If we are going to save the planet, UNSW Associate Professor of Environment and Society Tema Milstein says we need to start hugging trees. Westernised humans tend to believe they are separate from nature, which shapes thinking and actions toward the environment. But seeing the world with humans at its centre has massive ramifications – from climate crisis to mass extinction.
What stands in the way of more of us remembering we are embedded in the natural world and its intricate networks? And how do we override anthropocentrism, and start seeing ourselves as one with the flowers? These are the questions A/Prof. Milstein addresses in this video. It is part of a new series from the UNSW Centre for Ideas in which UNSW academics and researchers challenge us to think about how we might not just survive, but thrive in this century of uncertainty.