Conference presentation
A practical and relational approach to wildlife education. The kangaroo issue and a failing society
International Academic and Community Conference: Invited Speaker Abstracts, p.3
International Academic and Community Conference: Minding Animals, 2009 (Newcastle, Australia, 13-Jul-2009 - 18-Jul-2009)
University of Newcastle
2009
Abstract
Australia has a dire wildlife record with its world-beating catastrophic loss of species and the cruel and brutal way this loss occurs in the name of 'conservation', 'management' and 'the market'. The treatment of kangaroos epitomises this wildlife disregard. Neoliberalism has brought a culture of commoditisation, short-term economics, greed and anthropocentrism to wildlife, with resultant institutional failure, unethical teaching and research, shallow ecology, superficial analysis and popularism, cruelty for 'pleasure' and/or short-term commercial gain, and general disregard. Education, often seen as the answer to all things wrong with society and the environment, has contributed to this disrespect, disregard and the disassociation of humans from nature and its wildlife. What might be the end result of this condoned cycle of disregard, for its victims and the values of the diminished society that enables it? The divide between human and non-human animals, between welfare and conservation, between nature and materialism, between what is good for the individual and for the planet continues to widen. The fate of the kangaroo illustrates how humans are being reduced to automata when confronted by nature. A relational approach to wildlife education is proposed to address these issues through the 'ecoversity' (Matthews and Garlick, 2008). The ecoversity can engender a more fulsome understanding (engaged learning and ecoliteracy) of animals and nature, physical and metaphysical; in our shared environment (place context); for the good of our planet and all its beings (ethics). It provides a practical tool for increasing awareness of the ethical connections between nature and society.
Details
- Title
- A practical and relational approach to wildlife education. The kangaroo issue and a failing society
- Authors
- Steven Garlick (Author) - University of the Sunshine CoastJennifer Carter (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast - Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
- Additional notes
- Invited keynote presentation.
- Publication details
- International Academic and Community Conference: Invited Speaker Abstracts, p.3
- Conference details
- International Academic and Community Conference: Minding Animals, 2009 (Newcastle, Australia, 13-Jul-2009 - 18-Jul-2009)
- Publisher
- University of Newcastle
- Organisation Unit
- Indigenous and Transcultural Research Centre; School of Law and Society; School of Social Sciences - Legacy; Sustainability Research Centre; University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 99449704402621
- Output Type
- Conference presentation
Metrics
6 File views/ downloads
531 Record Views