Ecopedagogy and Indigenous Peoples of the Amazon

Cosmovisions and Ancestral Knowledge as a Praxis of Sustainability

Abstract

This article discusses ecopedagogy in dialogue with the ancestral knowledge of Indigenous peoples from the Amazon region of Rondônia, aiming to construct an educational praxis oriented toward sustainability. It begins by recognizing that the contemporary environmental crisis is not only ecological but also epistemic, rooted in modern rationality that fragments the relationship between society and nature. In this perspective, ecopedagogy is analyzed as a critical pedagogy of sustainability, highlighting its potential and limitations when confronted with pedagogical universalism that may obscure cultural diversity. The text then engages with critical interculturality and the epistemologies of the South, particularly Boaventura de Sousa Santos’ ecology of knowledges, problematizing epistemicide and calling for the recognition of epistemic plurality as a condition for transformative education. In the third section, the ancestral knowledge of Indigenous peoples from Rondônia is examined, emphasizing their worldviews, community-based educational practices, and ways of existence that conceive the land as a subject of rights and relations. It is argued that these knowledges should not be regarded as merely complementary to Western thought, but as epistemological contributions capable of reshaping ecopedagogy toward a decolonial paradigm. The conclusion states that ecopedagogy grounded in intercultural dialogue and in the appreciation of ancestral wisdom can contribute to the formation of ecological subjects and to the construction of sustainable futures. This qualitative, hermeneutic, and interdisciplinary study seeks to address theoretical gaps and to stimulate innovative educational practices that articulate sustainability, human rights, and socio-environmental justice.