Gross Habituations: Designing Digitally-Mediated Human-Forest Interactions That Break the Heart

The digitalization of forests is reshaping how humans interact with the world, often reinforcing the same harmful practices that have historically damaged ecosystems, while further distancing people from their environments. However, just as digital tools increasingly design the world, they might be (re)designed for the transition to a more sustainable world. Brechtian interactions, or, interactions that figuratively break the ‘fourth wall’ within digitally-mediated human-forest interactions to reveal users’ alienation from their environments, offer one such avenue for affording critical reflection upon one’s relationship with the more-than-human world while providing the scaffolding to build meaningful and sustainable relationships across multiple scales. This dissertation investigates how digital technologies might be designed to foster environmentally sustainable and sustaining human-forest relationships. It does this through case studies of the uneven digitalization of the Great Lakes forest, primary research into the design and use of plant identification apps and a material flow analysis of wood within the Great Lakes region. It adds urgency to calls for designers to design with the more-than-human world and argues for the need to create space for individuals to form both critical and meaningful connections between themselves and the environment.