What am I looking at?

The foundational role of knowledge in the culture, well-being, and sustainability of human societies is hardly disputed. Likewise, a lack of knowledge or misguided “knowledge” can play a prominent role in the degradation of social relations and the environment that support not just humans but all life. In an increasingly globalized world, this has planetary consequences and has given rise to the geological era of the Anthropocene, in which humans are the primary driver of changes on Earth. In short, humanity’s development and reliance on bodies of knowledge—including our values, beliefs, and goals for well-being—can lead to decidedly different journeys and destinations. What summum bonum of knowledge-creation efforts should we pursue in today’s world facing entwined crises of climate change, biodiversity loss, and growing social and economic inequality?

Dominance of the neoliberal rationale for economic growth as the universal metric of human well-being has displaced traditional social relationships, ways of life, and the knowledge that allowed diverse cultures to thrive by aligning human well-being with the complex adaptive systems of the places they lived. These cultures and their deep and embodied knowledge of local sustainability have been degraded and lost, resulting in dangerous knowledge deficiencies and failures of awareness. Ironically, with all our “new” scientific knowledge and technological advances, we dismiss or fail to engage with local knowledge and imagination of alternative futures based on traditions of the past. Worse, anti-intellectualism has arisen across the political spectrum in those who experience these failures and have lost trust in the neoliberal promise of expert knowledge and capital accumulation leading to unlimited growth and an increasing quality of life. We have abandoned morality, virtue, and tradition as foundations of the good life in favor of instrumental rationality of human well-being and management of environmental and social relations. We are losing the ability to think critically and responsibly, instead trying desperately to figure out how to save what is being lost within the system that is the cause of the problems. The result is a widening metabolic rift between humanity and the natural world that portends a climate and biodiversity catastrophe and increasing human suffering for future generations. 

A central thesis of our grounded theory that is being tested through a Hawai‘i-focused case study is that it is possible to reverse intellectual regression and knowledge-deterioration by redesigning and harmonizing regional knowledge regimes. We recognize that knowledge comes from many sources and traditions. Integration and synthesis are possible if grounded in core values and goals for human well-being that can still embrace cultural diversity in means and ends. We believe there is great potential to democratize knowledge-building processes at this regional level. This effort can and should play a principal role in a broader sustainability-oriented strategy of socioeconomic system transformation and relocalization. Indeed, this would serve the express goals for sustainability here in Hawaiʻi.

Portfolio of Community Research, Learning and Design Ventures and Initiatives

This section briefly describes the principal design and choreography of the approach that we propose for advancing and harmonizing the regional knowledge and innovation system in the interests of its main beneficiary – the community. To realize the full potential of the following ventures and initiatives, we seek to build synergistic collaborations with our colleagues in academia, as well as partners across various sectors and groups that represent Hawai‘i’s diverse citizenry.