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CONSERVATION BIOLOGY AND AGROECOLOGY: TOWARD A RAPPROCHEMENT THROUGH EDUCATION?

The fields of conservation biology and agroecology have endured a complex relationship over their relatively young lives. On one hand, they share space on the margins of the ecological sciences, and have been criticized for their explicit normative approaches and activist tendencies. On this basis, one might expect a certain natural affinity to exist between each field's practitioners.

On the other hand, however, the relationship between conservation biology and agroecology has not been without some skepticism and defensiveness. Conservation biology's love affair with systems rich in biodiversity at times encouraged a dismissive attitude towards agroecosystems as disturbed, denuded, and not very valuable, and a perception that those who study agroecosystems are somehow "missing the point." Agroecology, for its part, was plagued by its lack of a unifying vision and nagging debates about rigor and reproducibility.

A new era of détente may be on the horizon, however, as younger generations of agroecologists and conservation biologists are communicating with each other and, in several exciting instances, engaging on deep intellectual levels and collaborating on innovative research and teaching. This dialogue in part reflects new approaches to institutional organization and curriculum design at many colleges and universities. These approaches aim to break down disciplinary walls and to gather scholars from diverse backgrounds in interdisciplinary departments.

The entrenched culture of the traditional institutional departmental historically tended to fractionalize the study of systems and problems--both ecological and social--into discrete and at times very narrow disciplines, effectively creating barriers between those disciplines. This has encouraged reductionistic, decontextualized approaches to the world, and fueled unproductive rivalries among disciplines. Ecology, by contrast, as a science inherently concerned with systems and interactions, does not fit well within this traditional structure. The architects of these new pedagogical efforts recognize the need for systems-based approaches to systems-based problems. They have designed departments and curricula that attempt to

• reconsider the departmentalization and ownership of expertise and knowledge
• build and institutionalize avenues of communication, cooperation, and collaboration between the disciplines and across disciplinary clusters
• include social systems within their purview, and engage with critical social science
• recognize the landscape value and ecological services of agroecosystems
• recover, legitimize, and incorporate diverse knowledge, including so-called "indigenous knowledge"
• emphasize experiential and participatory learning and practical, situated problem-solving skills
• foster critical thinking and confront controversial issues
• explore ethical and normative issues embedded in (agro)ecological systems

Andrew Marshall
Educational Programs Director
Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association
P.O. Box 170
Unity, ME 04988, USA
(207) 568-4142 t FAX (207) 568-4141
amarshall@mofga.org

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