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There must be recognition of culture as human experience – what it is to belong to a people and a place. In this way, we are able to understand values in relation to land and water. Traditional and indigenous communities express their core meaning through their culture, which affects self-possession and thus how they engage with others and their environment. Self-possession and cultural identity are drawn from the created landscape. Changes in these qualities influence the response of people to their environment and help determine the type of social agreements they make.
Traditional and indigenous communities should be able to enter into social agreements without being pushed to be something else, without the threat of dispersal, without losing their resources and livelihood. These social agreements need time and space for adaptation. They have the right to learn and determine their own direction. They have the right to be part of the larger society without being denied their cultural identity or pressured into an unequal compromise.
Denial of culture is a basic violation and sadly, this is still happening in places still to this day. As mainstream culture draws lines and boundaries in landscapes where before there were none; where mainstream culture enacts laws that restrict resource use and access where before there was communal sharing and management; these are evident cases where marginal cultures that survived through the 21 st century are undergoing extreme pressures, both externally and internally.
While the UN Charter XI, Article 73 is dedicated to the respect of culture, we see the tragic consequences in the denial of culture everyday, the grave loss to human society and human individuals, as well as a reduced diversity in ways of living. When culture is undermined, the social fabric weakens, and the tapestry of life loses vibrancy. We need ways to analyse how the social life and culture of indigenous people are being destroyed and how this affects the landscape. We need to find ways that enable people to make a dignified response to new situations. The Framework for Engagement allows us to analyse the ways different traditional communities live their culture, relate to their environment, and develop a sense of place and cultural identity. Cultural identity and security, in turn, help give people a sense of self-possession amidst other cultures in the world. |
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CEIE is hosted and manged by Environmental Science for Social Change |
Ceie is a consortium initiative of University of Stirling Gruppo Conedis Environmental Science for Social Change |
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