Traditional Ecological Knowledge: Learning with Head, Hands, and Heart

Traditional Ecological Knowledge:

Learning with Head, Hands, and Heart

As students, we become experts at studying - we write essays, we memorize theories. And spend years filling our minds with knowledge. But how often do we pause to reflect on what this knowledge truly means in our own lives? At NMBU, we are students of life sciences, but what does this actually mean for our personal relationship to Life itself? Eventually, it is our own understanding, and connection to Life that will shape our impact in the world and goes beyond what we find in textbooks and internet. It is about our ability to engage with the plants, animals, mushrooms and the land itself in a meaningful way.  

The student-driven course “Traditional Ecological Knowledge (EDS227)” offers a space for us students to explore our own relationship to the living world and the deeper significance of our academic studies. It invites to a different way of learning that engages the head, the hand and the heart, and introduces knowledge systems that are rooted in place and passed down through generations. Traditional Ecological Knowledge is about how across cultures and time people live and interact with their ecosystems. It opens a new way of looking at ecosystems not just in terms of species abundance or classification, but in their significance to humans life.  

In this course, learning extends far beyond the classroom. We will set out on excursions to forage wild plants, sleep outside under the stars and engage with Sámi scholars sharing their own relationship to the land. We will learn about traditional uses of plants by the Vikings, practice methods for understanding Traditional Ecological knowledge and much more. Through these experiences, we will reflect on the meaning of being alive in this world together. This course invites you to learn about what interests YOU, what is most relevant for your own learning?  Instead of an exam, you can choose yourself how you want to show what you have learnt. 

We invite you to join us for this unique learning experience this June block, 2025. Register via StudentWeb before the 1st of April to secure your spot.