Building Students' Environmental Awareness through Local Wisdom: A Case Study of Rasulan in Gunung Kidul, Indonesia

This study explores local wisdom-based learning through the Rasulan tradition and its role in fostering students' environmental awareness. Recognizing the limitations of top-down environmental education, the research adopts an exploratory qualitative case study approach with an ethnographic orientation to integrate local wisdom into formal schooling. Data were collected through interviews with teachers, students, and community leaders, participatory observation during Rasulan events, and document analysis of curricula and lesson plans. Thematic analysis revealed that Rasulan functions as a living educational resource that embodies environmental ethics through daily practices. Teachers creatively contextualized Rasulan values such as gotong royong (mutual cooperation) and environmental care into subjects like Science and Civics, linking ecosystem and waste management lessons to community rituals and civic discussions on environmental responsibility. Through project-based learning, reflective writing, and direct participation, students reported stronger environmental awareness, cultural pride, and an understanding of human–nature interdependence. The study also highlights a tripartite collaboration between schools, communities, and local governments as the key to sustaining this integration. This synergy transformed environmental learning into a community-wide experience that reinforced both sustainability and cultural continuity. Rather than proposing a tested instructional design, the Rasulan-based learning model is presented as a conceptual framework derived from empirical findings, demonstrating that embedding indigenous wisdom in formal education fosters culturally resonant, participatory, and sustainable environmental learning aligned with the Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) agenda.