The MOTH Project: Rethinking Humanity’s Relationship with the Natural World

The Moth Project

More Than Human Life (MOTH) is an international project aiming to address some of the most urgent challenges of our time, including climate change, biodiversity loss, and toxic pollution.

The project’s primary objective is to rethink humanity’s relationship with the natural world by developing paradigms, norms, and strategies that promote the reintegration of humans into the web of life that sustains us. MOTH seeks to create a pathway to bridge this divide through an innovative and interdisciplinary approach that prioritizes transformative ideas and collaborations capable of influencing culture, politics, and society.

To achieve its goals, MOTH is committed to documenting, discussing, and disseminating innovative ideas and practices that can trigger cultural and structural change. The project serves as an experimental platform to support partnerships and initiatives currently lacking the resources or visibility needed for large-scale implementation.

Inspired by mycelial networks, MOTH connects actors and knowledge within the “more-than-human” rights field, building a cohesive and dynamic community that contributes to the development of complex and sustainable ecosystems, both natural and social.

MOTH, an initiative of the Earth Rights Research and Action (TERRA) Program at New York University School of Law, aligns with the interdisciplinary research themes explored by LUMEN, a project led by the University of Bologna. LUMEN investigates the interactions between ecosystems, climate change, and sustainable human practices.

The project involves a multidisciplinary team of experts in biology, ecology, philosophy, and social sciences. Among them is Ramíro Avila Santamaría, who was recently invited by the LUMEN team as a speaker at the project’s inaugural conference, held in Florence in November 2024. Santamaría was also interviewed by the Bologna Research Unit on topics of mutual interest for MOTH and LUMEN.