Listening Session Andrew Skeoch: Deep Listening to Nature

What does nature have to say to us in these confronting times? When we listen to the natural environment, we hear what is happening. Listening holistically, we can hear not just individual birdsongs, frog calls and so on, but their patterns of communication. These patterns express the principles that inform the functioning of ecosystems and generate viable living systems. They are principles that can be articulated clearly, and are inspiringly relevant. Thus listening to nature as our teacher, can guide us in shaping our human systems – our societies, values, economies and governance – to be safe, ecologically respectful and sustainable. Andrew Skeoch is a professional wildlife sound recordist and author of Deep Listening to Nature. Over the past thirty years, he has documented the sounds of environments around the planet, and through his label ‘Listening Earth’, published over one hundred recordings allowing listeners to immerse themselves in wild soundscapes from around the world. As an educator, he has spoken extensively to community and academic audiences, appeared at festivals such as WOMAD’s Planet Talks, and presented radio features, keynote addresses and a TEDx talk. He is the president of the Australian Wildlife Sound Recording Group, and on the board of the Australian Forum for Acoustic Ecology.