Different Perceptions of Nature

Abstract

The following article describes a study developed in the course of Theory and Practice of Design, School of Applied Arts, Polytechnic Institute of Castelo Branco, Portugal, in the academic year 2020/21. The study follows the methodologies of descriptive case study and thematic analysis. Taking as its starting point the problem of environmental protection and taking as premises that the cultural environment shapes the concept of Nature and that early childhood experiences have the potential to validate a code associated with Nature. The study aimed to study and identify codes referring to the concept of Nature in a target audience between 18 and 22 years old. The thematic analysis developed in the gathered textual descriptions, through the discovered patterns, points out that the first interaction experiences with Nature had older family members as facilitators, and the interactions took place in small cultivated areas. These results provide valuable clues on the complexity of visual communication, challenging the effectiveness of communication codes not adapted to local contexts.