Véronique Servais

Some Comments on Context Embodiment in Zootherapy: The Case of the Autidolfijn Project

ABSTRACTThe Autidolfijn project was undertaken in 1991 in Bruges, Belgium, to asses the effect of interactions with captive dolphins on learning in autistic children. The project lasted four years and ended with ambiguous results. Although one group of children did seem to gain learning benefits from working with the dolphins, difficulties arising from the experimental set-up itself seemed to play a role in how well the groups performed. The Autidolfijn project was intended as an experiment, but it was imperfectly controlled and consequently the data could not be used to answer directly the question of the therapeutic effect dolphins have on children with autism. Here the data generated from the project are presented as ethnographic data attached to a particular situation. It is hoped they will help researchers understand the difficulties involved in trying to assess experimentally the positive effects of animals on people (cf. Rowan, 1996; Marino and Lilienfeld 1998; Nathanson 1998).

Scientist and non-scientists share a diversity of dimensions in their relations to urban nature

In the current biodiversity crisis, conservation scientists are urgently asked to involve themselves in education and communication initiatives toward non-scientists, who are considered as lacking knowledge to correctly value biodiversity. This is particularly argued in urban areas.In this paper, we showed however with an anthropological survey that urban citizens do express a variety of relations toward surrounding urban nature. Then, in an independent survey, we showed that these ways of being connected with nature were shared by students in conservation sciences. Conservation scientists and non-scientific city dwellers have therefore much more in common than is taken for granted in their relations and perceptions of urban nature, notably concerning emotional, sensorial and memorial relationships. Acknowledging these common features in the scientific community could improve the communication between science and the general public about urban nature, help bridge the gap between science and the society and eventually participate to build a new social contract on nature.