Sand Talk: How Indigenous Thinking Can Save the World is a 2019 book by Tyson Yunkaporta that sets out to look at the question of sustainability, through the lens of Aboriginal perspectives. Yunkaporta calls for an increase in the inclusion of First Nations perspective in policy, planning and design, whilst highlighting the value of First Nations led green transitions.

As a First Nations person, Tyson Yunkaporta looks at global systems from a unique perspective, one tied to the natural and spiritual world. His publication Sand Talk stretches across a wealth of disciplines; from astrology, biology, sociology and design to consider how predominantly western values affect us, and how we can do things differently. The book focuses on the divergent modes of perception operational across contemporary Australia, and urges for the further inclusion of empowerment of indigenous perspectives in order to address the growing instabilities of the climate crisis.

Yunkaporta argues that this requires a shift in the structural asymmetries present when discussing western and First Nations sciences. According to Yunkaporta, “There are a lot of opportunities for sustainable innovation through the dialogue on Indigenous and non-Indigenous ways of living...the problem with this communication so far has been asymmetry - when power relations are so skewed that most communication is one way, there is not much opportunity for the brackish waters of hybridity to stew up something exciting.” Sand talk is a pivotal resource when contemplating the relevance and urgency of Indigenous perspective within Australia’s green energy transition.

This text was the result of online research and a reading of the publication, borrowing from the publisher's official description of the text and an interview by Daniel Stillman for The Conversation Factory.