and the Moonflower was staged in
Armidale, Australia, to raise awareness
about environmental degradation
and the need for people to
practice more sustainable behaviors.

An international nonprofit organization,
River of Words, combines
the use of poetry and art with
observation-based nature exploration
to excite youth about watersheds.

The
extension team selected 10 issues to
illustrate the scope and complexity
of regional forestry concerns, including
wildlife habitat, aesthetic beauty,
harvest methods, jobs, forest health,
recreational use,water resources, fire
Conservation Biology
Volume 21, No. 1, February 2007
Jacobson et al.

The theory
of multiple intelligences suggests that
educators should incorporate more
integrated skill sets, including musical
and kinesthetic intelligences, into
activities to enhance learning (Gardner
1999).

On the
positive side, when emotional input
is added to learning experiences, it
makes them more memorable and
exciting.

Environmental Writing Awakens
Feelings for Place
Writers arouse emotions and enhance
people’s appreciation for nature.

The arts offer a way to make an
emotional connection to people, and
the visual and performing arts can
help conservation practitioners reach
new audiences.

Applying these principles
to conservation issues could foster
closer relationships with nature
and more creative solutions to problems.

Teachers
7
Conservation Biology Volume 21, No. 1, 7–10
C 
2007 Society for Conservation Biology
DOI: 10.1111/j.1523-1739.2006.00596.x
8 Conservation Education Jacobson et al.
were happy to check off their subject
requirements; students derived additional
benefits of a group singing
experience, such as boosted selfesteem,
increased confidence, and
social connection with others (Lenton
2002).

We describe
several examples that provide
evidence of how the arts can stir
emotions and attract new audiences,
increase awareness, improve classroom
instruction, introduce newperspectives,
and foster environmental
stewardship.

A program developed by The
Nature Conservancy (TNC) and the
New York Foundation for the Arts—
Wild New York: Creating a Field
Guide for Urban Environments—
aimed to increase awareness of urban
ecology through a hands-on art experience
(TNC & New York Foundation
for the Arts.

Indepth
interviews were conducted after
the performance to determine
impacts.

A song addressed to housewives,
who often listen to the radio,
was broadcast on many stations.

A
dramatic performance of The Plague
and the Moonflower was staged in
Armidale, Australia, to raise awareness
about environmental degradation
and the need for people to
practice more sustainable behaviors.

The brain deems the information
more important and enhances
memory of the event.

A catchy melody
made the message hard to forget and
helped increase compliance (Mehers
2000).

It can stimulate
changes in proenvironmental behavior,
such as the stewardship of a
natural area.

By engaging multiple senses and
emphasizing social interaction, the
arts can provide people with emotional
pleasure and support (Levinthal
1988).

Art has the
potential to inform audiences or participants
in a new way about conservation
topics, and it can stimulate
new dialogues and actions.

Medical practitioners
find that incorporating movement,
sound, art, and journal writing into
their therapeutic practices helped patients
identify feelings, explore unconscious
material, gain insight, and
solve problems (Rogers 1993).

The
answers have practical importance
for those who design forest policies
in a complex and changing social context”
(Bazilchuk 2006).

We describe
several examples that provide
evidence of how the arts can stir
emotions and attract new audiences,
increase awareness, improve classroom
instruction, introduce newperspectives,
and foster environmental
stewardship.

The
answers have practical importance
for those who design forest policies
in a complex and changing social context”
(Bazilchuk 2006).

This technocentric
approach may not incite people to
reflect on their values or personal
behaviors (Job 1996) or inspire
people to engage in sustainable
land-use or consumption patterns.

Performing Arts Improve Learning and
Reflection
Music should play a role in conservation
education because of its ability
to attract attention and invoke emotional
responses.

A group of Canadian teachers and
musicians created a CD entitled Passengers,
with songs about conservation
that included aspects of the
elementary environmental science
curriculum.