Education
A Living Curricula
for Nature Based Technologies
The Living Curricula & Ecological Database brings nature-based technologies and ancestral knowledge systems into classrooms, organizations, and communities worldwide. Inspired by 18 Indigenous communities and the technologies they have sustained for generations, Living Earth and Living Water offer a transdisciplinary exploration of resilience, sustainability, and ecological design through the lens of the living world.
Living Earth & Living Water invite institutions, organizations, communities and individuals to expand sustainability learning beyond high-tech and green economy approaches by integrating Lo—TEK (low-energy, traditional ecological knowledge) systems into education and design. Rooted in 44+ ecosystem-rich cultures whose nature-based technologies have sustained communities for generations, the framework connects learners to the places and people that ground their learning.
Living Earth & Living Water foster four key shifts: Nature-Based Thinking, which treats nature as teacher, collaborator, and design guide; Transdisciplinary Learning, which weaves together diverse knowledge systems, methods, and perspectives to address real-world ecological challenges through collaborative, holistic solutions.; Ecological Mindedness, which centers a worldview of interconnectedness, ethical responsibility, and sustainability rooted in local ecosystems and global interdependence; and Planetary Learning, which deepens project-based learning with Earth systems, ancestral knowledge, and long-term human–nature relationships.
The Living Curricula was co-created by two veteran educators with decades of experience leading and innovating across states and countries. Designed by teachers for teachers, Living Earth is an autonomous, adaptable system that students and educators can navigate together. It provides structure, guidance, and flexibility so that learning remains place-based, community-rooted, and driven by curiosity, collaboration, and local contexts.
Secondary schools, colleges & universities, green certification programs, architectural and design firms, environmental organizations, and independent scholars worldwide use Living Earth & Living Water to deepen planetary literacy, connect students to ancestral knowledge systems, and build climate resilience mindsets and practices for the future.
Living Earth Curriculum
The Living Earth Curriculum examines the mythology of technology, and ten ancestral innovations found in mountains, forests, deserts and wetland ecosystems across the globe.
18 local communities from across the globe shared time, knowledge and the intricacies of indigenous knowledge systems to make the Living Earth Curriculum possible. They are the Incan of Peru; the Khasis of North-east India; the Ifugao of the Philippines; the Subak of Bali; the Mayan of Mexico; the Chagga of Tanzania; the Malayali of India; the Enawenênawê of Brazil; the Kayapó of Brazil; the Zuni, of the United States; the Maasai of Kenya; the Persians of Iran; the Ngisonyaka Turkana of Kenya; the Uros of Peru; the Ma’dan of Iraq; the Bengalese of India; the Tofinu of Benin; and the Javanese of Indonesia. We are grateful that young minds will finally get access to their work.
Living Water Curriculum
The Living Water Curriculum explores the ancestral aquatic innovations of first nation peoples through ten technologies found in salty, brackish and fresh water.
22 local communities from across the globe co-authored or contributed to the writing of chapters to make the Living Water Curriculum possible.They are the Visayan of the Philippines; the Yapese and Poluwatese of Micronesia; the Bretons and Normans of France; the Wale I Asi of the Soloman Islands; the Tunisians and Amazigh of Tunisia; the Native Hawaiians of Hawai'i; the Goans, Malayalis, and Paat-mi of India; the Māʻohi of French Polynesia; the Venetians of Italy; the Persians of Iran; the Baka of Southeastern Cameroon; the Bhumihin Krishok of Bangladesh; the Sundanese of Indonesia; the Japanese of Japan; the Nahua Xochimilca of Mexico; the Intha of Myanmar; the Han of China; and the Southern Bohemians of Czechia.
