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Traditional Land-Based Knowledge and Practice as Environmental Sustainability

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 1 December 2025 | Viewed by 1596

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Canada Research Chair in Community Disaster Research at Indigenous Studies, Department of Humanities, Mount Royal University, Calgary, AB T3E 6K6, Canada
Interests: community disaster research; anti-racist perspectives on climate change research; decolonial perspectives on health well-being; building anti-racist communities; land-based sustainabilities; decolonial community-led participatory action research
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Guest Editor
Office of Research and Health Sciences, Texas A&M University, San Antonio, One University Way, San Antonio, TX 78224, USA
Interests: nature; culture; human-interaction

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Guest Editor
Department of Environmental Studies, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, SUNY ESF. 1 Forestry Drive Syracuse, New York, NY 13210, USA
Interests: indigenous knowledge systems; food sovereignty; decolonizing and indigenous research methodologies; community-based research; youth participatory action research; climate change education; culturally responsive and equitable evaluation

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Guest Editor
Faculty of Education, University of Winnipeg, 515 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg, MB R3B 2E9, Canada
Interests: indigenous knowledge and sustainability; indigenization in education; links TRC actions with UN SDGs; indigenous perspectives on sustainability and wellness

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Traditional land-based knowledge and practice (TLBKP), rooted in Indigenous and land-based communities' knowledge systems, is essential for developing environmental sustainability in the current polycrisis era. This era, marked by interconnected global challenges such as human-created climate change, biodiversity loss, and social inequities, requires holistic approaches that emphasize long-term environmental sustainability. TLBKP offers a critical understanding of the Earth as a living system interconnected with cultural and spiritual connections that guide environmental sustainability. For example, studies have shown that Indigenous land management practices, including controlled burns and rotational agriculture, enhance biodiversity and improve resilience against climate shocks (Berkes et al., 2000; Datta, 2024, 2020; Mistry and Berardi, 2016). Recognizing and integrating these time-tested practices is essential to counteract extractive practices that have led to ecological degradation (Kimmerer, 2013). The bridging of TLBS and Western scientific approaches can be transformative, creating comprehensive strategies that incorporate both empirical and Indigenous experiential knowledge (Nakata, 2007; Sutherland and Nichols, 2020). Following TLBKP frameworks that respect Indigenous sovereignty and promote knowledge exchange can lead to land-based environmental solutions (Whyte, 2013). For instance, co-management models of protected areas have shown significant promise in balancing conservation goals with community empowerment (Ban et al., 2018). The TLBKP not only enhances scientific understanding by providing multiple lenses for observation, but also upholds ethical considerations that recognize the rights and contributions of Indigenous peoples (Hill et al., 2020). TLBKP can foster resilient environmental stewardship that is both culturally relevant and scientifically sound, addressing the polycrisis through shared insights and cooperative action.

This Special Issue aims to showcase the significance of traditional land-based learning and practice in addressing pressing environmental challenges. By highlighting traditional knowledge systems, sustainable practices, and the deep relationality between Indigenous communities and their lands, this Special Issue will bridge gaps between Indigenous and academic perspectives. It seeks to create interdisciplinary dialog, inspire culturally grounded environmental policies, and challenge colonial environmental management, governance, and policies that have historically marginalized land-based minority and Indigenous contributions. This Special Issue will advance the understanding of how Indigenous land-based approaches can drive equitable, sustainable, and transformative solutions for global environmental resilience.

This Special Issue will cover, but is not limited to, the following themes:

  • Reclaiming traditional land-based spirituality;
  • Land back as climate action;
  • Land-based spirituality is a proven science;
  • Rethinking developments from land-based knowledge and practice;
  • Land-based spirituality as biodiversity conservation;
  • Decolonizing environmental sustainability through land-based learning;
  • Relationality and reciprocity: principles of Indigenous environmental ethics;
  • Land sovereignty as a pathway to sustainability;
  • Healing the land: the role of indigenous ceremonies and spiritual practices in ecosystem restoration;
  • Challenges and opportunities in integrating indigenous knowledge into global sustainability frameworks;
  • Youth leadership in advancing Indigenous environmental knowledge;
  • Cultural resilience: protecting Indigenous land rights to address environmental injustice.

Dr. Ranjan Datta
Dr. Rani Muthukrishnan
Dr. Jean Kayira
Dr. Yvonne Vizina
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • indigenous land-based knowledge
  • traditional ecological practices
  • environmental sustainability
  • land sovereignty
  • decolonizing environmental management
  • biodiversity conservation
  • indigenous climate action

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

35 pages, 26705 KiB  
Article
Living Inheritance of Traditional Knowledge and Practical Wisdom of Severe Cold-Region Traditional Villages: A Case Study of Jinjiang Chalet Village in the Changbai Mountain Area
by Hongyu Zhao, Jiandong Fang, Zhanlve Lin, Jiajun Tang, Shinan Zhen, Huijia Shi, Xiaoyu Hui and Yuesong Liu
Sustainability 2025, 17(9), 4225; https://doi.org/10.3390/su17094225 - 7 May 2025
Viewed by 774
Abstract
Despite traditional knowledge’s (TK’s) potential to mitigate climate-induced vulnerabilities across diverse climates, cold-region communities remain critically understudied. To bridge that gap, this study adopts the pressure–state–response (PSR) framework to analyze how Indigenous knowledge in China’s Jinjiang Chalet Village—a 300-year-old cold-region settlement—embodies dynamic resilience [...] Read more.
Despite traditional knowledge’s (TK’s) potential to mitigate climate-induced vulnerabilities across diverse climates, cold-region communities remain critically understudied. To bridge that gap, this study adopts the pressure–state–response (PSR) framework to analyze how Indigenous knowledge in China’s Jinjiang Chalet Village—a 300-year-old cold-region settlement—embodies dynamic resilience across ecological, climatic, social, and economic dimensions. Combining semi-structured interviews with Indigenous Elders, UAV-based multispectral analysis, and environmental simulations, we identify strategies rooted in sustainable wisdom: ecosystem stewardship, climate-responsive architecture, community governance, and adaptive economic practices. A key innovation lies in the Eco-Wisdom Laboratory—a pilot project operationalizing TK through modern passive design and participatory education, demonstrating how traditional woodcraft and microclimate management can be integrated with contemporary technologies to achieve scalable, low-carbon solutions. Crucially, we advance the concept of living inheritance by showcasing how such hybrid practices decolonize static preservation paradigms, enabling communities to codify TK into tangible, future-oriented applications. This study provides a replicable framework for embedding TK into global sustainability agendas, particularly for severe cold regions facing similar stressors. Our findings advocate for policy reforms centering Indigenous agency in climate adaptation planning, offering actionable insights for architects, policymakers, and educators working at the nexus of cultural heritage and ecological resilience. Full article
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