Jordi Puig and Fernando Echarri, researchers and experts in Environmental Education at the University of Navarra, have published a scientific article on the Significant Life Experiences (SLE) that could have marked the trajectories of some of the most important naturalists in recent history. They are Félix Rodríguez de la Fuente (creator of the first documentary series on nature in Spain, Man and the Earth), Ernest T. Seton (one of the founders of the Boy Scouts in England) and Aldo Leopold (one of the driving forces behind the conservation movement and environmental philosophy in the USA).

The term SLE was born in the 1990s in the USA to refer to experiences triggered by an event in the natural environment that generate an intense feeling of communion with it. "These experiences have some characteristics of their own, such as the fact that they occur suddenly, generate a loss of the notion of time, are perceived as spiritual or transcendental experiences, bring a strong feeling of well-being and peace and, finally, provoke changes in the person who experiences them, as well as in their sensitivity towards nature," explains Fernando Echarri, who also directs the Education area of the Museum of the University of Navarra.

In the case of the aforementioned naturalists, their biographies had in common what could be defined as significant life experiences triggered by the encounter with the gaze of a wolf, and which they themselves described as a turning point in the construction of their environmental awareness. "There are many ways and levels of depth with which human beings relate to nature, but the significant experiences we found in the texts of Rodríguez de la Fuente, Seton and Leopold lead us to think that some of them have, due to their characteristics, a higher transforming and educational power. To the point of becoming the heart of their educational and environmental protection activism," Echarri explains.

Similar experiences in artists such as Jorge Oteiza or César Manrique.

For the experts of the University of Navarra, the SLEs can serve as very useful tools in environmental education: "It is not so much a matter of trying to replicate experiences like theirs, but of using the narration of these experiences for their scientific value, but also for the spiritual strength that comes from observing nature in its true depth. "They can also help us to develop tools and skills that allow us to see the dual physical and spiritual aspects of the natural environment," adds Fernando Echarri.

As this expert has published in various scientific publications, the SLEs could also be key in the development of the careers of artists such as Jorge Oteiza and César Manrique, who left written testimonies similar to those of Rodríguez de la Fuente, Seton and Leopold. "In their biographies, moreover, one can observe a personal transformation that radiates in a work committed to nature, to its defense and its enhancement," Echarri concludes.

This work, published together with Professor Jordi Puig, is part of the Environmental Education line developed in the Environmental Biology Department of the academic center.