Land, Culture, and Learning

The idea of indigenous knowledge systems is based on the ancient connection with the land and culture and serves as the main pillars of the reconsideration of the sustainability education in the context of new environmental and social issues of our current world. The chapter explores the opportunities of teaching sustainability through the incorporation of the Indigenous epistemologies and place-based pedagogies to alter abstract and theory-based teaching towards the experiential, moral, and community-based learning. Using the literature on the world and current case studies, the chapter proves that land-based learning, Indigenous storytelling, and community-school partnerships contribute to the increase in ecological awareness, cultural identity, and agency of learners. It also emphasizes ethical activity, knowledge sovereignty, and policy congruence as the main preconditions of meaningful integration stating that Indigenous ways of knowing must be used as central reference points when forming more resilient, fair, and sustainable futures.

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