A bestseller on Amazon.com within months of its first release, Alan AtKisson's debut book quickly became a modern classic of sustainability literature. Global companies, grassroots groups, university courses, government agencies, and even the US Army ordered it by the box. Now fully revised and updated, Believing Cassandra: How to be an Optimist in a Pessimist's World is even more relevant, fresh, and motivating than when it first appeared in 1999. In a style that's refreshingly candid and vivid, with unforgettable personal anecdotes, AtKisson provides us with a bridge over the sea of despair, and shows us how to catch the wave to an enticing, sustainable future. He empowers the reader to join the pioneers who created the ideas, techniques and practices of sustainable living - the people who prove Cassandra's warnings wrong, by believing in them, and taking strategic action.

Bioregionalism and Global Ethics suggests that current trends towards globalization are creating entirely new social and environmental problems which require cross-cultural dialogue towards the creation of a new "global ethic." Current models of development are based on an implicit global ethic which advocates bringing everyone in the world up to the same standards of living as those prevalent in the so-called "developed" countries through unlimited economic growth. Evanoff argues that this goal is not only unattainable but also undesirable because it ultimately undermines the ability of the environment to sustain both human and non-human flourishing, exacerbates rather than overcomes social inequalities both within and between cultures, and fails to achieve genuine human well-being for all but a wealthy minority. An alternative bioregional global ethic is proposed which seeks to maximize ecological sustainability, social justice, and human well-being through the creation of economically self-sufficient and politically decentralized communities delinked from the global market but confederated at appropriate levels to address problems that transcend cultural borders. Such an ethic is based on a transactional view of the relationship between self, society, and nature, which attempts to create more symbiotic and less conflictual modes of interaction between human cultures and natural environments, while promoting the flourishing of both. Instead of a single monolithic global ethic, bioregionalism suggests that there should be sufficient convergence between cultures to allow for the successful resolution of mutual problems, but also sufficient divergence to enable the continued evolution of both biological and cultural diversity on a global scale.

In the era of the Anthropocene, artists and scientists are facing a new paradigm in their attempts to represent nature. Seven chapters, which focus on art from 1780 to the present that engages with Nordic landscapes, argue that a number of artists in this period work in the intersection between art, science, and media technologies to examine the human impact on these landscapes and question the blurred boundaries between nature and the human. Canadian artists such as Lawren Harris and Geronimo Inutiq are considered alongside artists from Scandinavia and Iceland such as J.C. Dahl, Eija-Liisa Ahtila, Toril Johannessen, and Bjoerk.

This reissue, first published in 1995, focuses on philosophy and social science in human ecology, and includes case studies dealing with the problems of political implementation of development plans and schemes. Part One deals with theory, including a comprehensive introduction to the field and an overview of the conceptual modelling typical in human ecology. Part Two moves towards questions of human behaviour and action, exploring the relationship between environmental ethics and policy in terms of the justification and implementation of human interactions with nature and the environment on an ecologically sustainable basis. In Part Three, the author focuses on environmental policy in China since 1949 and on a regional case study in India. The final part of the book discusses the prospects for sustainable development more broadly, in terms of favouring ecological and cultural variety in agriculture and of viewing the relationship between human beings and the natural environment as a matter of overexploitation rather than crisis.

Feeding the world, climate change, biodiversity, antibiotics, plastics, pandemics - the list of concerns seems endless. But what is most pressing, and what should we do first? Do we all need to become vegetarian? How can we fly in a low-carbon world? How can we take control of technology? And, given the global nature of the challenges we now face, what on Earth can any of us do, as individuals? Mike Berners-Lee has crunched the numbers and plotted a course of action that is full of hope, practical, and enjoyable. This is the big-picture perspective on the environmental and economic challenges of our day, laid out in one place, and traced through to the underlying roots - questions of how we live and think. This updated edition has new material on protests, pandemics, wildfires, investments, carbon targets and of course, on the key question: given all this, what can I do?

This practical guide, written by a practitioner for practitioners, presents a coherent and straightforward 'how-to-do-it' approach to the strategic environmental assessment (SEA) process. Part one provides an overview of the aims, principles, advantages and problems of SEA as well as looking at key SEA regulations and their requirements. Part two examines the SEA process in considerable detail including setting the policy context, describing the baseline, identifying alternatives, predicting and evaluating impacts and using the SEA information in decision-making. Part three is devoted to assuring SEA quality with a discussion of resources and capacity building. This new edition incorporates five years' worth of practical application of the SEA Directive and SEA practice more broadly. Additions and updates include: the findings of various reviews into SEA effectiveness and efficiency emerging approaches to identifying and comparing alternatives, cumulative impacts, the likely future baseline without the plan, documenting changes made to the plan in response to the SEA process, and environmental limits consideration of both the 'baseline-led' and the 'objectives-led' approach to SEA, and the two approaches' advantages and disadvantages SEA's links to 'appropriate assessment' of plans under the European Habitats Directive. Employing a host of real-life case studies and examples, each chapter presents a range of techniques and discusses what the final product should look like. Appendices provide a wealth of additional information including text of the SEA Directive and the UNECE Protocol on SEA, and a 'toolkit' of SEA techniques. The approach and techniques in Strategic Environmental Assessment in Action are useful for anyone carrying out or studying SEA at any level, from policy to programme, international to local, but particularly for practitioners responsible for implementing the SEA Directive.

Environmental assessment and management involve the production of scientific knowledge and its use in decision-making processes. The result is that within these essentially rational, political assessment frameworks, experts are creating and applying scientific knowledge for decision and management purposes that actually have strong ethical and aesthetic dimensions. Yet these rational political frameworks lack the tools to provide guidance on ethical and aesthetic issues that affect the wider public. This revolutionary work argues that ethical and aesthetic dimensions can only be brought into environmental politics and policies by citizens actively taking a stand on the specific matters in question. The author draws on Habermas trisection of rationality as cognitive-instrumental, moral-practical and aesthetic-expressive, to suggest that truly effective environmental policy needs to activate all three approaches and not favour only the rational. To achieve this objective, the author argues that public participation in environmental policy and assessment is necessary to counteract the dictatorship of technical and economic instrumentality in environmental policy - the failure to take ethical and aesthetic rationalities into account - and, more importantly, how such policy is applied on the ground to shape our natural and material world.

'Inspiring. [...] Crammed with lively interviews and grounded examples' Ashish Kothari, founder of Kalpavriksh Permaculture is an environmental movement that makes us reevaluate what it means to be sustainable. Through innovative agriculture and settlement design, the movement creates new communities that are harmonious with nature. It has grown from humble origins on a farm in 1970s Australia and flourished into a worldwide movement that confronts industrial capitalism. The Politics of Permaculture is one of the first books to unpack the theory and practice of this social movement that looks to challenge the status quo. Drawing upon the rich seam of publications and online communities from the movement as well as extensive interviews with permaculture practitioners and organisations from around the world, Leahy explains the ways permaculture is understood and practiced in different contexts. In the face of extreme environmental degradation and catastrophic climate change, we urgently need a new way of living.

One of the key issues in climate change is the lack of effective governance. Climate change governance should address the impact of climate variability, climate policy responses, and associated socio-economic issues, which affect the ability of countries to achieve sustainable development goals. It requires a multi-level consensus, considering views and interest of all relevant stakeholders, on international and national legal frameworks, and a harmonised, transparent and equitable foundation for the implementation of such frameworks. Academics and practitioners from across Asia and beyond analyse country cases, including Bangladesh, India, Japan, Nepal, Philippines, Singapore and Sri Lanka explore themes such as public policy, water, environment, and agriculture. Together they provide a holistic view of how different governance approaches and perspectives mitigate and adapt the impacts of climate change.

The scale and severity of our environmental challenges are quickly becoming apparent. The Indian Ocean region features many places particularly vulnerable to the effects of environmental degradation and climate change, which will have profound social, economic, and cultural impacts. The increasing preoccupation with the state of the environment is also having significant political effects, including on the concept and content of citizenship. The language of citizenship has permeated environmental discourse and, conversely, environmental issues are often articulated in the language of citizenship. This book explores environmental citizenship and civil society responses to environmental challenges in the Indian Ocean region. The articles provide practical insights to improve resilience and adaptation, as well as conceptual insights into the nature of environmental citizenship discourse and practice across this vast region, from Mauritius to Malaysia. The volume showcases the complex field of environmental citizenship through a wide range of approaches, and alongside closely related concepts, such as environmental governance, environmental education, environmental justice, and corporate social responsibility. In essence, the book provides a rich, diverse and multidimensional picture of environmental citizenship in the Indian Ocean region. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue in the Journal of the Indian Ocean Region.

Community participation and sustainable development are regarded as essential elements of contemporary social thinking; vital for the future and closely intertwined. This study explores what participation means for democracy, citizenship and accountability; for individuals and national policies. The place of science and expert knowledge is argued to be in setting and achieving community goals and stimulating participatory initiatives.

Protected areas and conservation policies ore usually established with only local nature and wildlife in mind. Yet they con have far reaching consequences for local populations, often undermining their access to resources and their livelihoods. This book is the first comprehensive discussion of the social consequences of protected area schemes and conservation policies. Drawing on case studies from North America, Europe, Asia, Central America and Africa, it critically reviews current trends in protected area management, and shows how local people have been affected in terms of their customary rights, livelihoods, wellbeing and social cohesion. The loss of secure livelihoods ultimately threatens conservation, as poverty and environmental degradation intensify in and around protected areas. The leading authorities who have contributed to this ground breaking volume argue for a thorough overhaul of conservation thinking and practice.

In The Edge of the Sea Rachel Carson introduces us to the 'strange and beautiful place' where the sea meets the land. She explores a tide pool, an inaccessible cave, and watches a lone crab on the shore at midnight. From these, and other, encounters she offers us not just a scientifically accurate study of the ecology of the seashore, but also a hauntingly beautiful account of the fragile balance of life found at the edge of the sea. The Edge of the Sea, like all her writing, sounds a prophetic alarm for the damage mankind is doing to the natural world, but also offers us inspiration: here is beauty, here is something worth saving.

For most of human history, we have lived our daily lives in a close relationship with the land. Yet now, for the first time, more people are living in urban rather than rural areas, bringing about an estrangement. This book, by acclaimed author Jules Pretty, is fundamentally about our relationship with nature, animals and places. A series of interlinked essays leads readers on a voyage that weaves through the themes of connection and estrangement between humans and nature. The journey shows how our modern lifestyles and economies would need six or eight Earths if the entire world s population adopted our profligate ways. Pretty shows that we are rendering our own world inhospitable and so risk losing what it means to be human: unless we make substantial changes, Gaia threatens to become Grendel. Ultimately, however, the book offers glimpses of an optimistic future for humanity, in the very face of climate change and pending global environmental catastrophe.

This unique dictionary and introduction to Global Environmental Governance (GEG), written and compiled by two veterans of the international stage, provides a compilation of over 5500 terms, organizations and acronyms, drawn from hundreds of official sources. An introductory essay frames the major issues in GEG and outlines the pitfalls of talking past one another when discussing the most critical of issues facing the planet. It challenges those who are concerned with the management of our planet and its inhabitants to understand and accept a vocabulary common to the often-opposing objectives sought in the many GEG instruments. The result is a practical tool that should find a central place on the desk of anyone involved in environmental management, development or sustainability issues anywhere in the world, including the United Nations, government policy makers, NGOs and other stakeholder groups, the business community, and students and professionals. This fully revised and updated edition contains over 500 new entries and acronyms on global environmental governance as well a new introductory section on global water governance, one of the most pressing environmental issues in our era of climate change, growing populations and food shortages. Praise for the first edition:

Societal Dimensions of Environmental Science: Global Case Studies of Collaboration and Transformation, brings together several key examples of the successes and the challenges that exist for environmental stakeholders trying to strike a balance between science and the societal implications of the issues involved. This book provides important methods and approaches necessary for informed decision making and a better understanding of the common threads of learning, collaboration, negotiation, and compromise. It also explains that concepts and skills needed to better understand how specific project goals can be best achieved in the rapidly changing field of environmental management, by providing practical situations and solutions, across a global landscape. This book provides anyone who works in a community setting with the necessary tools and strategies for solving environmental problems and achieving the goals of an environmental project of any type and specifically addresses the topic of how to synthesize community engagement and the environmental science. It describes current environmental issues and lessons learned of what works and what doesn't work in real situations, and why. It also highlights key examples, which can be used by both management practitioners and research scientists in their specific circumstances. Showcasing a unique compilation of the diverse and specific examples from societies in Asia, Oceania, North America, and the Middle East, with an equally diverse array of authorship, this book serves all policy makers, scientists, organizers, and community members that desire to build better group dynamics for addressing environmental issues.

Social and cultural geography is practised by geographers from around the world. However, for various reasons including language and publishing traditions, knowledge of the research being undertaken can often remain confined to those working within those countries. This book draws together, for the first time into one volume, reports of social and cultural geography undertaken in several countries from around the world. It provides an important overview of geographic ideas and traditions, and the history of human geography more generally, allowing comparison between countries and details of key studies and references. As such, the book will be of interest to geographers schooled in different national traditions, and those interested in the production and history of geographic knowledge. Entries are written in both English and the country s own national language.

This book provides valuable lessons that will improve public policy and the quality of decisions that will affect generations to come. Richard Moss, Senior Director Climate and Energy, United Nations Foundation An excellent addition to the body of knowledge on adaptation to climate change from the developing world, which has been largely missing until now. Saleemul Huq, Director, Climate Change Programme, International Institute for Environment and Development This important volume is a valuable effort on adaptation to climate change that needs to be on the desks of those seeking coping strategies for longer term responses to evolving climate changes. Roger Kasperson, Emeritus, Clark University, USAThe IPCC, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize for 2007, makes clear that while climate change mitigation is vital, the world must also begin to adapt. But how best can this be achieved? This authoritative volume (along with its companion on vulnerability), resulting from the work of the Assessments of Impacts and Adaptations to Climate Change (AIACC) project launched with the IPCC in 2002, is the first to provide an in-depth investigation of the stakes in developing countries. It covers current practices for managing climate risks, deficits between current practices and needs, the changing nature of the risks due to human caused climate change, strategies for adapting to changing risks, and the need to integrate these strategies into development planning and resource management. The book also identifies obstacles to effective adaptation and explores measures needed to create conditions that are favourable to climate change adaptation.Published with TWAS and START

Environmental Anthropology: A Reader is a collection of historically significant readings, dating from early in the twentieth century up to the present, on the cross-cultural study of relations between people and their environment. Provides the historical perspective that is typically missing from recent work in environmental anthropology Includes an extensive intellectual history and commentary by the volume's editors Offers a unique perspective on current interest in cross-cultural environmental relations Divided into five thematic sections: (1) the nature/culture divide; (2) relationship between environment and social organization; (3) methodological debates and innovations; (4) politics and practice; and (5) epistemological issues of environmental anthropology Organized into a series of paired papers, which 'speak' to each other, designed to encourage readers to make connections that they might not customarily make

The third edition of this introductory textbook for both science students and non-science majors has been brought completely up-to-date. It reflects recent scientific progress in the field, as well as advances in the political arena around climate change. As in previous editions, it is tightly focussed on anthropogenic climate change. The first part of the book concentrates on the science of modern climate change, including evidence that the Earth is warming and a basic description of climate physics. Concepts such as radiative forcing, climate feedbacks, and the carbon cycle are discussed and explained using basic physics and algebra. The second half of the book goes beyond the science to address the economics and policy options to address climate change. The book's goal is for a student to leave the class ready to engage in the public policy debate on the climate crisis.

Written by a leading campaigner for GM Watch, one of the world's leading lobbying groups, this book reveals the huge issues that are at stake. Genetically modified food has been headline news for years, but it's difficult to know how far the genetic revolution has affected our lives. Is the food on our shelves free of genetically engineered ingredients? How much power do food corporations wield? Andy Rees provides the answers. He shows that, while corporations that produce genetically modified food have met with resistance in Europe, their hold on the US market is strong. They're also expanding operations in less-regulated countries in Africa, Asia and the former Soviet bloc. The US has launched a legal suit to attempt to force the European market open to genetically modified food. What does the future hold? This brilliantly readable book tells us all we need to know.

Many parts of the developing world are subject to variable and extreme climate, the impacts of which impede development and point to the need to improve the understanding and management of climate risks. These needs are being amplified by human-caused climate change. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) concluded in its 2001 report that much of the developing world is highly vulnerable to adverse impacts from climate change. But the IPCC also concluded that the vulnerabilities of developing countries are too little studied and too poorly understood to enable determination of adaptation strategies that would be effective at reducing risks. Climate Change and Adaptation and its companion volume Climate Change and Vulnerability, resulting from the work of the Assessments of Impacts and Adaptations to Climate Change (AIACC) project launched by the IPCC in 2002, are the first to provide a comprehensive investigation of the issues at stake. "Climate Change and Adaptation" covers current practices for managing climate risks to food security, water resources, livelihoods, human health and infrastructure, deficits between current practices and needs for effective management of climate risks, the changing nature of the risks due to human-caused climate change, strategies for adapting to climate change to lessen the risks, and the need to integrate these strategies into development planning and resource management. The book also identifies obstacles to effective adaptation and explore measures needed to create conditions that are favorable to climate change adaptation. The findings and lessons will be of use to policymakers and managers responsible for understanding and avoidingpotentially adverse effects from climate change on sustainable development, food security, agriculture, water resources, forests, fisheries, grazing lands, biodiversity and public health. Citizen activists who are concerned about reducing the threats from climate change to the poor, sustainable development, biodiversity, and sensitive environmental systems and resources will learn about options for management of the threats.

Social and cultural geography is practised by geographers from around the world. However, for various reasons including language and publishing traditions, knowledge of the research being undertaken can often remain confined to those working within those countries. This book draws together, for the first time into one volume, reports of social and cultural geography undertaken in several countries from around the world. It provides an important overview of geographic ideas and traditions, and the history of human geography more generally, allowing comparison between countries and details of key studies and references. As such, the book will be of interest to geographers schooled in different national traditions, and those interested in the production and history of geographic knowledge. Entries are written in both English and the country's own national language.

This guide enables students of human geography to take a critical look at the set of practices, hardware and software that are together described as GIS.
A guide to GIS for students of human geography.
Outlines the distinct approaches to inquiry employed in GIS and illustrates their relevance for human geographers.
Traces the history of GIS and human geography from 1970 to the present.
Illustrates the challenges of data collection, classification in the context of multiple stakeholders and epistemological approaches.
Tracks the use of GIS in applied contexts through the stages of problem definition, data acquisition and classification, choice of software, spatial analysis and graphic output.
Includes an inventory of tools and information related to GIS, including web-based resources.
Supported by a website, www.blackwellpublishing.com/schuurman.

View the Table of Contents. Read the Introduction.

aAgyemanas advocacy for just sustainability effectively addresses the equity deficit of mainstream sustainability. In his conclusion, he suggests a number of strategies that could be of use to those of us in the design community. One of these is the concept of an aenvironmental space, a built on the idea of a sustainable community place. In this matrix, not only are traditional environmental resources considered but also included in the equation are social and economic entitlements. Environmental space analysis is exactly the kind of hybrid problem that design professionals commonly work with. This creative reframing of urban space and social justice issues is a strategy that might well be duplicated in rethinking our course projects and other scholarly pursuits.a
--"Journal of Architectural Education"

aA lively and thought-provoking text, with informative case study examples, which allows the reader plenty of opportunity to follow Agyemanas reasoning and analysis.a
--"Journal of the American Planning Association"

"Covering both theory and practive, environmental organizations are indexed according to their commitment to justice and/or sustainability principles as set forth in their mission statements. Examples illustrating broad issue categories of successful projects that exemplify "just sustainability" enhance the discussion."
--"Choice," recommended

aJulian Agyeman once again pushes us all to think more critically about how to integrate two important political and intellectual projects. This book is at the cutting edge of research on sustainability and environmental justice. Agyeman has set the standard forthe next generation of studies on these critical challenges.a
--David Naguib Pellow, co-author of "The Silicon Valley of Dreams"

"Worth the effort."
--"In Brief"

"Julian Agyeman has provided a theoretical and empirical foundation for making environmental justice a central focus of sustainability. He lucidly demonstrates both the rationale and the agenda for a 'just sustainability' that is not 'just' about environmental sustainability. In mapping this new territory, Agyeman has made an important contribution to scholarship that will also be valued by practitioners."
--Mark Roseland, author of "Toward Sustainable Communities: Resources for Citizens and Their Governments"

Popularized in the movies "Erin Brockovich" and "A Civil Action," aenvironmental justicea refers to any local response to a threat against community health. In this book, Julian Agyeman argues that environmental justice and the sustainable communities movement are compatible in practical ways. Yet sustainability, which focuses on meeting our needs today while not compromising the ability of our successors to meet their needs, has not always partnered with the challenges of environmental justice.

Sustainable Communities and the Challenge of Environmental Justice explores the ideological differences between these two groups and shows how they can work together. Agyeman provides concrete examples of potential model organizations that employ the types of strategies he advocates. This book is vital to the efforts of community organizers, policymakers, and everyone interested in a better environment and community health.