Pathways Forum #Decolonizing (Sustainability) Research: a Reading List

When Western meets Indigenous in Sustainability Science: Decolonizing sustainability research from theory to practice.

Decolonizing: Let’s explore the dynamics of coloniality and inclusivity with respect to Sustainability research and Indigenous communities.

Sustainability research reconsiders and enriches our comprehension of the complex environmental systems and connections. Yet, can sustainability research re-examine and visualize pathways toward more sustainable futures without acknowledging the necessity of transforming itself and decolonizing knowledge production?

Hence, how can researchers from the West engage with Indigenous communities in research activities that value their knowledge and know-how and bring mutual benefits? How do current research approaches translate and perpetuate a colonial stance where Indigenous knowledge is appropriated and validated by an alternate frame of reference? Conversely, where can we find opportunities for change in how researchers conduct themselves when partnering with Indigenous communities?  

These initial questions represent a small fragment of fruitful discussions from the Pathways Forum #13 focusing on Decolonizing Sustainability Research and Indigenous communities and co-organized with the Ocean Knowledge Action Network and the Tapei Hub of Future Earth. This webinar aimed to provide a pragmatic starting point for more ethics and equity in research.

We hope this Reading List will inspire you to delve deeper into the issues raised with the guiding principle of continuously deconstructing our research discourses and practices and reflecting upon our outputs and giveaways.

Decolonizing: Let’s explore the dynamics of coloniality and inclusivity with respect to Sustainability research and Indigenous communities.

How can researchers from the West engage with Indigenous communities in research activities that value their knowledge and know-how and bring mutual benefits? How do current research approaches translate and perpetuate a colonial stance where Indigenous knowledge is appropriated and validated by an alternate frame of reference? Conversely, where can we find opportunities for change in how researchers conduct themselves when partnering with Indigenous communities?  

These initial questions represent a small fragment of fruitful discussions from the Pathways Forum #13 co-organized with the Ocean Knowledge Action Network and the Tapei Hub of Future Earth.

We hope this Reading List will inspire you to delve deeper into the issues raised with the guiding principle of continuously deconstructing our research discourses and practices and reflecting upon our outputs and giveaways.

ABOUT THE PATHWAYS FORUM

The Pathways Forum is a bi-monthly online event where researchers from diverse disciplines who engage, or want to engage, with societal actors in processes of adaptive learning to design, implement, and evaluate pathways to sustainability get a chance to reflect on concepts and theories of change, and discuss the practical implications of sustainability science and transdisciplinarity for research practices. Through this webinar series, the Pathways Initiative aims to develop and support agenda-setting, synthesis and capacity building around pathways for sustainability.

 

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