Summer was heavy with heat and movement. It carried both joy and suffering in its frenetic passing. Across vast landscapes, vegetation turned to torchlight. The fires have passed now; the soil lies charred, darkened to the roots. Human and other-than-human communities alike are learning how to live with the wounds left behind.

When did these fires begin? Was it always this way? Questions gather as days grow shorter and darker. Temperatures slowly descend. Leaves turn yellow and brittle. Squirrels gather acorns, hide them, and inevitably forget some, allowing future forests to emerge. Food is harvested across landscapes: mushrooms are foraged, grapes picked carefully by hand, pumpkins glowing orange against cooling fields. The fire that once moved through forests now flickers within homes, offering warmth: a paradox of destruction and care.

Birdsong announces a change in tempo: a season of slowing down, retreat, and restoration. Autumn becomes a time of recovery, when bodies and spirits—human and other-than-human alike—seek spaces for reflection and renewal. The season turns cold, dark, and dreamlike. Autumn has arrived, and the multispecies neighbourhood knows it.

Date: Friday, 2 October 2026
Time: 2-4pm WEST / 3-5pm CET

Venue: Online, via Zoom

 

Aim: The workshop focuses on two core objectives. First, it seeks to explore alternative and relational forms of mapping — including counter-mapping practices — informed by the experiences, perspectives, and knowledge of other-than-human companions such as animals, plants, fungi, and abiotic elemental forces. 

Second, by sharing stories of visible and non-visible entanglements, cyclical temporalities, and situated human narratives, the session aims to rediscover and reconnect with ancient European eco-cultural wisdom, helping participants reshape their groundedness and foster a deeper sense of belonging to the land.

Through this approach, rather than reproducing fixed geopolitical boundaries, the counter-mapping practice highlights relational ecologies and multispecies interdependence. 

 

This workshop is part of the annual celebration of the Animal Day by the Human-Animal Studies HUB.