Comfort from the forest: The aesthetics of coexistence to restore daily life and plan the future > News

Communication with nature is now evolving beyond simple viewing into an active experience. Everland, through its regular subscription service ‘Garden Pass’, provided citizens with the opportunity to deeply experience the spirit of the season by personally harvesting plums and making pressed flowers. This symbolizes a new leisure culture that does not involve one-time consumption of nature, but continuously observes changes in the garden and enjoys the joy of harvesting within it. In addition, the National Baekdudaegan Arboretum is significantly improving the habitat environment for tigers and realizing the ecological value of coexistence between wild animals and humans. The arboretum's move to build an additional 925㎡ free space and prepare to welcome the tiger 'Miryeong' clearly shows how deeply the philosophy of respect for life, considering the enrichment of animal behavior, has become deeply entrenched in our society.

Green spaces in the city center are being reorganized into spaces that are more familiar and valuable to citizens in line with corporate ESG management. Korean Air and Asiana Airlines are practicing their social responsibility to protect the environment by using customers’ mileage donations to create urban forests through the ‘Green Skypass Project’. In particular, the sight of executives and employees from both companies sweating and planting trees together at Mullae Neighborhood Park symbolizes the chemical bond between the two companies ahead of integration, while also producing practical results in expanding the area of ​​green space in the local community. Transforming an aging park into a forest-centered space like this goes beyond simple environmental purification and greatly contributes to building a sustainable urban ecosystem by providing a comfortable resting place for citizens and alleviating the urban heat island effect.

Meanwhile, technological advancements are presenting a new paradigm in the realm of virtual communication beyond the spatial constraints of forests. The live streaming platform ‘SOOP’ has implemented a multi-modal AI service that allows streamers and users to communicate emotionally by training artificial intelligence on massive communication data. The AI ​​manager ‘Ssalsa 2.0’, which reproduces the streamer’s speaking style and gestures, and the video assistant ‘Sufi’ prove that technology can be used as a creative tool that goes beyond a simple information delivery tool to fill the gap for streamers and maximize interaction with users. This suggests that technology is not infringing on the human emotional realm, but rather is becoming a driving force that connects people more deeply and creates a new play culture within a forest-like digital ecosystem.

Human trust in the resilience of nature is also an important lesson that forests teach us. After a large-scale forest fire, Gounsa Temple Forest in Gyeongbuk chose the path of ‘natural restoration’ by allowing nature to heal on its own instead of artificial restoration. As a result, broad-leaved trees that hold a lot of water and are resistant to fire take their place in the place of burned pine trees, creating a healthier and stronger forest. This proves that human intervention is not always the best solution, and that greater ecological value can only be achieved by respecting nature's unique ability to recover. In addition, the ‘Railroad Forest Night Tour’ held by Pohang City presents a successful festival model that brings cultural sensibility to the forest space through the seasonal theme of ‘Christmas on a Midsummer Night’ and simultaneously promotes the revitalization of local commerce and civic harmony.