Relationships and Relationality in Times of Profound Eco-Political Change

This paper draws out the distinction between relationship and relationality in the context of a time of ecological turmoil and the climate emergency. It does so from an aesthoecological standpoint—a concept initially developed by the author to establish important criteria and characteristics within education. Eco-political issues are stressed as being vital to education across the lifespan, and this paper offers a philosophical backdrop for these crucial issues and some hope for the future. Ideas of transdisciplinarity are foregrounded in both theoretical and practical ways to emphasise that the problems of climate change, biodiversity loss, and other Earth crises are inherently complex and interconnected. Addressing these challenges requires a new way of understanding our relationships with both humans and more-than-humans, which is primarily an eco-political issue, and lifelong education has a significant role to play. The author proposes that aesthoecology has an important role in framing and addressing educational futures.