Attuning to Loss: Contemplative Ecology and the Practice of Mourning Damaged Landscapes in the Veluwe

Summary

Contemplative practices like dialogue and walking can help people perceive and process ecological grief. A study of the Lab Landschapspijn Veluwe in the Netherlands found that these practices function as contemplative witnessing, making ecological loss more perceptible, grievable, and emotionally acknowledged. Participants articulated tangible losses and their emotional, moral, and spiritual dimensions. The practices foster an open-ended engagement where grief, wonder, uncertainty, and care coexist without demanding immediate resolution. Contemplative ecology may thus cultivate the emotional, existential, and relational capacities needed to remain engaged with ecological crisis.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Ecological degradation is accelerating worldwide, yet the losses of species, ecosystems, and landscapes often remain socially and culturally unmourned. This article explores how contemplative ecology may offer a pathway for engaging with ecological grief. Drawing on the case study of Lab Landschapspijn Veluwe in the Netherlands, it examines how contemplative practices—such as contemplative dialogue and contemplative walking—can help participants attune to ecological loss in degraded landscapes. Using heuristic inquiry and interpretative phenomenological analysis, the study investigates how participants perceive and articulate tangible ecological losses and their emotional, moral, and spiritual dimensions. The findings show that contemplative practices can function as forms of contemplative witnessing, making ecological loss more perceptible, grievable, emotionally acknowledged, and relationally processed. Contemplative practices may foster an open-ended engagement with ecological loss; an orientation that allows grief, wonder, uncertainty, and care to coexist without demanding immediate resolution. Therefore, contemplative ecology may cultivate the emotional, existential and relational capacities required to remain engaged with ecological crisis.