Mapping ecopedagogy and ecoliteracy through moving place: A Post-Geo-Phenomenological Proposal
Prof. Ruyu Hung, Department of Education, National Chiayi University, Taiwan

This presentation aims to conceptualise ecopedaogy and ecoliteracy through the lens of place and share a practical curriculum example as an illustration.

Ecological pedagogy (ecopedagogy), in a broad sense, refers to educational theories and practices grounded in an ecological worldview (Hung, 2025). An ecological worldview suggests that all diverse beings in the world – whether organic or inorganic, living or non-living, from the past to the present and into the future – are interconnected, interactive, and mutually communicative. Human beings are not the centre of the world but rather one member among all beings. The educational aim of ecopedagogy is to cultivate Homo ecologicus – the ecological human who develops and embodies ecoliteracy.

Drawing on the literature of nature writing, existential phenomenology, and critical place pedagogy, this article develops a conceptual framework of ecoliteracy comprising four interrelated dimensions: ecophilia, ecosophy, ecojustice, and ecopraxis. Central to this framework is the cultivation of an affectionate and caring relationship with the ecological world (ecophilia), characterised by concern for, benevolence towards, and a sense of kinship with the place (topophilia) and all living beings within it (biophilia).

To realise the educational aims of ecopedagogy, the cultivation of ecoliteracy needs to be grounded in place, for human beings are always already situated in the places they inhabit. Place is not merely the setting in which learning occurs but the lived world through which ecological relationships are first encountered, experienced, and understood. However, it is important to note that a strong emphasis on place, particularly through an exclusive focus on locality, indigeneity, or regional identity, may risk becoming confined by a narrow sense of place-bound, parochial and essentialist attachment. Philosophical explorations of place may give rise to two broad interpretations: one conceives of place as a bounded, essentialist entity characterised by historical continuity, while the other regards it as an open, relational, and anti-essentialist space that is continually shaped by change.

Accordingly, this article uses a place-based curriculum centred on the Alishan Forest Railway to illustrate how place-based education can transcend the limitations of parochialism and serve as an interdisciplinary pedagogy for cultivating ecoliteracy. It further argues that, as a locally situated ecological being, Homo ecologicus relates to place through a dynamic process of departure and return, in which place is continually reinterpreted and renewed through ongoing engagement.

Ruyu Hung is a Distinguished Professor of Philosophy of Education at National Chiayi University, Taiwan. Her research focuses on Daoism, deconstruction, phenomenology, ecopedagogy, and intercultural studies. She has published extensively in both Chinese and English. In 2022, she was elected a Fellow of the Philosophy of Education Society of Australasia. Her publications include the edited volume Nature, Art, and Education in East Asia: Philosophical Connections (Routledge, 2023) and the award-winning monograph Education between Speech and Writing: Crossing the Boundaries of Dao and Deconstruction (Routledge, 2018). She is also the lead editor of a forthcoming volume on Daoist Philosophy of Education, part of Bloomsbury’s Philosophy of Education in Asia series.

Co-organisers: Dr Aline Nardo, aline.nardo@ed.ac.uk; and Prof. Andrea English, andrea.english@ed.ac.uk

Co-sponsored by The Philosophy of Education Research Group at Moray House School of Education

For questions about the Branch activities, please contact the Branch Lead: Prof. Andrea English andrea.english@ed.ac.uk