"Live better" project: Stavanger dataset delivered

Today I have delivered the Stavanger dataset for the Norwegian part of the international quantitative survey "Live better: The culturally sensitive study into "folk theories of societal development" and into "ideal types of well-being"", with 190 responses included. This is part of a research consortium involving some 50 countries and headed by Kuba Krys.

Google Scholar: 1.010 citations at end of 2023

As of the end of year 2023, my research has according to Google Scholar - cf. my profile - attracted 1.010 citations, including 142 in 2023. This compares to 865 citations at the end of 2022, after which a further 145 citations have been registered by Google Scholar, and with 615 citations at the end of 2021. My h-index remains 18 (meaning that 18 of my publications have attracted at least 18 citations each), like a year ago, and +4 since the end of 2021, while my i10-index (meaning the number of publications that has attracted at least 10 citations each) has increased from 33 to 36 over the last year, and +12 since the end of 2021.

With 142 citations, 2023 is my third best year in terms of number of citations, after 2022 with 183 citations and 2021 with 148 citations.

On my profile, Google Scholar lists 128 publications (+4 since December 29th 2022 and +28 since December 26th 2021; this in not an accurate count), with 52 of them not cited and 76 cited at least one time each.

Ca. 4.500 pages of academic reading in 2023; partial recovery; most read authors

In 2023 I have logged 4.546 pages of academic reading with authors identified, distributed among 442 different authors. While not quite back at old heights, this is a significant step up from the lackluster reading of the last few years when I was in leadership positions (2019-2022), and was frustrated by not having time to read. In the good old days early in my academic career, however, I read close to 10.000 pages a year. As a Professor, I would absolutely like to have more time to read than I have had the last year. 

These were the most read authors in 2023.

2023 totals updated (words written)

After a little more writing today, these are the updated, corrected totals for Autumn 2023 and the year 2023 as a whole: Altogether I logged 12.040 words written this Autumn. With a further 23.377 words written in Spring, this brings this year´s total up to 35.417 words. 

Altogether I have logged 236.053 words written over the last 5 years (2019-2023).

 

See also:

#35; 2023 totals (words written)

The academic year 2023 in review

This year has been a special year for me in that I returned to a scientific position on Friday January 6th after 2 years as Head of department (after having been Vice-Dean of Research the 2 previous years, resulting in 4 years in academic leadership 2019-2023). For the first time in years, by Summer, I no longer held any leadership positions. In the course of the year I was replaced as steering group leader of Cognitive lab at University of Stavanger, and stepped down as President of the Nordic Association for Semiotic Studies (NASS), returning to the position as Secretary of NASS. An unhappy consequence of my resignation as Head of department was that my Scientific assistant Jan Karlstrøm´s position was terminated earlier than initially planned, but our collaboration on two scientific articles will continue until completion. In Spring, I had some time for academic updating, which in effect mostly amounted to getting to the bottom of my email inbox over the course of several weeks, and a visit to Oxford University.

At the Department of social studies, I have been involved with teaching in collaboration with Christian Wedler in a course on law and ethics in Spring, and Ex.phil. in the Autumn (all teaching by me, grading by me in collaboration with Rune Falch from University of Bergen). Both courses are part of the department´s bachelor in psychology. In the Autumn I also gave a couple of lectures in the university´s new course on sustainability and green transition, coordinated by Andra Riandita at the UIS Business School.

I have supervised Joakim Jiri Haaland in his ph.d. studies and co-supervised Jacob Tom in his, with Jacob going through with his midterm evaluation in September. I have had some extra research time for working on my book project Captured: CCS and the fight for the soul of the environmental movement, have taken part in the national editorial board of the new Stavanger-based festival on philosophy and science "Wonderful World", which was first held in June this year, and have hosted Lenart Škof, Professor of philosophy and religious studies at Alma Mater Europaea in Ljubljana, Slovenia, on an Erasmus exchange in December. Meanwhile, I took up the responsibility as guest editor, along with Carlo Brentari at University of Trento, for a special issue of Biosemiotics on the topic of "Umwelt theory and phenomenology", which will be published next Summer. I also co-wrote two consultative statements issued by Norway´s Council for animal ethics, and was in the Summer of 2023 reappointed as a member of the council for 4 more years.

In 2023, my paper "Existential universals: Biosemiosis and existential semiosis" was reprinted as a chapter in the anthology Transcending Signs – Essays in Existential Semiotics edited by Eero Tarasti and published by De Gruyter (Berlin). My article "The study of past Umwelten" was published in a special issue of Discipline Filosophische (Italy) edited by Vallori Rasini, and my chapter "Umwelt theory for practitioners: Semiotic guidelines for application in a more-than-human descriptive phenomenology" was published in the book set Open Semiotics, edited by Amir Biglari and published by L’Harmattan (Paris). My introductory chapter "Nosology and Semiotics" appeared in the book Organ Crosstalk in Acute Kidney Injury: Basic Concepts and Clinical Practices, which was edited by Carlo Guido Musso & Adrian Covic and published by Springer Nature, and I co-authored the short communication "Biosemiotic Achievement Award for the Year 2022", published in Biosemiotics, with Ludmila Lackova & Ahti-Veikko Juhani Pietarinen. Finally, my article "Wasted GDP in the USA" was published in Humanities & Social Sciences Communications.

Among my personal achievements this year, I have given a scientific lecture for the UNDP´s Human Development Reports Office in March, seen my article "Wasted GDP in the USA" be mentioned in about 1500 tweets, and reached 1.000 citations by the count of Google Scholar. I further gave a keynote speech at the conference "Contemporary Umwelt Analysis: Applications for Culture and Ecological Relations" in Tartu, Estonia, in April - which also resulted in an extended interview with Martin Avila and me by Thorolf van Walsum - and was an invited speaker at the research colloquium «After Nagel: Science and the phenomenology of animals subjects” held in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, in March, at the “Henrik Steffens – The Prophet of the Anthropocene?” conference held in Stavanger in September, and at Dyreetikkonferansen (the Norwegian animal ethics conference) 2023, held in Oslo in December. Also, an interview by Norway´s national broadcaster NRK with Erica von Essen and me on the ethics of wolf hunting was featured in NRK TV´s daily news program Dagsrevyen as well as the popular weekly comedy show Nytt på Nytt.

In 2023, I have engaged in new collaborations, which include commencing article work with my department colleague and legal scholar Maren Sagvaag Retland, with Thomas Hylland Eriksen, based at the University of Oslo, with Martin Drenthen at Radboud University in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, and with Søren Nors Nielsen at Aalborg University, Denmark. Of larger research consortia, I am thankful to have been included in the astrobiology-themed book project Mars and the Earthlings, with initial contact made via David Dunér in Lund, Sweden, and in the "Live better" research consortium led by Kuba Krys, based at Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw, Poland. In the latter, I am currently gaining experience with international quantitative surveys.

I have done what I mention in this post within a work year that has been shorter than usual for me - around 2.500 work hours, compared with around 3,000 work hours in previous years. This has allowed me to basically have weekends and evenings off from academic work, making for a healthier balance in my life.

See also:

#35; 2023 totals (words written)

#35; 2023 totals (words written)

Today I have had what ended up as half a writing day. The total for Autumn 2023 is then 35 writing days, with all whole and half days added up. 

Altogether I logged 11.986 words written this Autumn. With a further 23.377 words written in Spring, this brings this year´s total up to 35.363 words. This compares to 42.112 words in 2019, 84.739 words in 2020,  41.178 words in 2021, and 32.607 words in 2022. At some 35.000 words, this year´s total is only slightly higher than last year´s total.

The figure below shows my "most written texts" this Autumn, in number of words.

42 exam papers in Ex.phil. graded

Over the last few days I have graded 42 exam papers in Ex.phil. at University of Stavanger´s Department of social studies (bachelor in psychology), along with an external examiner.

#34,5

Today I have had half a writing day, #34,5 this Autumn, devoted to the article "Hva Arne Næss kan lære oss om økonomifagets tverrfaglighet", which I co-write with Jan Karlstrøm and Thomas Hylland Eriksen, adding some 150 words to the text in the process.

#34

Today I have had half a writing day, #34 this Autumn, with some 200 words added to our article on Arne Næss and his views on economics and my book project Captured.

Interviewed on treatment of animals on NRK P2´s Ekko, with Andreas Haga

Today I was interviewed on NRK P2´s radio program Ekko, along with Andreas Haga, with Rikke Eckoff as program manager, on why we treat animals so differently. I was presented as Professor of philosophy at University of Stavanger, and a member of Norway´s Council for animal ethics. The section, which was recorded live, lasts for some 20 minutes.

#33,5; article "Kan velferd og miljø måles i forlengelsen av BNP?" submitted to Samfunnsøkonomen

Over the last three days I have altogether conducted half a writing day, with some work done on my contribution to Encyclopedia of Ecology, updates received concerning the book Mars and the Earthlings and, indirectly, my book project Captured. Today I finally finished editing the article "Kan velferd og miljø måles i forlengelsen av BNP" (Can welfare and environment be measured in extension of GDP?), which I have co-written with Jan Karlstrøm, and which I just submitted to the Norwegian academic journal Samfunnsøkonomen.

The number of completed writing days this Autumn is now 33,5.

Abstract for IACS5 (Lund, Sweden): "The crisis of mechanistic science seen through the lens of the nature crisis"

I have just composed and submitted the abstract below for my plenary talk at the 5th conference of the International Association for Cognitive Semiotics (IACS5), to be held in Lund, Sweden in August 2024.

***

The crisis of mechanistic science seen through the lens of the nature crisis 

Morten Tønnessen  

Edmund Husserl (1954, 1970) famously thematized science´ forgetting of the lifeworld. In a somewhat similar way, Jakob von Uexküll (1956 [1940]) decried the ´meaning-blind´ biology of his time. Drawing on the fact that the experience of animals is constrained by the sensory and behavioral repertoire of each organism and takes place within the context of species-specific configurations of time and space (von Uexküll 1928), the Umwelt theory he developed was programmatically framed as subjective biology. While he applied the Umwelt perspective to humans as well, particularly in von Uexküll 1956 [1934], unfortunately, human Umwelten remained undertheorized in his work. Hannah Arendt, however, discussed the human condition and observed a crisis within the natural sciences play out as an inability to be relatable to normal speech and thought (Arendt 1958). Although she saw the significance of our evolving global perspective and power, which is today often conceptualized in terms of the Anthropocene (Steffen et al. 2011), Arendt failed to acknowledge the decisive difference our anthropocentric bias makes in matters of ontology and epistemology alike. From the perspective of Umwelt phenomenology, today´s environmental crisis can be conceived of as an ontological crisis (Tønnessen 2003) involving the extinction and marginalization of myriads of lifeworlds. As is well established, the environmental crisis is characterized by extensive anthropogenic environmental change. This can be conceptualized in terms of Umwelt transitions (Tønnessen 2009). The ongoing nature crisis is most blatantly observable in rapidly escalating climate change, and the well-documented marginalization of wild terrestrial mammals, which now account for only 4% of terrestrial mammalian biomass (Bar-On et al. 2018). Arguably, the last decades´ scientific neglect, theoretically and methodologically, of the agency, subjectivity, and worth of living beings has contributed to this intensifying and deepening nature crisis. With its objectivistic, mechanistic perspective on the natural world, the scientific enterprise has in practice facilitated and helped justify a real-life objectification, de-souling, exploitation, and commodification of living beings as mere means and resources. It is high time to replace this outdated and harmful outlook with a philosophically based scientific framework more fit for the 21st century. One way forward entails acknowledging the semiotic agency of all that lives (Sharov & Tønnessen 2023), and start planning for the socio-ecological and economic transformations that will be required to solve the environmental crisis in the next few decades (Tønnessen 2021). This will have to involve a serious rethinking of the human condition (Tønnessen, forthcoming).  

REFERENCES 

Arendt, Hannah 1958. The Human Condition. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. 

Bar-On, Yinon M., Rob Phillips, and Ron Milo 2018. The biomass distribution on Earth. PNAS 115(25) (2018): 6506–6511. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1711842115. Includes Supplementary Information Appendix. 

Husserl, Edmund 1954. Die Krisis der europäischen Wissenschaften und die Tranzendentale Phänomenologie (Husserliana: Gesammelte Werke 6). Edited by Walter Biemel. Extended version, with appendices. Haag: Martin Nijhoff. 

Husserl, Edmund 1970. The Crisis of European Sciences and Transcendental Phenomenology: An Introduction to Phenomenological Philosophy. Translation of (and selection from) Husserl 1954 by David Carr. Evanston, Illinois: Northwestern University Press. 

Sharov, Alexei and Morten Tønnessen 2021: Semiotic Agency: Science beyond Mechanism (Biosemiotics 25). Springer Nature. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-89484-9 

Steffen, Will, Jacques Grinevald, Paul Crutzen, and John McNeill. The Anthropocene: Conceptual and Historical Perspectives”. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A 369 (2011): 842–867. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2010.0327  

Tønnessen, Morten 2003. Umwelt Ethics. Sign Systems Studies 31 (1): 281–299. https://doi.org/10.12697/SSS.2003.31.1.13  

Tønnessen, Morten 2009. Umwelt Transitions: Uexküll and Environmental Change. Biosemiotics 2 (1): 47–64. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12304-008-9036-y  

Tønnessen, Morten 2021. Anticipating the societal transformation required to solve the environmental crisis in the 21st century. Sign Systems Studies 49 (1/2): 12–62. https://doi.org/10.12697/SSS.2021.49.1-2.02    

Tønnessen, Morten, forthcoming. A biosemiotic perspective on the human condition and the environmental crisis. In Lenart Škof, Sashinungla, Sigridur Thorgeirsdottir (eds.), Elemental-Embodied Thinking for a New Era (Sophia Studies in Cross-cultural Philosophy of Traditions and Cultures 42). Springer. 

Uexküll, Jakob von 1928. Theoretische Biologie. 2nd edition. Berlin: J. Springer. 

Uexküll, Jakob von 1956 [1934/1940]. A Foray into the Worlds of Animals and Humans – with A Theory of Meaning (Posthumanities 12). Transl. Joseph D. O¨Neil. Minneapolis & London: University of Minnesota Press.

Google Scholar: 1008 citations; "Semiotic agency" book now #9; tied at #1 in 2023

According to my Google Scholar profile,  my research has by now attracted 1.008 citations (+8 since December 5th), including 141 in 2023 (+6 since December 5th).

The book Semiotic agency: Science beyond agency, written by Alexei Sharov and me, is now #9 of my publications in terms of all-time citations, with 30 citations, 19 of which from this year, placing it tied in first place with my 2009 article "Umwelt transitions: Uexküll and environmental change" for 2023 citations.

My i10-index remains 36 and my h-index 18.

Research leave application declined

Yesterday I was notified by the Faculty of Social Sciences that my research leave application for the academic year 2024-25, which I would have used to finish my book project Captured: CCS and the fight for the soul of the environmental movement, has been declined.

See also:

Research leave application submitted (October 27th)

Council for animal ethics chronicle in print version of Nationen today

Our chronicle on behalf of Norway´s Council for animal ethics "Brennende etiske temaer knyttet til dyrevelferd i Norge" (literally: Burning ethical themes related to animal welfare in Norway) is today included in the print version of the Norwegian daily Nationen.

See also: 

Chronicle on animal welfare challenges in Norway published in Nationen online

Greenhouse Research talk by Lenart Skof moderated; Erasmus exchange

Yesterday, on Wednesday December 13th, I moderated Lenart Skof´s The Greenhouse Research talk “From Forgetting of Air to (post-)Anthropocene: Sketches for Respiratory Paradigm Shift in Environmental Humanities» at the University of Stavanger. Around 10 people attended.

I am hosting an Erasmus exchange by Lenart Skof this week.

Chronicle on animal welfare challenges in Norway published in Nationen online

Today the chronicle "Brennende etiske temaer knyttet til dyrevelferd i Norge", which I co-wrote with Cecilie Mejdell, Knut Bøe and Kristian Ellingsen-Dalskau, has been published online in the Norwegian daily Nationen.

"Wasted GDP in the USA" included in collection "Towards a wellbeing economy"

My article "Wasted GDP in the USA" appears to have been included in the Humanities & Social Sciences Communications Collection "Towards a wellbeing economy", which has submission deadline December 31st and is edited by Milena Büchs, Theocharis Kromydas, Hiroaki Matsuura, Prajal Pradhan & Claudimar Pereira da Veiga. For now, 8 articles are included in the collection.

Presentation on love and knowledge given at Dyreetikkonferansen 2023; panel discussion participation

Today I have taken part in Dyreetikkonferansen 2023 (the Norwegian animal ethics conference 2023) at Litteraturhuset in Oslo, which had the theme «Er kjærlighet nok? Når omsorgen for dyr går galt» (Is love enough? When care for animals goes wrong). I had a 20 minute presentation, "Kjærlighet og kunnskap – henger det sammen? Del II" (Love and knowledge - are they connected? Part II)*, and participated in a concluding panel discussion, titled "Hvordan best forebygge vanskjøtsel og mishandling av dyr" (How to best prevent neglect and abuse of animals). Some 60 people attended physically, and at least 40 more online. The whole conference is available via YouTube post-event as well - here (my presentation starts at ca. -3hrs57m).

* Turid Buvik delivered Part I of the same theme, from a different point of view.

Featured in Dyreprat´s short videos introducing animal welfare and animal ethics

I am featured, along with Cecilie Mejdell, in Dyreprat´s Instagram videos "Did you know?", which presents the fundamental features of animal welfare and animal ethics, on behalf of Norway´s Council for animal ethics. The making of the videos were coordinated by Erica Hogstad Fjæran).

#33

Today I have had the 33rd writing day this Autumn, with some 1.100 words added to our GDP review article and a couple of thousand words deleted, and the article finished.

Google Scholar: 1000 citations; updated Google Scholar history

According to Google Scholar - cf. my profile - I have now been cited 1000 times (+10 since November 17th). This includes 135 citations so far in 2023 (+9 since November 17th), and altogether 699 citations since 2018. My i10-index remains 36 and my h-index 18. As shown below, the accumulated citations of my work have increased by a factor of 10 since 2016, and doubled since the winter of 2021.

Updated Google Scholar history (cf. my March 2023 post):    

My first Google Scholar citation occurred in 2002.  

By April 2013 I had 38 citations, and a verified Google Scholar profile.

I passed 100 citations in the winter of 2016.    

I passed 200 citations in the summer of 2017.    

I passed 300 citations in the summer of 2018.    

I passed 400 citations in the autumn of 2019.    

I passed 500 citations in the spring of 2021.    

I passed 600 citations in the autumn of 2021.    

I passed 700 citations in the winter of 2022.    

I passed 800 citations in the autumn of 2022.  

I passed 900 citations in the spring of 2023.

I passed 1000 citations in the autumn of 2023.

#32

Today I have had half a writing day, with some 200 words added to our GDP review article. The accumulated number of writing days so far this Autumn is now 32.

To contribute to Sign Systems Studies special issue on Umwelt theory

My proposed paper "Applied Umwelt theory – in the context of descriptive phenomenology and phenomenological triangulation" has been accepted for inclusion in the special issue “Contemporary applications of umwelt theory” of Sign Systems Studies. A full manuscript is due March 1st.

#31,5

Today I have had what ended up as half a writing day, bringing the Autumn´s total up to 31,5, with some work done on my book manuscript Captured and our GDP review article, and some 100 words written altogether.

#31

Today I have had half a writing day, with some 300 words added to the chapter "Ecological semiotics" which I am co-writing for Encyclopedia of Ecology. The number of writing days carried out so far this semester is now 31.

Wengrow´s UIS Steffens lecture attended

Today I have attended the inaugural Henrik Steffens Lecture, the beginning of a new annual lecture series at the University of Stavanger, namely David Wengrow´s talk "A new history of humanity and the roots of inequality", the Henrik Steffens Lecture 2023, along with a few hundred others.

#30,5

Today I have had half a writing day, #30,5 this Autumn, with some work done on the GDP review article I co-write with Jan Karlstrøm, and in preparation of the chapter "Ecological semiotics" which I co-write with Søren Nors Nielsen for Encyclopedia of Ecology.

Copenhagen biosemiotics presentation "A biosemiotic perspective on the human condition & the environmental crisis" available online in PDF format

My presentation "A biosemiotic perspective on the human condition & the environmental crisis" from the 23rd Gathering in biosemiotics, held in Copenhagen, Denmark in August earlier this year, has been made available in PDF format online, along with other conference presentations.

#30

Today I have had a writing day, #30 this Autumn, devoted to finishing - soon - the GDP review article I co-write with Jan Karlstrøm, and some 200 words added to the text. Getting close to the finish line now.

My 10 most accessed articles with Springer Nature; ca. 44.000 accesses combined

These are my most accessed articles published by Springer Nature according to info from their editorial system Snapp:

1. The Ethics of Laying Hen Genetics Authors (Mia Fernyhough et al., Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics, 2019) 12.924

2. Umwelt Transitions: Uexküll and Environmental Change (Biosemiotics, 2009) 5.155

3. Wasted GDP in the USA (Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 2023) 5.144

4. Phenomenology and Biosemiotics (Morten Tønnessen, Timo Maran & Alexei Sharov, Biosemiotics, 2018) 4.648

5. Jesper Hoffmeyer’s Biosemiotic Legacy (Morten Tønnessen, Alexei Sharov & Timo Maran, Biosemiotics, 2019) 3.279

6. Current Human Ecology in the Amazon and beyond: a Multi-Scale Ecosemiotic Approach (Biosemiotics, 2020) 3.041

7. Towards Synthesis of Biology and Semiotics (Alexei Sharov, Timo Maran & Morten Tønnessen, Biosemiotics, 2015) 2.672

8. Biosemiotic Achievement Award for the Year 2020 (Claudio Julio Rodríguez Higuera & Morten Tønnessen, Biosemiotics, 2021) 2.644

9. Comprehending the Semiosis of Evolution (Alexei Sharov, Timo Maran & Morten Tønnessen, Biosemiotics, 2016) 2.546

10. Making the Umwelt Bubble of the Modern Synthesis Burst (Biosemiotics, 2021) 2.131

Combined these 10 articles have been accessed 44.184 times to date. Of these, 26.116 accesses concerns articles published in Biosemiotics.

#29

Today I have had half a writing day devoted to the GDP review article I co-write, with some 50 words added to the text. The accumulated number of writing days this Autumn is now 29.

6th Ex.phil. seminar; done with teaching this term

Today I have given the 6th and final seminar in Ex.phil. as part of University of Stavanger´s bachelor in psychology at Department of social studies, in two rounds. The topic today was political philosophy, and exam preparations. This completes my teaching this Autumn.

#28,5

Today I have had half a writing day, #28,5 this Autumn, with some 300 words added to the GDP review article I co-write with Jan Karlstrøm.

#28

Today I have had half a writing day with some 300 words written altogether, and work done on the article I co-write on Arne Næss and his views on economics, and my book project Captured on CCS. The number of writing days so far this Autumn is up to 28.

12th Ex.phil. lecture

Today I gave the 12th and final lecture in this Autumn´s Ex.phil. as part of the University of Stavanger´s bachelor in psychology. The topic was justice and fairness in the context of political philosophy.

"Wasted GDP in the USA" close to 5000 reads

My article "Wasted GDP in the USA" now has 4.910 Article accesses. This is up 1.211 since Monday morning and up 1.892 since last Friday. Nice development.

#27,5; abstract for special issue of Sign Systems Studies on Umwelt theory

Today I have had what ended up as half a writing day, bringing the Autumn´s total so far up to 27,5, with an abstract written for my prospective contribution to a special issue of Sign Systems Studies titled “Contemporary applications of umwelt theory”, and a little work done on my book project Captured, and some 300 words composed in total.

***

Work title: Applied Umwelt theory – in the context of descriptive phenomenology and phenomenological triangulation  

Author: Morten Tønnessen  

Abstract for the special issue “Contemporary applications of umwelt theory”, Sign Systems Studies  

In earlier work, I have argued that a genuine ´Uexküllian phenomenology´ can be derived from the Umwelt theory of Jacob von Uexküll and that such a phenomenology is capable of accounting for the subjective experience of both humans and animals. With its foundation in contemporary biosemiotics, such a modern, empirically informed phenomenology is particularly relevant for the study of human-animal relations and interaction in societal and ecological settings. In a recent chapter, I have outlined a scientific method for conducting qualitative studies of human and animal lifeworlds by introducing a semiotically informed descriptive phenomenology. While descriptive phenomenology in its current forms is typically only applicable to the study of human lifeworlds, a reiteration of descriptive phenomenology that draws on umwelt theory can be designed to be non-anthropocentric and pluralistic. In this article, I will elaborate on a more-than-human descriptive phenomenology and explain how it can be applied within the humanities and social sciences as well as in a natural science context. Furthermore, I will discuss how umwelt theory can be made use of as part of a methodology of phenomenological triangulation, in which 1st, 2nd and 3rd person perspectives are combined in studies of one and the same study object. This methodology draws on ideas developed in cognitive semiotics by Jordan Zlatev, Göran Sonesson, and others. Overall, the aim of this article is to contribute to integrating biosemiotics and phenomenology and demonstrating the relevance of umwelt theory for phenomenology, and vice versa.

Google Scholar: 990 citations, "Semiotic agency" and "Umwelt transitions" most cited so far in 2023

According to my Google Scholar profile, my research has to date attracted 990 citations (+12 since October 29th), including 126 so far in 2023 (+11).  

My i10-index remains 36 and my h-index 18.

Most cited so far in 2023:

1. Semiotic agency: Science beyond mechanism (2022) 17 (#12 overall)

2. Umwelt transitions: Uexküll and environmental change (2009) 17 (#1 overall)

3. The ethics of laying hen genetics (2020) 9 (#3 overall)

"If looks could kill" paper presented in Cognitive Semiotics Seminar at Lund University

Yesterday I presented my paper «If looks could kill: The human ecology of visible and overlooked worlds in the perspective of Umwelt phenomenology» digitally at the Cognitive Semiotics Seminar, with some listening in a room in Lund, Sweden, and more online, and altogether some 18 people attending.

"Wasted GDP in the USA" mentioned in Counterpunch news story

My article Wasted GDP in the USA, published recently in Humanities & Social Sciences Communications, is mentioned today in an article by the US online news outlet Counterpunch, in the article "Roaming Charges: Politics of the Lesser Exterminators". Excerpts below.

"Wasted GDP in the USA" reaching 3000 Article accesses; shared 1500+ times on Twitter; Online attention score as 1 in 1000 articles

My article "Wasted GDP in the USA" has now been shared 1544 times on Twitter, resulting in an Online attention score of 833, according to Altmetrics´ article metrics. The number of article accesses is now 3018 (+482 since Wednesday). In terms of Online attention, the article is ranked 411th of the 296,985 tracked articles of a similar age in all journals, and it is ranked 1st of the 191 tracked articles of a similar age in Humanities and Social Sciences Communications.

Their more detailed article metrics says that the article now ranks #21.096 of all articles tracked by Altmetric altogether, which is about 24,8 million articles. This means it is among the 1 in 1000 articles with the most Online attention. It ranks as #4 of 1.605 articles from Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, and as #411 of 296.985 articles of a similar age generally. The article has been mentioned in 1544 tweets by 1366 Twitter/X users, with 3,3 million followers in total.

Altmetric also lists mention of my article by one news outlet, namely Counterpunch. It has also been extensively described in a Spanish newspaper article in La Politica Online.

See also:

"Wasted GDP in the USA" shared 1200 times on Twitter, 800 reads last two days (November 15th)

#27

Today I have had half a writing day devoted to the GDP review article I co-write with Jan Karlstrøm with some 100 words added. I also had a few ideas as to defining wasted growth. Number of writing days this Autumn is up to 27.

#26,5

Today I have had half a writing day, bringing this Autumn´s total so far up to 26,5 days, with some 500 words added to my contributions to the book Mars and the Earthlings, and my latest contributions submitted.

News story on "Wasted GDP in the USA" article in Spanish online newspaper La Politica Online

My journal article "Wasted GDP in the USA" is featured in a news story in the Spanish online newspaper La Politica Online, titled ""PIB desperdiciado": cuando el crecimiento económico no repercute en el bienestar humano y social" (""Wasted GDP": when economic growth has no impact on human and social well-being"). The journalist who wrote the story, which features extensive description of my article, and some comments made by Jason Hickel on Twitter, is Andrés Arctis.

This is what is currently shown on the front page of the newspaper:

11th Ex.phil. lecture

Today I gave the 11th lecture out of 12 this Autumn in Ex.phil. as part of the University of Stavanger´s bachelor in psychology. The topic was political freedom.

"Wasted GDP in the USA" shared 1200 times on Twitter, 800 reads last two days

According to the latest Altmetric data my article "Wasted GDP in the USA" now has an Online attention score of 706, after having been mentioned by 1202 X users (Twitter users). This includes mentions by 49 scientists and 18 science communicators, as well as 1122 "members of the public". The article is partlularly widely shared in Spain (200+). The Online attention score is +140 since yesterday, with 400 more Twitter users sharing the article the last day. According to the article metrics (journal homepage), it now has 2536 article accesses (+785 since Monday), and the Online attention score places the article as #488 among 288.745 articles of a similar age, and #1 among the 183 tracked articles of a similar age in Humanities and Social Sciences Communications.

"The ethics of laying hen genetics" with 2.500 reads on ResearchGate

The article "The ethics of laying hen genetics", which I co-wrote and which was published in Journal of agricultural and environmental ethics, has reached 2.500 reads on ResearchGate. It has been read about 13.000 times on the journal´s homepage.

300+ more tweets about my article "Wasted GDP in the USA" the last day

My paper "Wasted GDP in the USA" has according to Altmetric now been shared in 876 tweets by a total of 802 Twitter users, with a potential reach in terms of followers of 2,3 million. This results in an Online attention score of 566, which is +325 since yesterday. 334 more Twitter users have shared the article since yesterday.

This is my Twitter profile.

Council for animal ethics meeting attended

Today I have attended the first meeting of the newly appointed Council for animal ethics (in Norway), at Thon hotel Opera in Oslo. I represent animal protection NGOs in the council.

"Wasted GDP in the USA" now read by a few hundred a day; 468 tweeters engaged; in top percentile in Online attention

My article "Wasted GDP in the USA" now has 1.751 Accesses and an Altmetric score of 241. This is up 714 (accesses) and 84 (Altmetric score) in two days, since Saturday. According to the detailed article metrics provided by Altmetric, the article has been linked to by 468 tweeters (up 202 since Saturday). This places it within the top percentile in terms of Online attention both for articles of a similar age in Humanities & Social Sciences Communications (where it is placed #1 of 177 articles), and all similar articles of a similar age (where it is placed #1.699 of 283.597 articles). Tweeters include 30 scientists and 9 science communicators, according to Altmetric.

See also:

"Wasted GDP in the USA" widely shared on Twitter after Jason Hickel tweets; in 1st percentile regarding Online attention (November 11)

"Wasted GDP in the USA" with 9 recommendations on ResearchGate

My article "Wasted GDP in the USA" now has 9 recommendations on ResearchGate, which is a doubling in a few days, and high compared to the mere 63 reads there so far.

UNDP´s USA page listing "Wasted GDP in the USA" article under Recent media

My article "Wasted GDP in the USA" is referred to on the UNDP´s USA representation office homepage, under "Recent media".

"Wasted GDP in the USA" widely shared on Twitter after Jason Hickel tweets; in 1st percentile regarding Online attention

My article "Wasted GDP in the USA" is gaining some traction after Jason Hickel posted about the article on Thursday November 9th. His initial tweet has been retweeted 266 times, liked by 668, and viewed some 45.000 times.

According to the article metrics provided by the journal Humanities & Social Sciences Communications via Altmetric, the article now has 1.037 article accesses (vs. close to 400 a couple of days ago), and scores 157 on Online attention (Attention Score), with 268 tweeters engaged. This makes it ranked 3,301st of 278,350 tracked articles of similar age generally, and in the 1st percentile of 175 tracked articles of a similar age published in Humanities & Social Sciences Communications.

5th Ex.phil. seminar

Today I have given the 5th seminar in Ex.phil. as part of the University of Stavanger´s bachelor in psychology (in two rounds), out of 6 in total this Autumn.

#26; Pinker

Today I have had a writing day, with some 350 words added to my contributions to the book Mars and the Earthlings, some dissemination work done in relation to my article "Wasted GDP in the USA", and some reading done in relation to my "wasted growth" articles project.

Also, I heard Steven Pinker present on the topic of "Progress" today, at Schizofrenidagene (Stavanger).

"Wasted GDP in the USA" now in RePEc - already in other services

My article "Wasted GDP in the USA", published in Humanities & Social Sciences Communications, is now also available via RePEc (Research Papers in Economics). It was already listed via LibKey, and available in full via UIS Brage, ResearchGate and Academia.edu (be aware that the latter service is a hassle).

#25

Today I have had half a writing day with work done on my contributions to the book Mars and the Earthlings, and some 100 words written. The number of writing days this Autumn is up to 25.

10th Ex.phil. lecture

Today I gave the 10th Ex.phil. lecture this Autumn, out of 12 in total. The topic was political philosophy and particularly social contract theory.

Three peer-reviews conducted

Over the last few weeks I have conducted three peer-reviews, for Visual Studies, Integrative Psychological and Behavioral Science and Environmental and Sustainability Indicators respectively.

To present "If looks could kill" paper in Cognitive Semiotics seminar November 16th

On Thursday November 16th, at 3-5 p.m. I will give another presentation in Lund university´s Cognitive Semiotics Seminar: "If looks could kill: The human ecology of visible and overlooked worlds in the perspective of Umwelt phenomenology". Attendance is possible physically and digitally (I will take part remotely).

See abstract, description and Zoom link here. 

#24,5

It´s been hard to find time this week, but today I have had half a writing day, with some literature search done for my book project Captured, among other things.

9th Ex.phil. lecture

Today I have given the 9th lecture in Ex.phil. this Autumn for students in the University of Stavanger´s bachelor in psychology. The topic was freedom and determinism, and other minds.

October 2023 News from the International Society for Quality-Of-Life Studies

My article "Wasted GDP in the USA" is mentioned in the email newsletter "October 2023 News from the International Society for Quality-Of-Life Studies", circulated today.

See also:

"Wasted GDP in the USA" featured in ISQOLS monthly newsletter (which concerned the "members only" newsletter)

Google Scholar: 978 citations; 115 so far in 2023

According to my Google Scholar profile, my research has to date attracted 978 citations (+11 since October 9th), including 115 citations so far in 2023 (+10 since October 9th).

My i10-index remains 36 and my h-index 18.

Research leave application submitted

Today I have applied for a research leave 2024-2025 at University of Stavanger, with a project focused on my book project Captured: CCS and the fight for the soul of the environmental movement.

4th seminar in Exphil. given

Today I have given the 4th out of 6 seminars in Ex.phil., in two rounds, in the University of Stavanger´s bachelor in psychology. The theme was broadly speaking philosophical anthropology.

#24

Today I have had a writing day devoted to work on an application related to my book project Captured: CCS and the fight for the soul of the environmental movement.

"Wasted GDP in the USA" featured in ISQOLS monthly newsletter

Mention of my article "Wasted GDP in the USA" is featured in the latest monthly email newsletter of the International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies (ISQOLS), "Members Only ISQOLS October 2023 updates and info".

#23

Today I have had half a writing day, with work done on dissemination of my article "Wasted GDP in the USA" by way of my popular science piece "A large Gross Domestic Product doesn’t necessarily lead to better lives" (published today in ScienceNorway), and some editing done on our GDP review article.

Popular science cronichle "A large Gross Domestic Product doesn’t necessarily lead to better lives" published by ScienceNorway

A popular science piece (chronicle) I have written on my article "Wasted GDP in the USA", "A large Gross Domestic Product doesn’t necessarily lead to better lives", has today been published by ScienceNorway.no. The article has been posted on the front-page, in the Researcher´s Zone, and in the thematic segment Society.

Presentation "The study of past Umwelten" to be given at 4th World Congress of Environmental History

My paper "The study of past Umwelten" has been accepted for presentation at the 4th World Congress of Environmental History, to be held in Oulu, Finland August 19-23rd 2024, as part of the panel “Environmental biography as a methodological challenge”.

8th Ex.phil. lecture given

Today I have given the 8th lecture in Ex.phil. this Autumn. The topic was the relation between body and mind.

Scheduled to speak on love and knowledge at the Norwegian Animal Ethics Conference 2023, December 12th

The program for Dyreetikkonferansen 2023, the Norwegian Animal Ethics Conference 2023, has now been released. The theme is "Er kjærlighet nok? Når omsorgen for dyr går galt" (literally: Is love enough? When care for animals goes wrong). The event is held at Litteraturhuset in Oslo on December 12th.

I am scheduled to speak about the topic "Kjærlighet og kunnskap – henger det sammen?" (Love and knowledge - is there any connection?), and take part in the panel discussion, with the theme "Hvordan best forebygge vanskjøtsel og mishandling av dyr" (How best to prevent neglect and mistreatment of animals).

NASS board meeting attended

Today I attended the board meeting of the Nordic Association for Semiotic Studies (NASS), as the organization´s Secretary.

Appointed member of scientific committee of "Traces of extinction" conference

I have agreed to be a member of the Scientific Committee of the conference "Traces of Extinction: Species Loss, Solastalgia, and Semiotics of Recovery", which is to be held at University of Tartu, Estonia, June 5–7 2024.

Abstracts are due December 1st - see the call for papers.

3rd Ex.phil. seminar held

Today I have held the 3rd seminar in Ex.phil. this Autumn, in two rounds. This means I am half-way in terms of seminar teaching this term. The topics today was ethics.

#22,5

Today I have had a writing day, #22,5 this Autumn, devoted to our GDP review article, with some 150 words written and editing done. I have also taken part in some planning regarding an article I co-write with Joakim Jiri Haaland, who I supervise (ph.d.). 

“The study of past Umwelten” transfer candidate for Fourth World Congress of Environmental History

I have been notified that my paper “The study of past Umwelten” has been considered as a transfer paper for the Fourth World Congress of Environmental History, “Transitions, transformations and transdisciplinarity: Histories beyond history”, to be held at University of Oulu, Finland 19th-23rd of August 2024. I have now selected three possibly relevant panels for transfer, and slighly revised the conference abstract, in three different versions.

See also:

Environmental crisis paper to be presented at Fourth World Congress of Environmental History

7th Ex.phil. lecture held

Today I gave the 7th Ex.phil. lecture this Autumn. The topic was philosophical anthropology / view of humanity.

Havana conference om comparative welfare and people`s experience of the welfare system cancelled

The conference “Comparative Welfare: Cuban and Nordic Welfare: People`s experience of the welfare system”, which was to be held in Havana, Cuba, November 27th to December 1st, has been cancelled by the University of Havana. I was invited to speak as a keynote speaker.

#21,5

Today I have had a writing day, with a popular science piece drafted based on my article "Wasted GDP in the USA", a little editing done in the GDP review article I co-write with Jan Karlstrøm, and some planning done regarding my book manuscript Captured: The fight for the soul of the environmental movement. 

#20,5

Today I have had a writing day, #20,5 this Autumn, mainly devoted to a co-written article with Martin Drenthen work-titled "Understanding persistent erroneous beliefs about wolf behaviour in light of ideas about animal agency", with some 700 words written and a disposition outlined.

#19,5

Today I have had what ended up as a full writing day, with some 1.100 words added to Mars and the Earthlings. Also, my article "Wasted GDP in the USA" was published (see separate post), so I had some dissemination to do. This is the most productive writing day so far this Autumn in terms of number of words written. Number of writing days this Autumn is up to 19,5.

Article "Wasted GDP in the USA" published

My article "Wasted GDP in the USA" has today been published in Humanities & Social Sciences Communications, in Open Access format.

Reference:

Tønnessen, Morten 2023. Wasted GDP in the USA. Humanities & Social Sciences Communications 10: 681. Published October 11th 2023. With Supplementary Information Appendix. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-023-02210-y 

Second lecture given in UIS sustainability course

Today I gave the second lecture in "Bærekraft og grønn omstilling" (Sustainability and green transition, SV100) at University of Stavanger. The topic was "Miljøetikk med særlig vekt på klimaetikk" (environmental ethics with emphasis on climate ethics). 10-11 people attended.

#18,5

Today I have had half a writing day, #18,5 this Autumn, with work done on Mars and the Earthlings, with some 300 words written. I also signed a contract with Elsevier for my chapter to the Encyclopedia of Ecology (3rd edition), "Ecological semiotics", and communicated about the publication yesterday of "Biosemiotic Achievement Award for the Year 2022". 

"Biosemiotic Achievement Award for the Year 2022" published

The announcement text "Biosemiotic Achievement Award for the Year 2022", which I co-wrote with Ludmila Lackova and Ahti-Veikko Juhani Pietarinen, has been published online in Biosemiotics. Here is a link to SharedIt (readable text).

Abstract:

The Annual Biosemiotic Achievement Award was established at the annual meeting of the International Society for Biosemiotic Studies (ISBS) in 2014, in conjunction with Springer and Biosemiotics. It seeks to recognize papers published in the journal that present novel and potentially important contributions to biosemiotic research, its scientific impact, and its future prospects. Here the winner of the Biosemiotic Achievement Award for 2022 is announced: The award goes to Sigmund Ongstad for his article “Simple Utterances but Complex Understanding? Meta-studying the Fuzzy Mismatch between Animal Semantic Capacities in Varied Contexts”.

Reference:

 — Ludmila Lackova, Ahti-Veikko Juhani Pietarinen & Morten Tønnessen 2023. Biosemiotic Achievement Award for the Year 2022. Biosemiotics. Published online October 9th 2023. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12304-023-09544-9 

Google Scholar: 100+ citations in 2023, 967 in total

According to Google Scholar (cf. my profile), my research has to date attracted 967 citations (+14 since September 21st), including 105 so far in 2023 (+16 since September 21st). 2023 is now my 3rd best year in terms of number of citations, behind 2022 (181) and 2021 (147).

My i10-index remains 36 and my h-index 18.

With 24 citations, 15 of which from 2023, Semiotic agency: Science beyond mechanism (co-written with Alexei Sharov, published officially in 2021 but in effect in 2022) is now #13 on the list of my most cited texts, tied with "Umwelt trajectories" (2014) and "Wolf land" (2010).

My most cited text remains "Umwelt transitions: Uexküll and environmental change" (2009), with 82 citations altogether, including 16 this year (more than any other year).

#18

Yesterday and today I have had half a writing day, proof-reading my forthcoming article "Wasted GDP in the USA", which will soon appear in Humanities & Social Sciences Communications.

6th lecture given in Ex.phil.; early evaluation conducted

Today I have given the 6th lecture in Ex.phil. as part of the University of Stavanger´s bachelor in psychology. The topic were the hermeneutics of suspicion, focused on Nietzsche and Freud, and ethics of care and proximity.

The lecture was concluded with a brief session with "early evaluation" (tidligdialog).

Paper "A biosemiotic perspective on the environmental crisis" presented at "(Un)Common Worlds III" conference

Today I have presented my paper “A biosemiotic perspective on the environmental crisis" digitally at the conference "(Un)Common Worlds III – Navigating and Inhabiting Biodiverse Anthropocenes", which is organised at the University of Oulu (Finland) in collaboration with the University of Derby (UK) October 4–6th. Some 20 people attended on-site and online altogether. My presentation was given in the session “Worldlings, onto-epistemologies, and becomings”, chaired by Anna Vladimirova. The session also involved presentations by Wenrui Li and Ombre Tarragnat.

#17,5

Today I have had half a writing day, with some 150 words altogether added to my book manuscript Captured and another contribution to the book Mars and the Earthlings, and some literature search and reading done.

Lecture on environmental philosophy given

Today I have given a lecture on environmental philosophy in the cross-faculty course "Bærekraft og grønn omstilling" (Sustainability and green transition) (SV100) at University of Stavanger. Some 15 people attended.

Two books with my chapter contributions received

Yesterday I got hold of Organ Crosstalk in Acute Kidney Injury: Basic Concepts and Clinical Practices, edited by Carlo Guido Musso & Adrian Covic, which includes my introductory chapter "Nosology and Semiotics". 

Today, back in office after a week in Colombia, I had another book waiting in my mail shelf, namely volume 4, "Life and its extensions", of Open Semiotics (L’Harmattan 2023), edited by Amir Biglari, which includes my chapter "Umwelt theory for practitioners: Semiotic guidelines for application in a more-than-human descriptive phenomenology".

Environmental crisis paper to be presented at Fourth World Congress of Environmental History

I have been notofied that my paper “Anticipating the societal transformation required to solve the environmental crisis in the 21st century” has been accepted for presentation at the Fourth World Congress of Environmental History, “Transitions, transformations and transdisciplinarity: Histories beyond history”, to be held at University of Oulu, Finland 19th-23rd of August 2024, as part of the roundtable “The Human-Environmental Relationships in Critical Period of Crisis”.

Plenary “If looks could kill" given at IAVS13 in Bogotá; oddly undermined by parallel session

Today I gave my plenary speech “If looks could kill: The human ecology of visible and overlooked worlds in the perspective of Umwelt phenomenology” at the 13th conference of the International Association for Visual Semiotics (IAVS), held at Universidad de Bogotá Jorge Tadeo Lozano in Bogotá, Colombia. Only 10-16 people attended (beginning-end). Oddly, the organizers, which included the IAVS, had scheduled a session in parallel with my plenary, which defies the notion and purpose of a plenary, which is defined as "a meeting to be attended by all participants at a conference or assembly, who otherwise meet in smaller groups."

"Wasted GDP in the USA" accepted for publication in Humanities and Social Sciences Communications

I have been notified that my article "Wasted GDP in the USA" has now been accepted for publication in Humanities and Social Sciences Communications. It will appear online in a few weeks.

#17 - "Wasted GDP in the USA" accepted in principle

Yesterday and today I have had half a writing day, #17 this Autumn, with some feedback given on others´ text constributions to Mars and the Earthlings, and final editing of my forthcoming article "Wasted GDP in the USA", which has now been accepted in principle for publication in Humanities & Social Sciences Communications.

IAVS13 conference website updated

The conference website of the 13th conference of the International Association for Visual Semiotics (IAVS) has been updated, with the abstract book and presentation of the plenary speakers in English, Spanish and French. Some of the info in my bionote is outdated (namely, I am no longer Vice-dean of research, President of the Nordic assosiation for semiotic studies or Editor in chief of Biosemiotics).

A conference poster has been posted in social media.

Second seminar in Ex.phil. given

Today I have given two seminars in Ex.phil. as part of the University of Stavanger´s bachelor in psychology, with theory of science and ethics thematized. This was the second of six seminars this term.

#16,5

Today I have had a writing day, #16,5 this Autumn, with work done on our GDP review article, and some 200 words added to the text. I have also discovered my book chapter "Nosology and semiotics" in Google Books, and communicated with Elsevier about my chapter contribution to the 3rd edition of Encyclopedia of Ecology, due in 2024.

Google Scholar: 953 citations; 75 of 125 listed publications cited

According to Google Scholar (cf. my profile) my research has to date attracted 953 citations (+12 since August 8th). This includes 89 citations so far in 2023 (+10). By now, 2023 is my 4th best year in terms of number of citations, behind 2022 (181), 2021 (148) and 2016 (90).

My i10-index remains 36 and my h-index 18. This implies that 36 of my publications have been cited at least 10 times each, and that 18 of my publications have been cited at least 18 times each. Altogether, 75 of my publications have been cited, according to Google Scholar. 125 publications are listed.

Chapter "Nosology and semiotics" available for reading via Google Books

My introductory chapter "Nosology and semiotics" is available in full for reading in Google Books, as part of the book Organ Crosstalk in Acute Kidney Injury: Basic Concepts and Clinical Practices.

Fourth and fifth Ex.phil. lecture

Today I have given two lectures in Ex.phil. in the bachelor in psychology, the fourth and fifth lecture this term out of 12 in total. The topics were the fundamentals of ethics and normative ethics.

Two proposals for WCEH4 (Oulu, Finland, August 2024)

I have just submitted two proposals for the Fourth World Congress of Environmental History, to be held August 19-23rd in Oulu, Finland. 

For the panel "Animal Entanglements: new futures in multi-species pasts", I have proposed the abstract "The study of past Umwelten" based on my article by the same name.

Short abstract: I detail how past Umwelten can be studied by applying Jakob von Uexküll’s Umwelt theory and informed by contemporary science, and outline some basic assumptions in studies of past, current and future Umwelten. I also consider methodological issues related to the study of past Umwelten in particular.

Long abstract:

This presentation is based on a published article, "The study of past Umwelten" (Discipline Filosophische XXXIII(1), 2023, special issue “Jakob Von Uexküll. Biological Theory, Subjectivity And Environment”, ed. Vallori Rasini, pp. 227–247). In the article I detail how past Umwelten can be studied by applying Jakob von Uexküll’s Umwelt theory and informed by contemporary science. I argue that the methodological challenges raised by the lack of present organisms available for real-time observations and whole-body physiological studies can be partly overcome by making qualified assumptions drawn from relevant knowledge and reconstructing likely Umwelt relations. As groundwork for such studies, I outline some basic assumptions in studies of past, current and future Umwelten, consider methodological issues related to the study of past Umwelten in particular, and present a few empirical assumptions that are informative with regard to the study of past Umwelten in different historical periods. I also discuss the relevance of such studies for current conservation work, specifically contemporary discussions about de-extinction, and for economics conceived of as a branch of ecology in the fashion of ecological economics.

For the roundtable "The Human-Environmental Relationships in Critical Period of Crisis", I have proposed the abstract "Anticipating the societal transformation required to solve the environmental crisis in the 21st century" based on my article by the same name.

Short abstract: Two great challenges face humanity in the 21st century: solving an escalating environmental crisis, while also safeguarding and further improving human living conditions. I present an ecosemiotic framework for the study of societal transformations, enveloping socio-ecological developments.

Long abstract:

My contribution will be based on my published article "Anticipating the societal transformation required to solve the environmental crisis in the 21st century" (see https://ojs.utlib.ee/index.php/sss/article/view/SSS.2021.49.1-2.02). Here I present a ecosemiotic perspective on socio-ecological developments historically and with a view to the future. Two great challenges face humanity in the 21st century: solving an escalating environmental crisis, while also safeguarding and further improving human living conditions. An ecosemiotic framework for the study of societal transformations is presented and political and other normative aspects of what I call transformative semiotics are discussed. This envelops socio-cultural and socio-ecological developments framed in terms of umwelt theory and Deep Ecology. In the long run, developments in human ecology as reflected in our changing relations to non-humans are expressed in the umwelt trajectory of humankind. The question of how the environmental crisis can best be solved is therefore tantamount to the question about what direction the human umwelt trajectory should take in this century. I outline different plausible umwelt scenarios for human ecology in the 21st century, focused on business-as-usual, ecomodernist and Deep Ecology scenarios. In a concluding discussion on technology and sustainability, the scenario development eventually includes a distinction between flexible and inflexible development paths.