A systematic literature review on the integration of indigenous knowledge in environmental education

In the face of escalating climate and environmental crises, the integration of Indigenous Knowledge (IK) into Environmental Education (EE) is gaining recognition as a critical pathway toward epistemic justice, climate resilience, and pedagogical innovation. This systematic literature review critically synthesizes 65 peer-reviewed articles published between 2015 and 2025 to investigate how IK is represented, mobilized, and contested within EE frameworks across diverse formal, informal, and non-formal contexts. Guided by PRISMA protocols and an inductive thematic analysis, three core themes emerged: (1) Decolonizing Potential and Environmentalism: highlighting transformative land-based pedagogies and relational ontologies that reposition Indigenous epistemologies as foundational rather than supplementary; (2) Pedagogical Practices and Power: revealing systemic challenges, including tokenism, educator gatekeeping, and institutional inertia; and (3) Complementarity vs Conflict: interrogating the ontological tensions and possibilities of integrating Western science with Indigenous worldviews. Despite growing scholarly momentum, the review exposes persistent structural barriers, regional imbalances, and epistemic asymmetries that constrain meaningful inclusion. This study argues that genuine integration demands a paradigm shift that centers Indigenous sovereignty, co-creation, and long-term institutional transformation. This study calls for environmental education to evolve into a pluriversal, insurgent field that fosters not only ecological literacy but also intergenerational equity, political consciousness, and decolonial futures.