Alternative Perspectives on Sustainability: Indigenous Knowledge and Methodologies
Journal Title: UNKNOWN - Year 2017, Vol 5, Issue 1
Abstract
Indigenous knowledge (IK) is now recognized as being critical to the development of effective, equitable and meaningful strategies to address socio-ecological crises. However efforts to integrate IK and Western science frequently encounter difficulties due to different systems of knowledge production and underlying worldviews. New approaches are needed so that sustainability can progress on the terms that matter the most for the people involved. In this paper we discuss a case study from Aotearoa New Zealand where an indigenous community is in the process of renegotiating and enacting new indigenous-led approaches to address coupled socio-ecological crises. We reflect on novel methodological approaches that highlight the ways in which projects/knowledge are co-produced by a multiplicity of human and non-human actors. To this end we draw on conceptualizations of environmental ethics offered by indigenous scholars and propose alternative bodies of thought, methods, and practices that can support the wider sustainability agenda.
Authors and Affiliations
Meg Parsons, Karen Fisher, Johanna Nalau
Towards the Evaluation of the Ecological Effectiveness of the Principles, Criteria and Indicators (PCI) of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC): Case study in the Arkhangelsk Region in the Russian Federation
The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is a voluntary sustainability standard with global reach that has been developed to encourage responsible and sustainable forest management. Despite its broad appeal, there is little...
Why 'Sustainable Development' Is Often Neither: A Constructive Critique
Efforts and programs toward aiding sustainable development in less affluent countries are primarily driven by the moral imperative to relieve and to prevent suffering. This utilitarian principle has provided the moral ba...
A Review of 'Energy and Transport in Green Transition: Perspectives on Ecomodernity'
The book “Energy and Transport in Green Transitions – Perspectives on Ecomodernity” deals with the societally and scientifically crucial topic of energy and climate change mitigation. The book starts by setting high ambi...
Fostering the Next Generation of Sustainability Professionals – Assessing Field-based Courses in a Sustainability Science Graduate Program
A growing number of educational programs in sustainability science has paralleled the rise of the field itself. The educational approach of these programs follows the problem-driven, interdisciplinary, and transdisciplin...
You Can't Eat Biodiversity: Agency and Irrational Norms in European Aquatic Environmental Law
Policies of the European Union cover a range of social, environmental and economic aspirations and the current environmental directives and laws have evolved from a suite of norms which have changed over time. These may...