The way we see the world shapes the way we treat it. If a mountain is a deity, not a pile of ore; if a river is one of the veins of the land, not potential irrigation water; if a forest is a sacred grove, not timber; if other species are biological kin, not resources; or if the planet is our mother, not an opportunity––then we will treat each other with greater respect.
David Suzuki
Thus is the challenge, to look at the world from a different perspective.
Changing one’s perspective changes the way we approach the process of change. Vision, alone, is not enough. The foundation for vision, and thus strategy, is provided by context and situation, which in turn, inform our perspective. This orientation therefore speaks to our worldview. And, as eminent Canadian-Japanese environmentalist David Suzuki’s words demonstrate, building bridges between disparate knowledge systems (local, traditional, indigenous, oral, and scientific, for example) contribute layers of nuance and understanding to our vision, and thus, our perspective.
