As the global ‘polycrisis’ of biodiversity loss, climate change, social inequity, political instability, and related crises intensify, transformative change is needed. With our SNSF Spark funded project “Flip it and reverse it” (FIRI), we set out on an ambitious journey to contribute to this shift by centering holistic Indigenous worldviews to rethink how humans relate to nature in Switzerland.

Centering Holistic Indigenous Worldviews

Many Indigenous cultures understand humans and nature as deeply connected, while Western, colonial traditions often view them as separate. FIRI aims to make these connections visible again by working closely with Indigenous knowledge keepers. The inclusion of Indigenous knowledge systems is meant to shed light on alternative ways of understanding and valuing these relations. But there are risks: colonial power hierarchies can be reproduced when Indigenous knowledge is extracted or included superficially and not considered part of an equal and valid knowledge system. In our project we worked to mitigate these risks by centering holistic Indigenous worldviews throughout the project.

Working Together and Building Trust

The FIRI project brought together Indigenous stewardship specialists, Swiss nature conservationists, and GIUZ researchers over a series of meetings and workshops. Our methodologies focused on balancing power in collaboration and co-creation, thereby challenging the usual power imbalances in in knowledge production. At the heart of the project was a strong commitment to relationship-building. The FIRI project underlined how transformative change is as much about process as outcomes. Every step emphasized not only what knowledge was created, but how it was generated. Transparency, mutual learning, and emotional intelligence enhanced scientific rigor by ensuring that it was informed by multiple knowledge systems. Creating power-attentive inclusive, relational, and culturally respectful spaces allowed for deeper collaboration, new forms of knowledge to emerge, and more hopeful visions for human-nature relations to take root.

Bridging Different Ways of Knowing

We employed a rich mix of methodologies to weave diverse knowledge systems together without subsuming one to another. For example, we used Indigenous storywork, Two-Eyed Seeing, the Three Horizons Framework for envisioning sustainable futures, and critical social science approaches to surface and confront power imbalances. We collaboratively developed Protocols (guiding principles), Practices (‘what we do’), and Methods (‘how we do it’) (PPMs) for making connections visible. Together, these form a tool for future transformative change initiatives. Instead of a fixed framework, the PPMs form an adaptable guide for future projects that seek to work across knowledge systems and foster deep transformation.

Using concrete Swiss case studies as a foundation— human-wolf interactions and wilderness education — the group experimented with developing indicators, research questions, and assessment methods for approaches to transforming human-nature relations. By placing Indigenous worldviews at the center—not as an add-on, but as a driving force—the FIRI project offers a hopeful model for re-visibilizing relations among humans and the rest of nature, and for building futures that honor connection, care, and collective wisdom.

FIRI: “Flip it and reverse it” Transformative change through (re)visibilization of interdependencies among humans and the rest of nature

Sierra Deutsch, Annina Michel, and Rose Nelson (Space, Nature and Society)