The concept of sustainable development has become one of the main responses to increasing environmental degradation and inequalities resulting from the modern development model. However, its effectiveness has been questioned in view of the persistence of economic practices that maintain the exploitation of natural resources and the reproduction of social inequalities. In this context, this article aims to analyze the concept of sustainable development from the perspectives of Ailton Krenak and Alberto Acosta, identifying their main criticisms of the development paradigm and their contributions to the construction of alternative forms of relationship between society and nature. The research is characterized as qualitative and is based on a bibliographic review, analysis of documents, scientific articles, and literature related to the subject. The results indicate that Krenak and Acosta converge in their criticism of a development model centered on economic growth, advocating perspectives based on the interdependence between human beings and nature, the appreciation of traditional knowledge, and the overcoming of the logic of natural resource exploitation. It is concluded that their reflections broaden the debate on sustainability by proposing a change in the understanding of the relationships between development, society, and nature, presenting Buen Vivir as an alternative to the predominant development model.
The relationship between literature and the environment is one of the latest developments in interdisciplinary studies that respond to increasing environmental challenges, arising from industrial activities, conflicts, violence and other human activities. Ecocriticism, as a critical theory, attempts to incorporate the principles of ecology in literary analysis. Hence, postcolonial scholars have begun to engage the ideas of ecocriticism in existing literature. However, much of ecocritical ideas that have emerged over time appear grounded in Western epistemologies and do not sufficiently reflect the authentic African experience. Only a few scholars have highlighted the peculiarities of environmentalism in Africa. Thus, this study explores this gap and illustrates the examination of emerging ideas in postcolonial ecocriticism in three works of Helon Habila – Oil on Water, Measuring Time and Waiting for an Angel. Using the qualitative, content-based analytical method, this study highlights the vivid representation of environmental issues, including the dynamics of place, the realities of displacement and the revolutionary dynamics that have emerged as the result of ecodevastation. This study highlights how the texts portray the complicity of oil corporations, political institutions and military regimes in the destruction of the environment of Nigeria’s Niger Delta oil-rich areas. The study concludes that the environmental issues in oil-rich regions and beyond can only be addressed when the relevant stakeholders realize the transgenerational consequences of their neglect. This work is a significant contribution to the body of knowledge because it illustrates the application of Afrocentric ecocritical tenets to the works of a contemporary writer.
This article proposes a theoretical reflection on the crisis of extinction as a multidimensional process that transcends the disappearance of biological species, manifesting also in the sociocultural sphere through the erosion of knowledges, artisanal practices, and situated ways of life. The objective is to understand the ambivalent role of design, historically aligned with capitalist and technocratic logic that accelerates these extinction processes, but also potentially capable of acting as an agent of regeneration when adopting participatory and situated approaches. Based on a non-systematic literature review, the article articulates discussions on the concept of extinction, the critique of modernity, the Anthropocene, and situated knowledges, proposing an original reading that connects these debates to the field of design. It is argued that although the extinction of certain practices seems inexorable in the face of hegemonic global forces, participatory and regenerative design strategies can open pathways for the re-signification and strengthening of threatened cultures. The conclusion points to the need for design to abandon its technocratic and centralizing posture, repositioning itself as a mediator of intercultural dialogues and co-creator of possible futures anchored in local knowledges.
This paper examines the human–animal relationship in Nepal’s Khumbu region through an examination of pastoral and logistical practices in the Himalaya, where yaks, naks, and jyokpoes (Yak cow hybrid) serve as primary carriers for both local subsistence and the tourism economy. It engages with an ethical paradox: despite the region’s cultural framing as a non-violence zone, the continued reliance on animals as load-bearing agents in harsh ecological conditions raises questions within contemporary animal rights and welfare discourses. The paper argues that Sherpa engagements with animals are not best understood as instrumental exploitation, but as ethically mediated interdependence grounded in Buddhist ontological and moral thought. Drawing on a mixed method of empirical observation, personal interviews with six Sherpa inhabitants of the Himalaya and interpretive analysis of secondary sources, it also borrows insights from Buddhist concepts of pratītyasamutpāda (dependent origination) and karuṇa (compassion) for theoretical anchorage. It proposes that Sherpa practices enact a compassion-regulated interdependence in which animals’ labor is utilized without denying their moral status as sentient co-inhabitants. This framework sustains, rather than resolves, the tension between use and care, contributing to environmental humanities and animal studies by foregrounding a Himalayan Sherpa model of relational ethics.
Contemporary environmental crises demand a paradigm shift away from purely technocratic solutions toward the integration of time-tested ecological wisdom. This article examines the Indigenous Ecological Knowledge (IEK) of the Bungku community in Central Sulawesi, particularly its agricultural traditions (Mesui, Padungku, Musampalu, Mumparika) and maritime traditions (Batuba, Balobe), as instruments for regulating the use of natural resources. Using a qualitative-descriptive approach grounded in library research and ethnoecological analysis, this study maps the ecological function of each tradition, the social-ecological values embedded within them (social capital, an ethic of self-restraint, and cosmic reciprocity), and their current conservation status. The findings reveal a critical paradox: the traditions with the strongest ecological control functions, Mesui, Musampalu, Batuba, and Mumparika—are precisely those in the most critical condition, as they are perceived as incompatible with modern industrial efficiency, whereas traditions with a daily social-religious dimension persist more readily. The article proposes four integrative revitalization strategies: ecolinguistic codification and documentation, integration into local-content curricula, restoration of the role of customary institutions in environmental licensing, and the creation of a multi-stakeholder collaboration platform. These findings affirm that Bungku's local ecological knowledge constitutes a genuine prototype for sustainable environmental management that is adaptive to its specific socio-ecological context.