Rituals as Nature-Based Governance of reciprocity between people and nature

Area of Science:

• Environmental Governance
• Ritual Studies
• Human-Environment Relations

Background:

• Conventional environmental governance, reliant on institutions and regulations, has proven insufficient in addressing the ecological crisis.
• Existing approaches often fail to establish genuine reciprocity between human societies and the natural world.
• There is a need for innovative governance frameworks that integrate ecological and social systems more effectively.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose ritual as a central mechanism for a new paradigm of nature-based governance (NBG).
• To develop a theoretical framework for NBG grounded in embodied, multi-species practices and reciprocity.
• To explore practical applications of NBG in diverse ecological and social contexts.

Main Methods:

• Developing a generalized concept of ritual inspired by Indigenous and East Asian traditions, informed by embodiment theories.
• Distinguishing between disembodied (conventional) and embodied (NBG) reciprocity.
• Proposing stylized models for NBG applications, including urban ecology, ecosystem service commoning, and eco-compensation.

Main Results:

• Ritual, understood through embodiment, can facilitate shared action between humans and non-humans.
• NBG, enacted through embodied reciprocity, fosters relationality and multi-species cohabitation.
• Practical models demonstrate the potential of NBG in urban gardening, wildfire protection, and eco-compensation.

Conclusions:

• Ritual offers a potent, yet overlooked, tool for transforming environmental governance towards deeper human-nature reciprocity.
• NBG provides a viable framework for creating resilient, multi-species communities and sustainable ecological relationships.
• The proposed models illustrate pathways for implementing embodied reciprocity in real-world environmental challenges.