Storying Our Relationship with Nature: Environmental Education, the Climate Emergency, and Transformative Being

This book takes readers on a journey that is part storytelling, part academic analysis, and part spiritual exploration. The authors identify the climate emergency as a breakdown in spiritual consciousness which fails to recognize our deep interconnection with Nature. To meet this crisis of spirit, Storying Our Relationship with Nature serves as a guide for transforming ourselves and our lives through story and highlights the importance of social and emotional aspects of environmental education.

The authors introduce the philosophical and historical foundations of our objectification of Nature as a commodity and describe the effect this view has on our lives. They detail a path forward through storytelling, contemplative practice, Eastern philosophy, and the transformative power of education. Throughout the book, reflective activities provide a space for the reader to personalize their learning, leading the reader towards the book’s central message: once we learn to consciously re-story our relationship with Nature, we can transform our cultural narrative of fatalism and greed into one of love, determination, and possibility, helping us move towards a sustainable future.

Amanda Fiore is a doctoral candidate in International Education Policy at the University of Maryland, USA, and Boren Fellow (Taiwan, 2021). Her research interests include storytelling, contemplative education, power and privilege in global and local contexts, English as an international language, and creative approaches to academic writing.

Jing Lin is Harold R. W. Benjamin Professor of International Education at the University of Maryland, USA. She is author or editor of 14 books including Contemplative Pedagogies for Transformative Teaching, Learning, and Being (2019).