Narratives, Policies and Governance Influence Development of Sustainable Human-Nature Relationship Systems in Central but Subtle Ways

Abstract

As global attention increases to climate change, topics related to its causes, long-term effects, and associated issues grow in number and complexity. Once dominated by fossil fuels and alternatives to them, related discussions now include environmental justice and equity, cultural and environmental diversity, education, spiritual ecology, and complex systems to name a few. Rarely discussed is the critical, more basic, and less obvious role of Earth and culture’s co-evolution and the central part this plays in individual and collective human identity formation. The longitudinal study reported here revealed the importance of these foundational development processes and their consideration in efforts toward more just, resilient and sustainable futures. A globally familiar situation, the proposed construction of a hydropower plant in a largely untouched area of Iceland’s remote West Fjords, provided a material and internationally relevant focus for coordinated study of people and natural context and the meanings assigned in the course of their interaction. The findings strongly suggest that as we write laws, set policies, and create agreements at local, national and international levels, the processes of individual human development and earth-human co-evolution must receive focused consideration. Regulations and the types of relationships they support are important shapers of contexts that influence, in turn, personal, cultural and environmental directions and identities. Findings highlight also Homo sapiens’ role, intentional or not, in the evolution of the species as we know it. Implications of the research extend from schooling to governance, economic policy, and the writing, interpretation and enforcement of laws. All are influenced by the stories we tell and meanings associated with them. Without that understanding and what it reveals about human-nature relationships, changes required for more durable and inclusive futures will be limited. Using methods of participatory research and ethnography, this research investigated human-nature relationships, how they develop and are interrupted in context, and the associated implications for addressing many issues surrounding climate change and its mitigation.