Digital geographies and ecologies

Turnbull, Jonathon; Searle, Adam

Abstract

Digitisation produces unique understandings of, and modes of access to, nonhuman worlds, and fundamentally reshapes conservation, environmentalism, and ecological politics. In this chapter, we explore the fruitful confluence of disciplinary trends in more-than-human and digital geographies, outlining how the shared empirical and ethical interests of these geographical subdisciplines can pose a range of questions for future research in the emerging field of ‘digital ecologies’. We outline the core concerns of digital ecologies—materialities, encounters, and governance—to establish a shared vocabulary for more-than-human and digital geographers. We then exemplify what this kind of analysis offers by focusing on peregrine falcons in the UK, emphasising how their resurgence over the last two decades has been entangled with digital technologies and mediation. Specifically, we focus on ‘nestcams’—livestreaming webcams positioned in peregrine nests—to show how they afford novel access to peregrines’ lives, opening up novel and convivial modes of human-nature relation. In addition, we show how nestcams digitally mediate urban space, reconfiguring the urban as a wild space, but one in which wildness, care, and conviviality come together. We conclude by pointing to future avenues for research in digital ecologies, notably encouraging geographers to experiment with participatory and interdisciplinary digital methods.

Citation

Turnbull, J., & Searle, A. (2023). Digital geographies and ecologies. In A Research Agenda for Digital Geographies (159-173). Edward Elgar Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781802200607.00023

• Online Publication Date: May 2, 2023
• Publication Date: May 2, 2023
• Deposit Date: Jul 14, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Nov 3, 2023
• Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
• Pages: 159-173
• Book Title: A Research Agenda for Digital Geographies
• Chapter Number: 13
• ISBN: 9781802200591
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4337/9781802200607.00023
• Keywords: Digital Ecologies; Peregrine Falcons; Urban Ecologies; Nestcams; Livestreaming; More-than-human Geographies
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/23002778
• Publisher URL: https://www.elgaronline.com/edcollchap/book/9781802200607/book-part-9781802200607-23.xml
• Additional Information: This is a draft chapter. The final version is available in A Research Agenda for Digital Geographies edited by Tess Osborne and Phil Jones , published in 2023, Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd; https://doi.org/10.4337/9781802200607.00023