Sofia van Winden offers us a religious perspective that refers to an ultimate reality of interconnectedness, non-dualism or transcendence may enhance our inclinations to act sustainably, since it may integrate ethical or sustainable actions with the insight into reality that forms our purpose.
Such a perspective may also help us to assume a clearer view on currently predominant systems, values and regulating frameworks as it enables us to approach them from a position beyond them. But this will require a different view on religion in a sustainable development context.
If we are to approach religion in a way that does it justice, and that fully recognizes its potentials to enhance our sustainability aspirations, we must be open to the reality that it strives to direct us toward. We must be prepared to refer to religion not only as a scientifically approachable phenomenon, but also as a potential framework for our knowing.
This dissertation consequently links solutions to our sustainability concerns with our attention to religion in a rethinking of the understanding of knowledge upon which global sustainability agendas are founded.
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