Rottura

The sacredness of Mother Earth, ecological unity, and the interdependence of all species and communities—critical attributes of social and environmental justice—are core values underwritten in the Bali Principles of Climate Justice 2002 (from the “Environmental Justices Principles” document, Washington 1991). Point 25 affirms: “Climate Justice calls for the education of present and future generations, emphasizes climate, energy, social and environmental issues, while basing itself on real-life experiences and an appreciation of diverse cultural perspectives.” “Real-life experiences” suggests an empirical approach to cultivating knowledge that can highlight a meaningful appreciation and lead to a symbiotic relationship with the land, sentient beings, communities, and ourselves. An interaction with the natural environment through peregrination—while collecting and carrying, digging, planting, and recording, while climbing and observing—can be transformative; it can result in therapeutic benefits and compassionate encounters with other sentient beings. In turn, such experiences can provoke a deeper awareness of our responsibility to and stewardship of the natural world, as well as of the transience and fragility of life, the pathos of death. Discoveries made navigating nature can make us mindful of the urgency of (re)examining anthropocentric attitudes in favour of imagining a post-human perspective that embraces beneficial socio-economic models and sustainable eco-systems.