Unit 10 - Final Blog Post
Prompt: Describe your ethics as you develop as a nature interpreter. What beliefs do you bring? What responsibilities do you have? What approaches are most suitable for you as an individual?
As this is mine and our class's final blog post week, I would like to start by saying I've learned so much through not only the course but all of my peers! Reading the weekly blogs was so fun and presented a different way of learning new things, especially with the freedom of the prompts it was always so fascinating to see what directions people took it in. That being said let’s get into this week's prompt!
When starting this course, I was not sure what kind of interpreter I wanted to be or what that truly meant. However, now I can confidently say I'm starting to find my way in this new skill of environmental interpretation, learning as I go, of course! I find ethics such a complex and interesting topic as comes from a philosophy minor it is something often discussed. What I believe is important and what I bring to interpretation is trying to open our eyes past what we are currently seeing in the media and focus on our planet! The current political state of North America is very messy, and with a potential upcoming spring federal election for Canada approaching it is now time to speak up about our climate goals. The Green Party in Canada only holds two seats, one in BC and one here in Ontario. Smaller parties are often overshadowed and with everything currently happening… who is surprised? That is why I think we as interpreters need to ensure to represent the overshadowed topics and unrepresented parties who stand with the environment because it often feels like these topics are left in the rearview mirror.
*Feel free to read up about what the Green Party supports!
Plans – Green Party Of Canada
In Chapter 5 of the textbook, there is a section called “promoting perception”. In this section, they discuss how in the end interpreters are helping people perceive the world that surrounds them more realistically and truthfully (Beck, Cable and Knudson, 2018). This relates to my ethics well because I believe so strongly we are often taking nature for granted due to the lack of discussion surrounding important environmental topics.
Bjorn Lomborg: Global priorities bigger than climate change | TED Talk
This TED Talk is titled “Global Priorities Bigger than Climate Change”, the video is about 17 minutes but it is just a good way to show, and help understand how complicated decision-making is and just shows how complex ethics is because we all may have different ‘priorities’. The overall point of the talk is to show how much goes into decision-making and outweighs the pros and cons. People do not know this, and it allows for a false understanding of how the world truly runs. If you have time, I suggest watching it because it presents a transparent and honest message of some of the hard realities.
*Also an interesting note on the video is it was made in 2005, but even 20 years later now in 2025 the same ideas still apply and we still see this in our everyday world.
Chousing just a certain number of approaches can be so difficult because as we have seen all semester throughout the course the multiple different ways we can interpret nature! However, I find education a great way to share my interpretations of nature with others. Education feels most effective to me as it can be modified to best suit different age levels, understanding levels and so much more. Another important factor of education that must not be forgotten is the accessibility of this education; therefore education should not be limited to school settings, bringing it into public settings such as library programs, summer camps, television segments, and books/ cartoons… the possibilities are endless. My approaches need to be something that can be shared, I want to ensure messages stick and people keep talking about what I must say/show/interpret/promote… which leads us into responsibilities.
As an interpreter what makes me feel good or makes me feel like I did my part is when I feel I have truly spread a message. I feel as a nature interpreter it is one point to ensure they understand the message you are sharing but it is another thing to see they are promoting/sharing your message! I want to see that the topic stuck around in their minds, I want to see them share with friends and family. Most importantly I want to open as many eyes as I can to a bigger picture. I feel it is the responsibility of nature interpreters to help people take a step back and allow the world to care about nature as we do! We also have a responsibility to guide upcoming generations, to ensure that nature interpretation never ends. Assuring we remember to accommodate towards the different abilities and comforts of the groups we are guiding, it is important to remember you are responsible for how the message comes across, I know I need to make sure things sound as they should!
Overall, there is still a lot for me to learn as an interpreter, but I believe we all bring something different to the table and that is important and necessary. Sharing our ethics and skills we bring can bring like-minded people together and help further connections and friendships. I hope we all continue our interpretation skills in the future! I hope to see real change for our planet!
Beck, L., Cable, T. T., & Knudson, D.M. (2018) Interpreting cultural and natural heritage: For a Better World. SAGAMORE Publishing, Sagamore Venture.
Lomborg, B. (2005). Global priorities are bigger than climate change. Bjorn Lomborg: Global priorities bigger than climate change | TED Talk. https://www.ted.com/talks/bjorn_lomborg_global_priorities_bigger_than_climate_change?referrer=playlist-the_big_picture&autoplay=true
Our plan. Green Party Of Canada. (n.d.). https://www.greenparty.ca/en/our-plan
Party standings in the House of Commons - Members of Parliament - House of Commons of Canada. (n.d.). https://www.ourcommons.ca/Members/en/party-standings?view=chart