“Humanity has settled into monoculture (monocropping); it is preparing to produce a mass civilization, like the beetroot. Its everyday life will serve no other dish” (Lévi-Strauss, Tristes Tropiques, 1955).
In a homogenizing world in which cultures are rendered invisible and destroyed, children lose the roots that offer them security, stability, and confidence. They enter the educational system with this sense of insecurity, where they are expected to learn “universal truths” that have very little to do with their everyday lives.
Colombia and Mexico are characterized by great geological, ecosystemic, and cultural diversity. However, formal education is homogenizing in both rural and urban areas and does not take this diversity into account. Based on various research projects and educational experiences in Colombia and Mexico (Córdoba, Sonora, Baja California Sur, the Amazon, and Cauca), we propose introducing ethnoecology into curricula and pedagogical projects as a way to territorialize education so that it is responsive to different contexts. In many of these territories, the lack of opportunities pushes young people to migrate to cities and, in some cases, to become involved in armed conflicts. By getting to know their territory (a concept that encompasses all the beings that inhabit it: animals, plants, microorganisms, supernatural beings, stones, hills, mountains, and spiritual relationships), children and youth learn and build traditional and local ecological knowledge, strengthen their roots, and develop a sense of belonging—constructing life pathways centered on its care.
Ethnoecology brings together interculturality and the social appropriation of territory as key tools that allow us to cultivate fertile ground so that children can become actors capable of collectively building knowledge and transforming their environments.