Nature – its meanings, materialities, and effects on human life – has become an important focus of interest within ethnology and related disciplines. Growing interest in human–nature relationships and nature experiences resonates strongly with the posthumanist turn (see, e.g., Ethnologia Fennica 2/20) and with theoretical frameworks such as affect theory and new materialism. These approaches invite us to consider how cultural research can illuminate the entanglements between humans and environments. At the same time, research into the significance of nature is intertwined with the academic community’s broader commitment to fostering ecologically sustainable and socially just futures. Cultural knowledge of nature can reveal how values, affects, practices, discourses, and imaginaries shape the ways people respond to shifting ecosystems.

For Ethnologia Fennica issue 1/27, we invite original research articles that explore nature from diverse perspectives. We particularly welcome contributions that engage with environmental affect, nature experiences, nature connectedness, and culturally embedded nature practices. Potential articles could focus, for example, on the experiences of urban nature, changing practices linked to natural environments, or the role of nature in fostering well-being.

Please submit your article abstracts (300 words maximum) by June 30th. After preliminary approval in August, the authors should submit their full article manuscripts by November 30th. The deadline for reviews, reports, and commentary texts is February 28th (2027). The issue will be published in June 2027.