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From the Anthropocene to Mutual Thriving: An Agenda for Higher Education in the Ecozoic

Author

Listed:
  • Ivan Vargas Roncancio

    (Department of Natural Resources Sciences, McGill University, Montreal, QC H3A 0G4, Canada)

  • Leah Temper

    (Department of Natural Resources Sciences, McGill University, Montreal, QC H3A 0G4, Canada)

  • Joshua Sterlin

    (Department of Natural Resources Sciences, McGill University, Montreal, QC H3A 0G4, Canada)

  • Nina L. Smolyar

    (Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05405, USA
    Gund Institute for Environment, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05405, USA)

  • Shaun Sellers

    (Department of Natural Resources Sciences, McGill University, Montreal, QC H3A 0G4, Canada)

  • Maya Moore

    (Gund Institute for Environment, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05405, USA
    Food Systems Graduate Program, Department of Nutrition and Food Sciences, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05405, USA)

  • Rigo Melgar-Melgar

    (Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05405, USA
    Gund Institute for Environment, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05405, USA)

  • Jolyon Larson

    (Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05405, USA
    Gund Institute for Environment, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05405, USA)

  • Catherine Horner

    (Gund Institute for Environment, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05405, USA
    Agroecology and Livelihoods Collaborative, Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05405, USA)

  • Jon D. Erickson

    (Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05405, USA
    Gund Institute for Environment, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05405, USA)

  • Megan Egler

    (Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05405, USA
    Gund Institute for Environment, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05405, USA)

  • Peter G. Brown

    (Department of Natural Resources Sciences, McGill University, Montreal, QC H3A 0G4, Canada)

  • Emille Boulot

    (Department of Natural Resources Sciences, McGill University, Montreal, QC H3A 0G4, Canada)

  • Tina Beigi

    (Department of Natural Resources Sciences, McGill University, Montreal, QC H3A 0G4, Canada)

  • Michael Babcock

    (Department of Natural Resources Sciences, McGill University, Montreal, QC H3A 0G4, Canada)

Abstract

Higher education in the global North, and exported elsewhere, is complicit in driving the planet’s socio-ecological crises by teaching how to most effectively marginalize and plunder Earth and human communities. As students and activists within the academic system, we take a firm stand to arrest this cycle, and to redirect education toward teaching how to create conditions for all life to thrive. In this paper, we articulate a research and education agenda for co-constructing knowledge and wisdom, and propose shifts in the ‘ologies from the current, destructive modes to intended regenerative counterparts. We offer to shift from an ontology of separation to that of interconnectedness; from an epistemology of domination to that of egalitarian relationship; and from an axiology of development to that of plural values for world- and meaning-making. Such paradigm shifts reflect the foundational aspirations of the consilient transdiscipline of ecological economics. We analyze several introductory university textbooks in economics, law, and natural sciences, to demonstrate how destructive ‘ologies are taught in North American universities, and how such teaching implicitly undermines critical inquiry and effective challenge. Our strategy for change is to provide a new theoretical framework for education: the regenerative ‘ologies of the Ecozoic’, based on biophysicality, embedded relationality, pluralism, and the sustainable well-being of all members in the community of life.

Suggested Citation

  • Ivan Vargas Roncancio & Leah Temper & Joshua Sterlin & Nina L. Smolyar & Shaun Sellers & Maya Moore & Rigo Melgar-Melgar & Jolyon Larson & Catherine Horner & Jon D. Erickson & Megan Egler & Peter G. B, 2019. "From the Anthropocene to Mutual Thriving: An Agenda for Higher Education in the Ecozoic," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(12), pages 1-19, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:12:p:3312-:d:240126
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Ólafur Páll Jónsson & Allyson Macdonald, 2021. "Pack for Sustainability: Navigating through Uncharted Educational Landscapes," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(24), pages 1-12, December.
    2. Kish, K. & Mallery, D. & Yahya Haage, G. & Melgar-Melgar, R. & Burke, M. & Orr, C. & Smolyar, N.L. & Sanniti, S. & Larson, J., 2021. "Fostering critical pluralism with systems theory, methods, and heuristics," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 189(C).
    3. Melgar-Melgar, Rigo E. & Hall, Charles A.S., 2020. "Why ecological economics needs to return to its roots: The biophysical foundation of socio-economic systems," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    4. Wendelin M. Küpers, 2020. "From the Anthropocene to an ‘Ecocene’ ―Eco-Phenomenological Perspectives on Embodied, Anthrodecentric Transformations towards Enlivening Practices of Organising Sustainably," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-20, May.
    5. Dube, Benjamin, 2021. "Why cross and mix disciplines and methodologies?: Multiple meanings of Interdisciplinarity and pluralism in ecological economics," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 179(C).

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