Becoming Home: Revisiting Arne Naess toward an Ecophilosophy and a Depth Ecology for the 22nd Century

This article is set in the context of a worsening ecological crisis, which is interpreted as an existential life crisis. The ecocrisis is not just about nature, but also a crisis of culture, community, and self. The prefix “eco” is interpreted in as “home in life”. To solve the crisis, we need a balanced focus on ecophilia and ecojustice. It is not enough to care, to solve the crisis we need to address issues of justice. Naess said he was optimistic on behalf of the 22nd century, but how bad it gets before it gets better depends on what we do today. In the article, I will revisit the life and works of Naess to explore what may inspire a sustainable and eco-friendly future. It will show there is a need to put “philo” back into ecosophy and to go deeper into the depths of deep ecology in a depth ecology movement. It will also address some issues, such as that of eco-animism and a renewed sense of the sacred

Hammerdalen. Et prosjekt i Verdiskapingsprogrammet for kulturminner. En dybdestudie

Utført på oppdrag fra Riksantikvaren og Hammerdalenprosjekte

Becoming Home: Revisiting Arne Naess toward an Ecophilosophy and a Depth Ecology for the 22nd Century

This article is set in the context of a worsening ecological crisis, which is interpreted as an existential life crisis. The ecocrisis is not just about nature, but also a crisis of culture, community, and self. The prefix “eco” is interpreted in as “home in life”. To solve the crisis, we need a balanced focus on ecophilia and ecojustice. It is not enough to care, to solve the crisis we need to address issues of justice. Naess said he was optimistic on behalf of the 22nd century, but how bad it gets before it gets better depends on what we do today. In the article, I will revisit the life and works of Naess to explore what may inspire a sustainable and eco-friendly future. It will show there is a need to put “philo” back into ecosophy and to go deeper into the depths of deep ecology in a depth ecology movement. It will also address some issues, such as that of eco-animism and a renewed sense of the sacred

Crafting nature, crafting self: An ecophilosophy of friluftsliv, craftmaking and sustainability

This article is based on a project in the Regional Research Fund (“Oslofjorden”) that explores the relationship between friluftsliv (outdoor life), craftmaking and sustainability in the context of the friluftsliv program at the University of South-Eastern Norway (USN). The overall question in the project, and this article, is: What do students say about the relationship between nature and self, the process of learning and craftmaking in friluftsliv and how to integrate different forms of sustainability? As educators and researchers in the field of friluftsliv studies, we are also interested in implications and possibilities for teaching friluftsliv and craftmaking in sustainable ways. The project was initiated in collaboration with our students and colleagues, inviting them to critically and constructively investigate and reflect on what it is that prevents and promotes sustainability in the education of friluftsliv and craftmaking. In recent years, researchers have pointed to a paradox between friluftsliv and sustainability, and how this paradox plays out in combination with craftmaking will also be addressed. The article draws on a critical participatory action research approach, which entails that as researchers we participate in the development of knowledge in the project. In addition, we set out to conduct a meta-analysis of the findings, so to get an overall picture of the problem area. We take an ecophilosophical perspective on the topic, with a special emphasis on the relationship between self and nature. We find that students, participating in the project, were concerned about promoting a mutual reinforcing relationship of sustainability between friluftsliv and craftmaking, and that crafting nature is also a way of crafting self. However, it is not possible to generalize from our findings and we ended up with more questions than answers. As such, we hope to have inspired or provoked others to also conduct research on the topic

A phenomenology of intra-play for sustainability research within heritage landscapes

In this article, we explore a phenomenology of intra-play for sustainability research, integral to the processes of transforming both cultural and natural heritage landscapes. Such processes are studied as active - always underway and in flux - across space and time, and through the intra-play between the human and more-than-human world. The authors have developed the exploration of intra-play within the fields of phenomenology and heritage studies with empirical examples of the processes of becoming, especially in experiential landscapes of post-industrial heritage sites. The article presents a phenomenology of intra-play as a haptic and ontogenetic philosophy of landscape studies, inspired by the anthropologist Tim Ingold, and a process methodology, inspired in part by the art of what Rita Irwin calls “a/r/tography”. Our approach animates the different forms, both human and non-human, that co-form heritage landscapes. The article traces these playful ways and discusses possible consequences for sustainability research and change within heritage landscapes

Crafting Nature, Crafting Self: An ecophilosophy of friluftsliv, craftmaking and sustainability

This article is based on a project in the Regional Research Fund (“Oslofjorden”) that explores the relationship between friluftsliv (outdoor life), craftmaking and sustainability in the context of the friluftsliv program at the University of South-Eastern Norway (USN). The overall question in the project, and this article, is: What do students say about the relationship between nature and self, the process of learning and craftmaking in friluftsliv and how to integrate different forms of sustainability? As educators and researchers in the field of friluftsliv studies, we are also interested in implications and possibilities for teaching friluftsliv and craftmaking in sustainable ways. The project was initiated in collaboration with our students and colleagues, inviting them to critically and constructively investigate and reflect on what it is that prevents and promotes sustainability in the education of friluftsliv and craftmaking. In recent years, researchers have pointed to a paradox between friluftsliv and sustainability, and how this paradox plays out in combination with craftmaking will also be addressed. The article draws on a critical participatory action research approach, which entails that as researchers we participate in the development of knowledge in the project. In addition, we set out to conduct a meta-analysis of the findings, so to get an overall picture of the problem area. We take an ecophilosophical perspective on the topic, with a special emphasis on the relationship between self and nature. We find that students, participating in the project, were concerned about promoting a mutual reinforcing relationship of sustainability between friluftsliv and craftmaking, and that crafting nature is also a way of crafting self. However, it is not possible to generalize from our findings and we ended up with more questions than answers. As such, we hope to have inspired or provoked others to also conduct research on the topic.Keywords: Ecophilosophy, friluftsliv, craftmaking, sustainability, learning through making, self, nature-use, nature protection.This article is based on a project in the Regional Research Fund (“Oslofjorden”) that explores the relationship between friluftsliv (outdoor life), craftmaking and sustainability in the context of the friluftsliv program at the University of South-Eastern Norway (USN). The overall question in the project, and this article, is: What do students say about the relationship between nature and self, the process of learning and craftmaking in friluftsliv and how to integrate different forms of sustainability? As educators and researchers in the field of friluftsliv studies, we are also interested in implications and possibilities for teaching friluftsliv and craftmaking in sustainable ways. The project was initiated in collaboration with our students and colleagues, inviting them to critically and constructively investigate and reflect on what it is that prevents and promotes sustainability in the education of friluftsliv and craftmaking. In recent years, researchers have pointed to a paradox between friluftsliv and sustainability, and how this paradox plays out in combination with craftmaking will also be addressed. The article draws on a critical participatory action research approach, which entails that as researchers we participate in the development of knowledge in the project. In addition, we set out to conduct a meta-analysis of the findings, so to get an overall picture of the problem area. We take an ecophilosophical perspective on the topic, with a special emphasis on the relationship between self and nature. We find that students, participating in the project, were concerned about promoting a mutual reinforcing relationship of sustainability between friluftsliv and craftmaking, and that crafting nature is also a way of crafting self. However, it is not possible to generalize from our findings and we ended up with more questions than answers. As such, we hope to have inspired or provoked others to also conduct research on the topic.Keywords: Ecophilosophy, friluftsliv, craftmaking, sustainability, learning through making, self, nature-use, nature protection

Verdiskapingsprogrammet for kulturminner. Årsrapport 2009. Oppsummering og anbefalinger

Utført på oppdrag fra Norges forskningsråd og Riksantikvare

Bred verdiskaping som strategi for bærekraftig stedsutvikling

This article is based on the evaluation of two national programs in Norway on values creation based on natural and cultural resources from 2006 to 2014, and it has been used by Oppland county council program on Values creation and Innovation based on nature and culture (2011-2016) and the Directorate for rural development (2016-2018). This article will address: what is broad values creation? How is broad values creation used as a strategy for sustainable place development? We will adhere to both a critical and constructive political ecology approach. Three key points are made: 1) broad values creation is the interplay between social, cultural, environmental and economic values creation, 2) there are conflicts between actors promoting use and protection of the natural- and cultural heritage that are sorted out in broad values creation strategies, 3) broad values creation is contingent to a synthesis of various factors, among them nature and culture, use and protection, private goods and public goods, local and global. A vertical glocal dimension and a horizontal dimension in a Quadruple Helix model are outlined. For broad values creation to be sustainable, all forms of values creation need to be assessed. A reinforcing interaction is a prerequisite for broad values creation to contribute to sustainable place-development. Finally, the establishment of new forms of cooperation and the introduction of new working methods, priorities and solutions, proves to be demanding without legitimacy in national guidelines and policies