The basic function of modern zoos, associated within international nature conservation organizations, is to save endangered species of wild animals and provide them with appropriate living conditions. They contribute to the maintenance or increase of healthy populations of animals threatened with extinction in captivity. The Wrocław Zoo (ZOO Wrocław sp. z o.o.), as part of the European Association of Zoos and Aquariums (EAZA), carries out the mission of modern zoos, participating in the international transport of endangered animal species (Piasecka 2023).

The purpose of this contribution is to explain how the international transport of wild animals between zoos associated in EAZA contributes to the preservation of biodiversity of animal species in the world. The analysed case study is the Wrocław Zoo, which is both the oldest and the largest facility in Poland in terms of the number of animals and their species.

During the presentation, the main causes and legal conditions regarding the transport of wild animals between zoos will be determined. The required transport conditions for specific species of wild animals will also be presented.

Next, the subject of changes in the frequency and directions of international transport of wild animals will be discussed, on the example of the Wrocław Zoo. The considerations will concern both the number of transported animals and the network of contacts created together with other zoological institutions.

As climate change becomes an everyday reality and we begin to grapple with the changing environment around us, some scholars have started to question, are we mourning the loss of Nature and aligning our actions to match this feeling of loss? In Palermo, Italy, this question has a physical manifestation: The Radici Piccolo Museo della Natura (Small Museum of Nature), which memorializes social Nature while functioning as an important social infrastructure, as conceptualized first by Eric Klinenberg. The aim of this contribution is to combine the ideas of social Nature and social infrastructures with the objective to investigate a possible solution to the loss of Nature and a way to improve the relationship between society and Nature. The radical existence of this museum reproduces Nature indoors as an expression of “Nature mourning” and response to climate change.

Given that Nature is inherently social, its valorization in a museum context defines discursively and materially what counts as Nature. Many actors are included in this process of defining Nature. We ask ourselves, then, who constructs this idea of Nature, and, what are the social implications of these choices? This question connects social Nature with the concept of social infrastructures. Besides functioning as a museum, the space is well-loved for socializing, working, or dining at the cafe, and hosts events such as children's acting classes and presentations. The space physically feels like a refuge from the city center’s chaos. Its role as a social infrastructure layers another meaning to the term social Nature, suggesting that the communal desire to connect with Nature has created an important gathering place for city residents.

Starting from the analysis of this experience, the research addresses some broader questions: How do we integrate the relationship with society and Nature in concrete practice? What does dedicating a museum to Nature as a human construct suggest about our evolving relationship, and growing grief, towards a changing part of our world? What does the value of this space as a social infrastructure suggest about the relationship building power of gathering in Nature, even if done indoors? The research answers these questions by relying on a qualitative methodology based on discourse analysis, participant observation, and semi-structured in-depth interviews.

The human-nature relationship evolves over time, encompassing a continuum of interactions that oscillate between synergistic and exploitative extremes. This spectrum spans from ecocentric perspectives, with nature seen as an autonomous entity external to human society, to social paradigms that emphasize the inextricable interconnection between humans and nature. The climate crisis has highlighted the critical challenges of this dichotomy, revealing how the natural cycles of climate change have significantly accelerated because of anthropogenic activities.

With both immediate and long-term impacts becoming evident, the climate crisis is profoundly affecting young people, who are called to endure with present effects and develop adaptation strategies for future impacts. Against this backdrop, this study aims to examine the perception of younger generations on the climate risk and the overall human-nature relationship, as well as their preferred communication strategies. The objective is to explore how integrating scientific knowledge with different narrative formats can foster more effective risk communication among young people and improve global understanding of the environmental challenges laying ahead.

The analysis focuses on independent study projects developed by students enrolled in the master’s degree program in Environmental Risk and Civil Protection at the Università Politecnica delle Marche, in Ancona (Italy), over the decade 2014 - 2024. These students were tasked with identifying potentially effective narratives and critically reflecting on the climate crisis storytelling through the analysis of literary, oral, and audiovisual works addressing its ethical, emotional, and moral dimensions. The sources they examined ranged from the writings of Pope Francis to the speeches of various public figures, as well as artistic representation of climate change. Through these narratives, students engaged with the idea that environmental issues are inherently cross-cutting and require not only scientific solutions but also ethical and emotional commitments.

The findings suggest that students perceive the need to envision alternative models of human-nature interaction to engage the wider community. These new models should facilitate deeper exploration of a shared concern: human accountability for climate change. Such an approach seems to enhance young people’s sense of responsibility while broadening their horizon towards adaptive social models that harmonize scientific rationality with human sensitivity.

Integral ecology, as defined by Pope Francis in his encyclical Laudato Si’ (2015) was received in France by some as a call to radically transform their way of life. It has given some Christians the opportunity to put an end to the idea that Christianity is responsible for the death of nature (White, 1967). Motivated by this holistic vision of social, environmental and spiritual ecology, these activists – anxious about the climate change – have organized themselves in eco-villages, in a “back to nature” movement (Stuppia, 2016). This quest for authenticity and “ecologization” of life could be assimilated to romantic utopias such as their vision of nature seemed a priori largely fantasised (Löwy, 2002; Hervieu-Léger, 2005). Yet, far from seeking untouched nature, their model reflects a rethinking of their entire environment: social, human, environmental and religious. This study would examine how these eco-villages embody an “integral ecology” by recreating a “village spirit” adapted to modern ecological and social challenges. Between ancestral crafts, organic gardening, permaculture and Christian eco-spirituality, what are the ways of living an integral ecology?

I propose to bring a sociological look at these new living spaces. The aim is to describe these new militant ecosystems through the complicity of various methodological tools: Through ethnographic fieldwork, including participant observation and semi-structured interviews in places and communities organized around an integral ecology. I explore the lived realities of Christian eco-villages in France such as the eco-hameau of la Bénisson-Dieu, the ‘Ferme Espérance’ or the Campus de la transition. Thus, this research contributes to social and human geography, by analysing how nature is articulated in these micro-societies, redefining human-environment relationships, nature and community in contemporary Europe.