Learning to Adapt: Using Indigenous and Exogenous Knowledge for Environmental Decision Making in the Bhutan Himalayas

Sameer Honwad

This study is designed to find out how communities (youth and adults) residing in the Bhutan Himalayas use different sources and types of knowledge to support environmental decisions while addressing water and land use related concerns. The study also examines the decision making process situated within the context of the national environmental education curriculum (grounded in the Bhutan government’s Gross National Happiness policy). The study builds on prior work the author conducted in the Indian Himalayas and looks at whether communities situated in similar biological ecosystems (Middle Himalayas) share decision-making processes even though they are situated in different cultural ecosystems. The study seeks to address the deficiency in the literature for environmental decision-making processes and examines how knowledge embedded within the formal classroom curriculum gets used in actual decision-making processes. Thus the study would be of great help to curriculum designers.

About Sameer Honwad

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