Our Core Idea

The ecological crisis is not only a crisis of sustainability. It is also a crisis of perception and relationship.

Meaningful nature connection requires both direct experience and ecological understanding.

We believe that nature connection cannot be separated from ecological literacy. The ability to recognize living beings, ecological processes and ecological patterns is not merely an addition to nature-based work but one of its foundations.

Zselyke Molnos

Biologist | Ecologist | Psychologist | Ecotherapist | PhD Researcher

I am Zselyke Molnos, co-founder and director of the Ecopsychology Institute. My work has focuses on ecological perception and human–nature relationships, integrating ecology, psychology and direct experience in nature through research, education and professional practice.

Why Ecological Perception?

For more than a decade, my work has been guided by a question that lies at the intersection of biology and psychology:

How do people learn to perceive the living world more fully, and how does this shape their relationship with nature?

This question emerged from my experience in both biology and psychology. While environmental sciences have greatly expanded our understanding of ecological systems, and psychology has deepened our understanding of human behaviour and experience, the relationship between the two fields often remains underexplored.

My research and professional work focus on ecological perception: how people perceive living systems, ecological relationships and processes, what remains visible or invisible to them, and how these capacities can be cultivated through learning, experience and reflection.

What Makes Our Approach Distinctive?

Ecology and Psychology Together

Our work is equally rooted in ecological science and psychology. We see these fields not as separate disciplines but as complementary perspectives for understanding human relationships with the living world.

Ecological Literacy as a Foundation

We believe that meaningful engagement with nature requires more than experience alone. Ecological knowledge helps us recognize the living beings, relationships, and processes that make genuine connection possible. This perspective informs all of our activities.

Direct Experience in Nature

Learning emerges not only through concepts but through direct encounters with the more-than-human world. Observation, reflection and participation are central elements of our approach.

The Ecopscychology Institute

In 2016, together with Attila Donáth, I co-founded the Ecopsychology Institute to create a professional home for this integrative approach. Since then, the Institute has become the longest-running and most comprehensive ecopsychology initiative in Hungary, bringing together research, education, professional practice and community building.

While the Institute was founded by Attila and myself, its work has always been collaborative in nature. Today, we work together with a diverse network of educators, psychologists, ecologists, facilitators, researchers, coaches and organisational development professionals who contribute to our programmes, projects and ongoing development.

The Institute functions not only as an organisation but also as a professional community and a platform for interdisciplinary collaboration.

International Collaboration

The Ecopsychology Institute is actively engaged in international collaboration and professional exchange.

Zselyke Molnos serves as the Hungarian representative of the International Ecopsychology Society (IES) and is a member of its international board. Through these roles, the Institute contributes to international dialogue, collaborative initiatives and the ongoing development of ecopsychology as an interdisciplinary field.

We welcome collaboration with researchers, educators, practitioners and organisations working at the intersection of ecology, psychology, education and social transformation.

Publications and International Engagement

Publications, conferences and international collaborations play an important role in our efforts to contribute to the development of ecopsychology beyond Hungary.

Zselyke Molnos is the author of the first Hungarian ecopsychology book, originally published in 2016 and later translated into English as The Ecopsychological Paradigm. The book presents ecopsychology as an integrative framework connecting ecology, psychology, systems thinking and human–nature relationships. The English edition was released in 2019 in connection with the 7th International Congress of Ecopsychology in Spain.

In 2022, she published Mindennapi ökopszichológia (Everyday Ecopsychology), a practice-oriented book exploring ecological perception, nature connection and everyday applications of ecopsychological thinking.

Our work is regularly presented at national and international conferences, professional trainings and collaborative initiatives. Participatory Nature Walks and our ecology-based approach to ecopsychology have been featured in international ecopsychology programmes and professional events.

Current research focuses on ecological perception, participatory nature experiences and human–nature relationships. Ongoing doctoral research and future peer-reviewed publications aim to strengthen the scientific foundations of ecopsychology and contribute to international dialogue at the intersection of ecology, psychology and environmental education.

Selected publications, conference presentations and current research projects are available below.

Books

• The Ecopsychological Paradigm (2019)
• Mindennapi ökopszichológia – A perspektívaváltástól a finomhangolásig [Everyday Ecopsychology – From perspective changing to fine-tuning] (2022)

Conferences and International Persentations

Selected International Conferences

European Congress of Conservation Biology (ECCB 2026)
Leiden, The Netherlands
Poster: Beyond Behaviour: Ecopsychological Dimensions of Biodiversity Conservation
(with Andrea Dúll and Attila Varga)

Society for Conservation Biology Europe – Webinar Series (2025)
Hungary Chapter
Invited presentation: Psychological Perspectives in Conservation: Why Ecopsychology Matters

Symposium for Extended Reality in Natural Reserves (2024)
Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design (MOME), Budapest
Expert contributor

Student Conference on Conservation Science (SCCS 2018)
Centre for Ecological Research, Tihany, Hungary
Plenary presentation: “Conservation Means Behaviour” – Putting the Human Mind in the Equation
(with Barbara Mihók)
Workshop: Where Am I Going and Why? Nature-Assisted Coaching for Empowering Early-Career Decisions in Conservation
(with Barbara Mihók)

Selected National Conferences

6th Transylvanian Conference on Horticulture and Landscape Architecture (2021)
Sapientia Hungarian University of Transylvania
Plenary lecture: An Ecopsychological Approach to Nature Connection

XI Hungarian Conference on Conservation Biology (Eger, Hungary, 2017).
Presentation: The Role of Ecopsychology in Biodiversity Conservation

Professional Events Organised by the Ecopsychology Institute

III Ecopsychology Day: Conservation and Ecopsychology (Budapest, Hungary, 2018)
This professional symposium was the first event in Hungary dedicated to exploring the connections between conservation biology and psychology. It brought together conservation professionals, researchers and representatives of environmental NGOs to initiate interdisciplinary dialogue between the two fields.

Our work

Research

Research plays an increasingly important role in our activities. As a PhD researcher at ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, I investigate how participatory nature experiences influence ecological perception and human–nature relationships.

Our broader goal is to contribute to a scientifically grounded ecopsychology that remains firmly rooted in both ecological science and lived experience.

Participatory Nature Walks

A central element of our work is the methodology of Participatory Nature Walks, which we have developed as both a practical and research-based approach.

These walks combine ecological observation, experiential learning and reflective dialogue, inviting participants to engage more deeply with ecological relationships, processes and patterns in the living world.

The methodology is used in educational, community, organisational and research settings.

Professional Training

Over the past decade, we have developed long-term professional training programmes for psychologists, educators, coaches, conservation professionals and nature connection facilitators.

More than one hundred professionals have completed our programmes and now apply ecopsychological approaches in educational, therapeutic, community and environmental contexts.

Organisational Development

We work with organisations and professional communities interested in integrating ecological perspectives into leadership, organisational development and systems thinking.

We support individuals, communities and organisations seeking to move beyond exclusively human-centred ways of understanding the systems they inhabit.

Areas of Work

• Ecological perception research

• Human–nature relationships and nature connection

• Participatory Nature Walks

• Professional training and facilitator education

• Ecopsychology and ecological literacy

• Organisational applications of ecological thinking

• Publications and international collaborations

Looking Forward

Through research, training, publications, conferences and professional collaborations, we seek to build bridges between ecological knowledge, psychological insight and social transformation.

We see ecopsychology as a field uniquely positioned to reconnect ecological understanding with lived experience. By strengthening ecological perception, ecological literacy and meaningful engagement with the living world, we aim to contribute to a more reciprocal and responsible relationship between humans and the more-than-human community of life.

Contact

Zselyke Molnos

Email: molnos.zselyke@ecopsychology.hu

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zselyke-molnos-2b6ab2339/

The Ecopsychology Institute

Website: https://ecopsychology.hu

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ecopsychology.hu

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@okopszichologiaiintezet4709