A new Comment by Milena Di Canio, Filippo Gregoretti, Hiroaki Kitano and Vittorio Loreto has been published in Nature Sensors.

Titled “From environmental sensing to societal listening”, the article explores how environmental sensing systems can be understood not only as technical tools for measurement, but also as cultural interfaces capable of transforming environmental signals into public awareness, shared interpretation and collective response.

The Comment addresses a central challenge in environmental governance: while sensors and monitoring infrastructures capture environmental change with unprecedented precision, data alone do not necessarily enter public experience or support action. Bridging the gap between technical detection and public perception is essential to make environmental signals perceptible, meaningful and actionable before they become emergencies.

Starting from the case of Venice and its changing relationship with water, tides, acqua alta and the MOSE system, the article proposes the concept of societal listening: the collective ability to notice environmental signals, interpret their implications and respond before change becomes catastrophe.

The reflection also draws on Ulysses’ Gates, presented on the occasion of the 2026 Venice Biennale as the first chapter of Climate-tides, as a concrete case through which environmental data, historical tidal records and operational signals can be translated into shared sensory experience not as an aesthetic end in itself, but as a way to foster public awareness.

The publication grew out of the collaboration among the authors, who also worked together on Ulysses’ Gates / Climate-tides.

A special thank you to Yoko Honjo for her support in nurturing the cultural dimension of the project and helping it take shape across its different stages.