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

Jan Lynette Stanley

doi:doi:10.11648/j.ijls.20210401.14

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

Jan Lynette Stanley

Published in International Journal of Law and Society (Volume 4, Issue 1)

Received: 14 January 2021 Accepted: 25 January 2021 Published: 30 January 2021

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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.

Published in	International Journal of Law and Society (Volume 4, Issue 1)
DOI	10.11648/j.ijls.20210401.14
Page(s)	28-38
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Narrative and Meaning, Governance, Policy, Legal Interpretations, Human-Nature Systems, Sustainability

References

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[3]	B. Tversky (2019). Mind in Motion: How Action Shapes Thought. New York: Basic Books.
[4]	A. Y. Valsson (2019, Nov. 26). “The greater impact of Hvalarvirkjun on uninhabited wilderness” [“Benda á meiri áhrif Hvalárvirkjunar á óbyggð viðerni”]. RÚV. Retrieved from https://www.ruv.is/frett/benda-a-meiri-ahrif-hvalarvirkjunar-a-obyggd-viderni. Accessed June 7, 2020.
[5]	A. Elliott (2020, May 2). “International conservation agency against new hydro dam”. RÚV. Retrieved from https://www.ruv.is/frett/international-conservation-agency-against-new-hydro-dam. Accessed June 10, 2020.
[6]	A. Fontaine (2018, July). “Songs of the damned: Hvalárvirkjun and the future of Árneshreppur”. Grapevine Magazine. Retrieved from https://grapevine.is/mag/feature/2018/07/13/songs-of-the-dammed-hvalarvirkjun-and-the-future-of-arneshreppur/. Accessed Sept 24, 2019.
[7]	G. Vince (2020). Transcendence: How Humans Evolved through Fire, Language, Beauty, and Time. New York: Basic Books.
[8]	C. Wohlforth (2010). The Fate of Nature: Rediscovering Our Ability to Rescue the Earth. New York: Picador.
[9]	D. Abram (1996). The Spell of the Sensuous. New York: Vintage Books.
[10]	A. Goodbody (2011). “Sense of place and lieu de mémoire: A cultural memory approach to environmental texts,” in Ecocritical Theory: New European Approaches, A. Goodbody and K. Rigby, Eds. Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia Press, pp. 55-67.
[11]	L. A. Watt (2017). The Paradox of Preservation: Wilderness and Working Landscapes at Point Reyes National Seashore. Oakland: University of California Press.
[12]	BB Newspaper (2020, July 5). “VesturVerk Resigns and Closes The Office,” (“Vesturverk segir upp og lokar skrifstofunni,”). Downloaded from http://www.bb.is/2020/05/vesturverk-segir-upp-og-lokar-skrifstofunni/ on July 6, 2020.
[13]	H. L. Kristjánsdóttir, S. Sigurðardóttir, and A. M. Pálsdóttir (2020). The restorative potential of Icelandic nature. International Journal Environmental Research and Public Health, 17, 9095. Doi: 10.3390/ijerph17239095.
[14]	B. McKibben (2007), Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future. New York: St, Martin’s Press.
[15]	B. McKibben (2019). Falter: Has the Human Game Begun to Play Itself Out? New York: Henry Holt and Company.
[16]	A. Ghosh (2016). The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
[17]	C. Eisenstein (2011). Sacred Economics: Money, Gift and Society in the Age of Transition. Berkeley, CA: Evolver Editions.
[18]	B. C. Lane (2001). Landscapes of the Sacred: Geography and Narrative in American Spirituality. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
[19]	R. Andersson (2019). No Go World: How Fear Is Redrawing Our Maps and Infecting our Politics. Oakland, CA: University of California Press.
[20]	Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, International Fund for Agricultural Development, UNICEF, World Food Programme, and WHO (2018). “The state of Food security and nutrition in the world: Building climate resilience for food security and nutrition.” In The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. The State of the World Series. Rome: FAO. Downloaded from fao.org/3/I9553EN/i9553en.pdf on January 13, 2021.

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APA Style

Jan Lynette Stanley. (2021). Narratives, Policies and Governance Influence Development of Sustainable Human-Nature Relationship Systems in Central but Subtle Ways. International Journal of Law and Society, 4(1), 28-38. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijls.20210401.14

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Jan Lynette Stanley. Narratives, Policies and Governance Influence Development of Sustainable Human-Nature Relationship Systems in Central but Subtle Ways. Int. J. Law Soc. 2021, 4(1), 28-38. doi: 10.11648/j.ijls.20210401.14

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AMA Style

Jan Lynette Stanley. Narratives, Policies and Governance Influence Development of Sustainable Human-Nature Relationship Systems in Central but Subtle Ways. Int J Law Soc. 2021;4(1):28-38. doi: 10.11648/j.ijls.20210401.14

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@article{10.11648/j.ijls.20210401.14,
  author = {Jan Lynette Stanley},
  title = {Narratives, Policies and Governance Influence Development of Sustainable Human-Nature Relationship Systems in Central but Subtle Ways},
  journal = {International Journal of Law and Society},
  volume = {4},
  number = {1},
  pages = {28-38},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijls.20210401.14},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijls.20210401.14},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijls.20210401.14},
  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.},
 year = {2021}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Narratives, Policies and Governance Influence Development of Sustainable Human-Nature Relationship Systems in Central but Subtle Ways
AU  - Jan Lynette Stanley
Y1  - 2021/01/30
PY  - 2021
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DO  - 10.11648/j.ijls.20210401.14
T2  - International Journal of Law and Society
JF  - International Journal of Law and Society
JO  - International Journal of Law and Society
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PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2640-1908
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijls.20210401.14
AB  - 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.
VL  - 4
IS  - 1
ER  -

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Author Information

Jan Lynette Stanley

Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability, Arizona State University, Tempe, USA

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Jan Lynette Stanley. (2021). Narratives, Policies and Governance Influence Development of Sustainable Human-Nature Relationship Systems in Central but Subtle Ways. International Journal of Law and Society, 4(1), 28-38. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijls.20210401.14

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ACS Style

Jan Lynette Stanley. Narratives, Policies and Governance Influence Development of Sustainable Human-Nature Relationship Systems in Central but Subtle Ways. Int. J. Law Soc. 2021, 4(1), 28-38. doi: 10.11648/j.ijls.20210401.14

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AMA Style

Jan Lynette Stanley. Narratives, Policies and Governance Influence Development of Sustainable Human-Nature Relationship Systems in Central but Subtle Ways. Int J Law Soc. 2021;4(1):28-38. doi: 10.11648/j.ijls.20210401.14

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@article{10.11648/j.ijls.20210401.14,
  author = {Jan Lynette Stanley},
  title = {Narratives, Policies and Governance Influence Development of Sustainable Human-Nature Relationship Systems in Central but Subtle Ways},
  journal = {International Journal of Law and Society},
  volume = {4},
  number = {1},
  pages = {28-38},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijls.20210401.14},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijls.20210401.14},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijls.20210401.14},
  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.},
 year = {2021}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Narratives, Policies and Governance Influence Development of Sustainable Human-Nature Relationship Systems in Central but Subtle Ways
AU  - Jan Lynette Stanley
Y1  - 2021/01/30
PY  - 2021
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijls.20210401.14
DO  - 10.11648/j.ijls.20210401.14
T2  - International Journal of Law and Society
JF  - International Journal of Law and Society
JO  - International Journal of Law and Society
SP  - 28
EP  - 38
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2640-1908
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijls.20210401.14
AB  - 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.
VL  - 4
IS  - 1
ER  -

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