Ecological Pilgrimage: Engaging with biodiversity through walking interventions

We have recently embarked on a research journey to explore and cultivate the idea of Ecological Pilgrimage along four hiking trails in Iceland, Norway, Finland, and Sweden. Our walks take place in areas where forestry, agriculture, industrial use, infrastructure, hunting, tourism, and nature conservation shape local ecosystems. The walks are guided by an understanding of biodiversity loss, pollution, and climate change as symptoms of a profound relational crisis, and of human–nature connectedness as key to sustainability transformations at individual and societal levels. At its core, we approach Ecological Pilgrimage as a reparative journey that enables meaningful engagement with nonhuman communities amid existential ecological crises. Rather than developing new trails, we as – for instance – what it means to approach walking as an ecologically reparative practice and how could it contribute to societal change. Welcome to walk and wonder with us!

The project is funded by Biodiversa+, 2026-2029. You can…