World Listening Day 2024: Learning to Listen to our Environment

World Listening Day occurs every year and offers an opportunity to listen to our environment. We take a look into the event's history and talk to Dr. Alice Eldridge, Professor of Sonic Systems at the University of Sussex, about the study of acoustic ecology and why listening to to the world around us is so important...

Inaugurated in 2010, July 18 each year marks World Listening Day, a celebration of listening to the world around us that encourages people to engage with their environment in different ways.

The date marks the birthday of Canadian composer and environmentalist Raymond Murray Schafer, one of the founders of the World Soundscape Project and a pioneer in a field of study known as acoustic ecology. Sometimes also referred to as ‘ecoacoustics’, acoustic ecology aims to use sound as a way of understanding the relationship between humans and our environment.

Schafer popularised the concept of the soundscape; an auditory image of the environment around us comprising the sounds of nature (geophony), sounds made by animals (biophony) and man-made sounds such as traffic noise from roads or aircraft (anthrophony). Acoustic ecology studies the relationship between these elements and, as Schafer observed, that relationship is a delicate one that can be easily disrupted, either by natural or man-made means.

The results can be catastrophic. In 2022 the WWF published the Living Planet Report, which revealed an average decline of 69% in species populations since 1970, indicating that biodiversity loss is happening at a faster rate than any other time in human history.

Increases in man-made noise often contribute to the problem, sometimes in surprising ways. Great Tits, for example, have been observed to change the pitch of their mating calls over time in order to make themselves heard over traffic noise, but other species have not adapted so well. This increase in made-made noise at certain frequencies can interfere with animals’ ability to communicate with each other, leaving them unable to reproduce or making them more vulnerable to predators.

However, the field of acoustic ecology has become a useful one in finding ways to combat and even reverse biodiversity loss. Dr. Alice Eldridge, Professor of Sonic Systems at the University of Sussex, initially had the idea of setting up a series of field recorders in a forest to record the soundscape for an art project, but soon found that there were more practical applications. “In Sussex we’ve got all these amazing projects like the Weald to Waves Project, which is a 100-mile nature recovery corridor across land, and in the Sussex bay out into the ocean”, said Alice. “And then there are places like Knepp, which is a sort of pin-up rewilding project.”

The idea of rewilding areas of the environment has been gaining traction in recent years, but doing this effectively can be difficult, as Alice points out: “In one sense it’s obvious: stop farming, stop using pesticides and let nature do its thing, but on the other hand we still don’t really know how to do it. So people are trying all sorts of different interventions. Should you have less deer? Should you put some pigs in? Is it better if you reseed some trees? We don’t really know, and so in order to evaluate these interventions, you need a way of measuring success.”

That’s where studying changes in the soundscape can help. “One aspect is computational listening. There’s this idea of restoration ecoacoustics, as in creating affordable tools to monitor ecosystem restoration, or nature recovery,”, Alice explained. “An analogy I use is that it’s a bit like a baby monitor, or a digital stethoscope. Using this computational listening, we have a tool for rapid biodiversity monitoring, which is absolutely critical.”

Using sound recordings to monitor the health of an ecosystem is one of the ways in which the study of ecoacoustics can help, but there have been other, more dramatic uses too, as discovered by one study carried out by the University of Exeter. “You can also use soundscapes to lure species back”, explained Alice. "They did it first with coral reefs. So you’d have a devastated coral reef, and to begin with they just made structures with bits of healthy coral literally just cable-tied to the reef in the hope that they would repopulate.

“Because even the microorganisms that make up coral are sensitive to sound, they navigate using sound, and so do all the fish. So if you play the sound of a healthy reef, which is a sort of crackling noise, all the fish begin to repopulate. In Australia, after all the huge wildfires, they did the same thing there, so you can do it in terrestrial environments as well.”

One of the themes of Alice’s work is the idea that we need to shift from an ego-centric view of our relationship with nature, where humans are separate from our environment, to an eco-centric one, in which we are an in integral part of it. “This whole idea that it’s a pyramid with us on top is pretty unique to the West, really, and also to the last few hundred years,”, said Alice. “Even here, pre-Christianity is the UK, Pagan religions were much more humble in the face of nature.

“We’ve had hundreds of years of people telling us that we’re separate from the rest of nature, that we’re better. From the ancient Greeks and all through Christianity, we’re told that we’re in charge of it all, that we have dominion over nature.”

Aside from the environmental benefits of this eco-centric approach, there are proven benefits for human health too. Several medical studies have revealed a link between increased levels of man-made noise pollution and an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases. “Another side of it is just this really simple act of listening as an individual," Alice explained. “We could think of it as attention restoration. The main theory behind why nature makes us feel good is this theory of attention restoration hypothesis, so that we’re no longer bombarded by things like social media and all this other stuff, our brains calm down and we’ve got this spare capacity again.”

Alice has observed this in practice, too. “I did an installation at the Brighton Festival called Bird Bath, which was made from recordings taken in places around the area like Newhaven, Firle, the South Downs, all places we could walk to on a Sunday afternoon. We took all those sounds and put them in a church in Brighton, made it free to enter and put some beanbags in. And it seems like this really simple act of listening, if you can get people to slow down for a minute and relax, can be an almost visceral, felt experience that bypasses our rational minds. It has the effect of making people feel like they were ‘back home’, and realise that we’re a part of nature after all.”

“It’s a bit like the Buddhist idea that what makes us tired in life is having to constantly construct this separate sense of self, so it becomes quite relaxing to be reminded that we’re just a part of a wider bunch of life. So some of it is about self-restoration, or what the Deep Ecology movement in the 1960s referred to as ‘restoring the ecological self’. It sounds a bit new age, but what’s funny is that whichever line of enquiry you take, whether it’s maths, or quantum mechanics, or philosophy, they all lead you back to this idea.”

Alice also has plans to take this idea further. “One other thing that came out of Bird Bath was the idea of mapping the quiet spots in the South Downs. I’m really interested in running a project to find out what it is that people value about it, and I think it’s too simplistic to imagine that there’s just one thing, people probably have all sorts of reasons as why it’s valuable to them. We’re so lucky being so close to the Downs, and because of they way the landscape undulates with all the hills, curves and dips, suddenly you’ve got these really silent spots. So it could be a really nice citizen science thing to do, map the quiet spots and encourage people to take walks there.”

For those want to find out more about World Listening Day, or find ways to get involved, the World Listening Project website has plenty of useful suggestions for ways in which individuals can get involved, as listed below:

• Soundwalks: Organise or join a soundwalk in your community to explore the sonic environment, paying attention to the sounds around you.
• Field Recording: Take a recording device and capture sounds from different environments, such as parks, urban areas, or natural settings.
• Listening Parties: Host or attend a listening party where participants share and discuss recordings they’ve made or found that highlight interesting or unique sounds.
• Acoustic Ecology Workshops: Participate in workshops or seminars that explore the relationship between sound, environment, and culture.
• Listening Meditation: Practice listening meditation, focusing solely on the sounds around you to cultivate mindfulness and presence.
• Sound Mapping: Create a map of sounds in your local area, marking locations where specific sounds are prominent or interesting.
• Community Sound Projects: Collaborate with others to create sound-based art installations or projects that raise awareness about the importance of listening.
• Online Listening Exchanges: Join online forums or social media groups dedicated to sharing recordings and discussing the art of listening.
• Documentary Listening: Watch documentaries or films that explore soundscapes, acoustic ecology, or the impact of sound on our lives.
• Sound Art Installations: Visit or create sound art installations in public spaces that invite people to engage with sound in a unique way.
• Educational Events: Attend lectures, panel discussions, or presentations on topics related to sound studies, auditory perception, or environmental sound.
• Reflective Listening: Take time to reflect on your personal relationship with sound and how it shapes your experiences and understanding of the world.