Art, Biophilia, and Environmental Engagement: Promoting Community Resilience and Pro-Environmental Behaviors

This article explores the relationship between art and emotional well-being through the project "Biophilia and Art: Jungles and Forests", a pictorial work made by Duván López. The research assesses how an art exhibition influences the levels of eco-anxiety and solastalgia, as well as the emotional resonance between the artist's creative state and the audience's experience. The proposal includes two modalities of participation: a virtual exhibition, which is accessed by 200 participants from all over the world (aged 14-74); and a face-to-face exhibition, in Catalonia, also with 200 participants (12-70 years old). The study measures the levels of echoanxiety and solastalgia before and after the visit (in both modalities) and evaluates changes in vocal prosody. In addition, initial and final photographs of the participants are incorporated for subsequent analysis with Artificial Intelligence, in order to record changes in facial expression and other non-verbal features. It is also planned to analyze the most repeated words and generate prosody maps that relate what is said (and what is omitted) with vocal and emotional patterns. Finally, participants are asked to make a drawing that represents their emotional and sensory experience. As well as choosing from 30 colored cards, which is the color that best represents your experience and why. The project seeks not only to improve the understanding of biophilia and its effect on emotional health, but also to promote a greater commitment to sustainability and the preservation of nature. By combining these multimodal strategies, the project seeks not only to improve the understanding of biophilia and its effects on emotional health, but also to promote greater ecological empathy and commitment to sustainability. In doing so, it contributes directly to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being), by demonstrating how art can mitigate eco-anxiety and foster psychological resilience; SDG 4 (Quality Education), by integrating innovative and participatory methodologies into cultural and educational contexts; SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities), by supporting biophilic design as a strategy for healthier, more inclusive urban environments; and SDG 13 (Climate Action), by motivating participants to strengthen their connection with nature and engage in collective responses to environmental challenges. Beyond these contributions, the findings provide actionable insights for local and global socio-ecological policies, suggesting that biophilic art interventions can inform public health strategies, sustainability education, cultural programming, and climate adaptation efforts. In this sense, the findings suggest that biophilic art can act as a low-cost, scalable tool for environmental risk management and for strengthening collective resilience in the face of climate-related challenges.