Abstract
The term “plant awareness disparity” describes a tendency to overlook plants in the environment leading us to underestimate their significance in ecological systems. In this paper, we explore plant biographies as a participatory narrative method that aims to leverage new modes of relating to plants. The method consists of introducing people to the history of seasonal changes experienced by the plant, inviting them to locate and attune to its present condition, and finally writing a short biography about the plant. The interaction was tested with visitors of a botanic garden, who were invited to engage with two individual Rhododendron plants, supported by an audio guide and visualisations of seasonal behavioural data. In response to the task, participants adopted first-person narratives, drawing on empathy, and reflecting on the plant’s temporal and relational context. We reflect on how the approach can be used to nurture more plant-centric understandings in more-than-human design.
Keywords
plants, temporal data, more-than-human design, botanic garden
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2026.2330
Citation
Koppel, K., Pschetz, L., Bastian, M., and Ahrends, A. (2026) Plant biographies: Expanding more-than-human modes of relating, in Simeone, L., Gray, C. M., Verhoeven, A., de Götzen, A., Bakırlıoğlu, Y., Zohar, H., Stead, M., and Buwert, P. (eds.), DRS2026: Edinburgh, 8–12 June, Edinburgh, United Kingdom. https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2026.2330
Creative Commons License
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Included in
Plant biographies: Expanding more-than-human modes of relating
The term “plant awareness disparity” describes a tendency to overlook plants in the environment leading us to underestimate their significance in ecological systems. In this paper, we explore plant biographies as a participatory narrative method that aims to leverage new modes of relating to plants. The method consists of introducing people to the history of seasonal changes experienced by the plant, inviting them to locate and attune to its present condition, and finally writing a short biography about the plant. The interaction was tested with visitors of a botanic garden, who were invited to engage with two individual Rhododendron plants, supported by an audio guide and visualisations of seasonal behavioural data. In response to the task, participants adopted first-person narratives, drawing on empathy, and reflecting on the plant’s temporal and relational context. We reflect on how the approach can be used to nurture more plant-centric understandings in more-than-human design.