The digital environmental humanities—what is it and why do we need it? the norfish project and smartcity lifeworlds

Abstract

In the twenty-first century, we are challenged with a transformation in human collective intelligence. The key features of this transformation involve the “digital” replacing the “analogue”; design thinking and post-secularism supplanting tradition, and human perception and agency emerging as the main drivers of planetary change. The Digital Anthropocene is defined by the twenty-first century confluence of the digital revolution, global warming and social, economic, and political conflict. The digital environmental humanities can be seen as an academic response to these challenges. This chapter contends digital and geographical information science (GIScience) approaches to “Humanities Big Data” in conjunction with multidisciplinary studies on oceans and cities will be crucial in coming to terms with global climate change. This chapter defines and describes digital environmental humanities practices by featuring two case studies in this emerging field. First, the digital/GIS work-in-progress component of an Environmental History of the North Atlantic 1400–1700 project will be discussed, followed by the Imagineering of SmartCity Lifeworlds as urban-cybernetic dimensions of the “Digital Anthropocene.” Lastly, the chapter argues that literacy in the digital environmental humanities will be necessary to tackle the global humanitarian and environmental challenges of the twenty-first century.