IT Vidya

Learning journey · 5 steps

Understanding Coexistence: Nature, Society & Us

From ecological interdependence to institutions, economies and community action.

Learning objective: To understand how human life is embedded in natural and social systems, and to explore how individuals, institutions and communities can act in ways that sustain and regenerate those systems.

Duration
About 5 weeks
One step per week, around 3 hours per week including fieldwork.
Intended for
  • Students of environment, economics or social studies
  • Community builders and socially conscious professionals
  • Educators designing interdisciplinary learning
  • Anyone curious about how personal life connects to larger systems

By the end, you may be better able to…

  • Explain coexistence and interdependence scientifically and philosophically.
  • Describe how ecosystems absorb change and what can push them past thresholds.
  • Recognise how institutions shape behaviour and outcomes.
  • Evaluate economic activity by whether it meets real needs and respects people and nature.
  • Apply lessons from commons research to a shared problem in your own community.

Step 1 of 5

What is coexistence?

Interdependence as a fact and a way of seeing

We begin with the idea at the heart of this journey: that everything that exists is related to everything else.

This week you explore what ecology tells us about interdependence and what several philosophical traditions suggest it means.

Read and explore

  • Nature & ExistenceEssay · 3 min read

    What Is Coexistence?

    Coexistence is the idea that everything that exists is related to everything else. Exploring it — scientifically and philosophically — can change how we see our place in the world.

    • coexistence
    • interdependence
    • ecology

Reflection prompts

  • Name five things you depended on today that you rarely notice.
  • Do you experience yourself as part of nature or apart from it?
  • What responsibilities, if any, follow from interdependence?

Practical exercise · 30 minutes

A relationship walk

  1. Walk slowly in any place with living things.
  2. Choose one organism and ask what it depends on and what depends on it.
  3. Sketch the relationships you can see and those you can infer.

Nothing exists alone.

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