We first spoke with Arita on February 8th 2016. Since then Arita has continued to follow her passions. She has recently returned from her 2nd expedition to the rainforest in Papua New Guinea.
While in Papua’s New Guinea, Arita has been focusing on life in the forest. This has involved taking sound recordings of ambient sounds, birds, etc. with the goal of producing a podcast in which the forest is the main character. There has also been a focus on the birds and how they communicate with each other and the local people.
For the past two years Arita has also initiated a landscape project in the Netherlands to rewild Dutch minds and to innovate mainstream cartographic maps. Arita also shares more about starting the - Dictionary for the Future.
Arita in her own words,
“Thirty years of exploration in wild places taught me that the separation between man and nature is an idea that exists in the western mind only. Nature is not ‘out there’, we are part of it. During my travels I was struck by the intimate way herders and nomadic people relate to the natural environment. Land in those regions has agency, intelligence and spirit. Closer to home, in the Netherlands, nature is considered a resource or at best a pleasant decor. We are stuck with an outdated model of reality. Let’s explore new narratives and in doing so create the world we want to live in!”
This is a fascinating podcast which will get you to explore more of your mind and the different way of explaining the world.
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Show Notes
Welcoming Arita
Who is Arita
What is her background?
Exploring difficult ways of explaining the world
Different realities at the same time
Starting a project in Holland
Nature spirits
A new way of mapping
Mapping subjective experiences
Deep mapping
The impact of the virus on our lives
How everyone and everything is connected
Needing to explore new places
Heading out to Papa New Guinea in 2016
The challenges of the jungle
Communication with the birds in the jungle
Studying bird language
Making a podcast with the sounds
Doing pioneering research
What it was like on expedition
Making sure there were women in the team
What is ecological intelligence?
Not being spiritual or religious
Believing in nature spirits
Funding the expeditions
The power of setting a deadline
Money is important - but - Believe in your own mission
Trust in yourself
Getting all the information she needed
The next steps after the expedition
Needing discipline in order to get the work done
Working on the podcast
Dealing with loneliness
The dictionary for the future
Special words
Quick Fire Questions
Final words of advice
Social Media
Website http://www.aritabaaijens.nl
Facebook @arita.baaijens
Twitter @aritabaaijens
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You can listen to our previous conversation with Arita below.
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