Environmentthrough

Environmentthrough is a conceptual term used in environmental humanities to describe the continuous, reciprocal process by which environments are encountered, shaped, and rehearsed through human perception, activity, and cultural mediation. It frames the environment not as a static backdrop but as something that is continually produced and experienced through interaction, attention, and practice.

The term blends environment with through to emphasize processuality: environments are not static backdrops but are navigated and produced through daily practices and mediating technologies. This framing draws attention to how routes, infrastructures, material conditions, and cultural norms shape what people notice, how they act, and how environmental conditions are lived.

Origins of the concept appear in scholarly discourse from the late 2010s, particularly among researchers in environmental humanities, urban studies, and related fields who sought to account for the dynamic mediation between people, places, and environmental conditions.

Key components include material conditions, embodied perception, social practices, and mediating technologies; time scales range from moment-to-moment perception to long-term environmental change. The approach emphasizes how attention is choreographed by streets, buildings, devices, and policies, and how environmental knowledge is produced through interaction with these mediators.

Applications appear in urban design, climate adaptation, environmental justice, and education. Examples include how street design routes movement and exposure to heat, or how data infrastructures channel environmental information and sense-making.

Critiques note a lack of precise definition, the risk of vagueness, and the potential to obscure power relations unless explicitly analyzed. The term is not an official designation and remains used mainly in select theoretical writings within environmental humanities, with limited empirical study.