You may know the quote from the environmentalist filmmaker Jacques-Yves Cousteau: “We protect what we love.” There’s something quietly profound in it, because to love something, you first have to truly see it.

In the midst of an attention economy and a deepening climate crisis, art has become one of our most vital tools for shifting how we see the world; not just intellectually, but emotionally. It reminds us that we are not separate from nature. We are an extension of it, woven into the same vast, interconnected living system we call Earth. And that, for me, is what art can do: help heal the fractured relationship between modern society and the natural world.

On 25 and 26 April, I attended the Nature Lab: Earth and Eye Festival, organised by Post Creative, and that quote came rushing back to me. Watching Winds Over Mountains, directed by Nicoleta Carpineanu of Forest Without Frontiers, I was struck by its quiet power. A film about the landscape, the birds of Bulgaria’s eastern Rhodope mountains, and a group of older women in vibrant traditional dress, singing in praise of the world around them. Their culture and nature, completely intertwined. Hearing the emotion in their voices, I felt myself drawn into something larger: a collective voice of hope.

In his Commons film, David Blandy offered a different kind of invitation. Museum objects, an ancient rock, an old bone, a preserved bird, a fox, each speaking in the first person, sharing their story. It gently surfaced the concept of animacy held by many indigenous communities: the idea that the natural world has agency, a voice, a story worth hearing.

It’s from this place that conversations about rewilding and reimagining urban spaces begin to feel truly transformative. Rather than continuing to take and exploit, we might build something based on reciprocity; taking only what is given, using it well, and remaining grateful, open-eyed, and present. That’s what it felt like walking the streets of Hove together, seeing the world through different lenses.

A heartfelt thank you to Nina Emett and Pooran Desai for such a warm and inspiring event. As Pooran put it, it helped me see the whole picture and connect from the heart. Right now, that feels like exactly what’s needed.

You can watch a video clip about the festival here.