> The Western mindset is not the only correct one
“The Western mindset is not the only correct one” – Integrating Indigenous and Western views on nature through together-telling in Education for Sustainable Development
Eva Ritter, Institute Nordic Perspectives, Flensburg – Jens Larsen, True Storytelling Institute, Copenhagen
“When you meet people from other cultures, you have to remember that the Western mindset is not the only correct one. There are many more ways to see nature and be in it.”
These words of a Sami doctoral student in Arctic Norway describe the challenge of ESD. Being widely recognized as a key concept to achieving a sustainable future, ESD needs to embrace different perspectives. This is particularly important with respect to Indigenous cultures, given that traditional Western views on nature and sustainability often differ significantly from Indigenous perspectives.
Historically, Western educational frameworks have marginalized Indigenous knowledge. To overcome this, ESD must critically address the origin of its knowledge and include Indigenous voices. Our research suggests together-telling, the sharing of personal stories and the reflection on common values, as a means in ESD to integrate the knowledge and views of Indigenous cultures in a respectful way.
About the conference in Hamburg, 12/13 December 2024
Education for sustainable development (ESD, 4.7 UN SDGs, 14 Earth Charter) is seen as a keyenabler of a global sustainability transformation and urgently needed to answer themultiple existential challenges humanity is facing. However, as a deeply cultural concepteducation may not only be the solution but also part of the problem: Humans altered Earth’secosystems and biogeochemical cycles, exposing the fallacies of the long-held belief inWestern(ized) societies that culture and nature exist independently of one another.
There is a sneaking suspicion that the idea of a nature-culture-divide played a vital role in theemergence of the unpleasant state of the Anthropocene. Hence, it is time to bridge theculture-nature dichotomy, embrace pluralistic forms of knowledge and empower humansto view themselves as part of an interconnected world.
Therefore, the conference seeks to discuss questions such as:
- How can ESD critically assess the role of education systems and practices that contributedto the problems of the Anthropocene?
- How can ESD address the disparities in contributions to climate change and promoteclimate justice?
- How can ESD transcend the nature-culture divide and promote the re-imagination ofhumanity’s place in the world?
- How can ESD transform the way we create and share knowledge?
- What pedagogical strategies in ESD foster environmental and cultural stewardship amongstudents?
- How can ESD integrate indigenous and traditional ecological knowledge as well asscientific approaches to bridge the nature-culture gap in the Anthropocene?
Location: Warburg-Haus Hamburg, Heilwigstr. 116, 20249 Hamburg/Germany
Organization: Jacobus Bracker, German Rectors’ Conference, Berlin.
Funding: German Federal Ministry of Education and Research.
Link to the programme: here