ClimateCrisisDharma

For several years, I have been engaged in environmental humanities research, seeking to bring research on nature, ecology, and the climate crisis in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences closer together and to work more collaboratively on understanding and reacting to the climate crisis. It is important to counter the climate crisis beyond technical solutions by beginning to really acknowledge it as a deep crisis of conscience and epistemes as exemplified, for example, in the increasing denial of the climate crisis. In my research, I particularly look at non-Western, Buddhist, and indigenous epistemes, resilience, and knowledge systems that have been marginalized in the global academic and public discourse, and thereby engage in decolonizing practices as I systematically address the long durée of colonial history influencing our discourses in the present. To get a sense of this, please see here: Interview with Dagmar Schwerk

Moreover, at the 20^th International Association for Buddhist Studies Congress 2025, here at Leipzig University, I will convene a multi-disciplinary panel called “Buddhist Responses to Nature, Ecology, and the Climate Crisis.” For more information, visit the IABS Congress 2025 Website.

My research approach is equally characterized by a close interaction with civil society actors, and Buddhist communities as partners and knowledge producers. I have therefore coined the neologism of ClimateCrisisDharma as an umbrella term that connects both academic trans-disciplinary research and systematic integration of the knowledge and practices within local communities. I understand the original Sanskrit term “Dharma” (dhṛ) as therefore similar to some earlier Indian and Tibetan interpretations, i.e. not necessarily as a religious concept but as a way of living and being in the world that maintains und upholds a responsible societal order and community—as ClimateCrisisDharma. This means to contribute to researching and contributing towards a way of living well with the Earth. Please follow me for content on my personal ClimateCrisisDharma Instagram Account.

If you are interested in such collaborative research and exchange, or merely resonate with the concept of a ClimateCrisisDharma, please reach out to me.