A new understanding of the Anthropocene that is based on mutual transformation with nature rather than control over nature. We have been told that we are living in the Anthropocene, a geological era shaped by humans rather than by nature. In Enlivenment , German philosopher Andreas Weber presents an alternative understanding of our relationship with nature, arguing not that humans control natur…
"We are living beyond our means, running up debts both economic and ecological, consuming the planet's resources at rates not remotely sustainable. But it's hard to imagine a different way. How can we live without cheap goods and easy credit? How can we consume without consuming the systems that support life? How can we live well and live within our means? In Treading Softly, Thomas Princen hel…
Philosophical reflections on the environment began with early philosophers' invocation of a cosmology that mixed natural and supernatural phenomena. Today, the central philosophical problem posed by the environment involves not what it can teach us about ourselves and our place in the cosmic order but rather how we can understand its workings in order to make better decisions about our own cond…
Susan Leigh Star (1954--2010) was one of the most influential science studies scholars of the last several decades. In her work, Star highlighted the messy practices of discovering science, asking hard questions about the marginalizing as well as the liberating powers of science and technology. In the landmark work Sorting Things Out, Star and Geoffrey Bowker revealed the social and ethical his…
Ecological restoration is the process of repairing human damage to ecosystems. It involves reintroducing missing plants and animals, rebuilding soils, eliminating hazardous substances, ripping up roads, and returning natural processes such as fire and flooding to places that thrive on their regular occurrence. Thousands of restoration projects take place in North America every year. In Nature b…
This systematic assessment of seven prominent initiatives - in Texas, California, Florida and Arizona - evaluates the effectiveness of ecosystem-based management at protecting the environment. The author concludes that projects that set goals based on stakeholder collaboration are less likely to result in environmental improvement.
"How Finland's nuclear waste experts discern far future Earths, and what the rest of us non-Finns and non-experts can learn from them"--OCLC-licensed vendor bibliographic record.
How plant and animal species conservation became part of urban planning in Berlin, and how the science of ecology contributed to this change.Although nature conservation has traditionally focused on the countryside, issues of biodiversity protection also appear on the political agendas of many cities. One of the emblematic examples of this now worldwide trend has been the German city of Berlin,…
Today at least twenty-five major U.S. cities have pursued some form of sustainability initiative. Although many case studies and "how-to" manuals have been published, there has been little systematic comparison of these cities' programs and initiatives. In this book Kent Portney lays the theoretical groundwork for research on what works and what does not, and why. Distinguishing cities on the b…
"The papers included were first presented at a workshop at the Kennedy School of Harvard University in the spring of 2001"-The United States and European countries are experimenting with a new generation of policy approaches for combating environmental degradation. Industrial Transformation evaluates the effectiveness of twelve innovative voluntary, collaborative, and information-based programs…