The climate crisis compels us to rethink how we perceive, understand, and respond to environmental change. This panel explores the interplay between sensory experience, affect, and scientific knowledge as a foundation for meaningful climate action. Beyond intellectual comprehension, the crisis calls for an attunement of our sensory capacities to detect shifts that foretell critical ecological trends. Yet such attunement is not innate - it is through scientific and cultural knowledge that we learn to refine our senses as a precondition for acting sensibly.

This link between knowing and sensibility is essential for acting in a world of rapid and complex environmental changes. The speed and criticality of these changes are present to those with unique disciplinary insights but are, in many ways, still imperceptible to the general public. To extend the reach of human perception, to sense what lies ahead, and to complement scientific and cultural knowledge, understanding environmental changes also depends on monitoring with novel sensor technologies. Not only do we need to reach beyond the limit of our senses but also beyond anthropocentric perspectives to hone our ability to empathize with the whole life world and reimagine our place within an ecosystem upon which our life ultimately depends.

This panel strives to contribute to addressing the unfolding climate emergency by integrating sensory perspectives, emotional engagement, scientific knowledge, and sensor technologies. It invites participants to consider how these are all critical components for the ecological attunement of our extended sensorium.

Speakers:
• Amy Romer (journalist and immersive storyteller, Vancouver, Canada) ∆
• Nicola S. Smith (DECO Lab, Concordia University, Canada) ∆
• John Neufeld (SOAN, Concordia University, Canada) ∆
• Gregor Kos (Chemistry and Biochemistry, Concordia University, Canada) ∆