Product Description
Humans live in social communities that are embedded ecologically within overlapping biophysical environments. This volume facilitates an ongoing dialogue between community sociologists and environmental sociologists about how humans interact with each other in social communities and with biophysical environments in an ecological community.

The chapters in this volume contribute to three related areas of scholarship. First, chapters two through four deal with the ecological and social significance of place. The authors of these three chapters examine different theoretical and substantive dilemmas regarding place and ecology. Their scholarship investigates the significance of place across a range of natural, modified, and built environments. Second, chapters five through seven deal with the challenges of local sustainability. The authors of these three chapters perform scholarship on social, economic and ecological dimensions of local sustainability. Third, chapters eight through eleven deal with local environmental politics. The authors of these four chapters examine the various dynamics of local political processes in communities across three continents. These scholars explicitly examine how the structure of political opportunities in different localities affects the mobilization necessary to recognize and ameliorate environmental problems.

We anticipate that this volume furthers the cross-pollination of ideas between community sociologists and environmental sociologists. Ultimately, the heightened and sustained communication between these two groups of scholars may lead to emergent theoretical, methodological, and substantive insights that may contribute to the discipline of sociology more generally.

*Different sections of the book address ecological and social significance of place, challenges of local sustainability, and local environmental politics
*Enhances the interplay of ideas between community sociologists and environmental sociologists
*Stimulates thought that will contribute to the general field of sociology ... Read more

Product Description
Earth in Our Care is a compelling study of three interactive spheres of the ecosystem: atmosphere (air), litho-hydrosphere (rock that comprises the restless continents and the water that surrounds them), and biosphere (all life sandwiched in between). Writing in rich detail and using insightful analogies, Chris Maser addresses key issues including land-use policies, ecological restoration, forest management, local living, and sustainability thinking. Exploring our interconnectedness with the Earth, Maser examines today's problems and, more importantly, provides solutions for the future. ... Read more

Product Description
The urgent need for a sustainable environment has resulted in the increased recognition of the field of landscape ecology amongst policy makers working in the area of nature conservation, restoration and territorial planning. Nonetheless, the question of what is precisely meant by the term 'landscape ecology' is still unresolved. Is it, for example, an interdisciplinary approach to the study of the environment at a landscape scale? Or perhaps at the level of biological organisation? Still further, has the inseparability of landscape and culture affected the scope of 'landscape ecology'? No doubt, a proper foundation of the discipline must first be cemented. This book then develops such a foundation. In doing so it provides all the diverse applications of the discipline with a solid framework and proposes an effective diagnostic methodology to investigate the ecological state and the pathologies of the landscape. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Ecology, Diversity & Sustainability of the Middle Rio Grande
Synthesizes existing information on the ecology, diversity, human uses & research needs of the Middle Rio Grande Basin of New Mexico. Begins with a review of the environmental history & human cultures of the basin, followed by an analysis of the influences & problems of climate & water. Also focuses on ecological processes, environmental changes & management problems. Each chapter identifies studies that can supply information to mitigate environmental problems, rehabilitate ecosystems, & sustain them in light of human values & needs ... Read more

Product Description

Investing in Natural Capital presents the results of a workshop held following the second biannual conference of the International Society for Ecological Economics. It focuses on the relation of human development to natural capital, and the relation of natural capital to environmental processes.

Because we are capable of understanding our impact on the environment and the importance of managing it sustainably, humans play a special role in our ecosystem. The book emphasizes the essential connections between natural ecosystems and human socioeconomic systems, and the importance of insuring that both remain resilient. Specific chapters deal with methodology, case material, and policy questions, and offer a thorough exploration of this provocative and important alternative to conventional economics. ... Read more

Product Description
This book presents a tapestry of perspectives on food and the interplay of health, cultural ecology, and environment, which are the fabric and foundation of all sustainable living It offers personal stories, documented information, traditional understandings, and speculations on future directions. Each contribution calls on us to reclaim our human heritage of "caring for our home fires" -- a metaphor that can inspire the revitalisation of our connections to the earth, all living things, and each other. The writers examine the underlying ecology of sustainable living rooted in the historical traditions, environmental practices, and a sense of place of peoples of the Southwest; and they describe the impact that disruption of this way of life continues to have on health, well-being, communal identity. Drawing on an indigenous paradigm of "healthy environment, healthy culture, healthy people," this book explores possibilities of applying the principles of sustainable living in both traditional and non-traditional communities. ... Read more

Product Description
The word 'sustainability' is frequently misunderstood because there are numerous definitions of sustainability and not even two definitions have converging meanings. Instead of achieving 'sustainability', some of the sustainable development projects aggravate ecological and other problems, as painfully evidenced in numerous experimental projects. This book attempts to improve our understanding of what it means to be sustainable by exploring several different sustainability projects and techniques. ... Read more

Product Description
Why do we claim to value sustainability while acting in an unsustainable fashion? How can we reduce our consumption drastically and move toward a sustainable social system when our society is specifically based on consumption? These two linked questions are at the heart of this important book, the result of a four-year interdisciplinary study of British Columbia's Lower Fraser Basin.

Taking the slogan "think globally, act locally" to heart, the contributors to Fatal Consumption are theoretical as well as practical. They conceptualize the policy analysis they provide, while also proposing useful tools for those charged with making decisions. Though specific in focus, the analysis in Fatal Consumption can be generalized to most North American urban areas. It offers both an understanding of the present and hope for a sustainable future, counterbalancing a discussion of the opportunities for change with a frank examination of the barriers to such change.

Fatal Consumption will appeal to urban planners, to policy makers, and to scholars and others interested in the relationship between health and a sustainable society. ... Read more

Product Description

Product Description
This book contains papers presented at the Second International Conference on Harmonisation between Architecture and Nature, held in The Algarve, Portugal. The multi-disciplinary nature of Eco-Architecture is reflected in the contents, which includes topics on: Historical and philosophical aspects; Ecological and cultural sensitivity; Energy and building
technologies; Alternative and renewable sources of energy; Design with nature; Design with climate, siting and orientation; Materials selection and their life cycle assessment of materials; Design by passive systems; Conservation and re-use of water; Building operation and management;
Rehabilitation and adaptive re-use; Case studies. ... Read more

Product Description
The Llano Estacado straddles the Texas-New Mexico border, nestled between the Texas Panhandle and the Pecos River Valley. It was described by early Spanish explorers as an arid, featureless landscape, and, according to Mexican and Anglo-Texan lore, was the last refuge of the uncivilized. The region attracted Comancheros, marauding outlaws and renegades who plagued civil society.

This book traces the history of the Llano Estacado -especially its radical transformations following the Civil War as railroads opened the beef trade, the discovery of rich oil deposits in the 1920s, and the decision made in the 1930s to tap the Southern Ogallala Aquifer to irrigate the region's farms. The authors focus in part on the consequences of modern irrigation, and concerns that the Ogallala Aquifer-a storehouse of fossil water dating back to the post-Cretaceous period-will be depleted. They conclude that the Llano Estacado is a "partially threatened" region, and explore its future sustainability. ... Read more

Product Description
A broad and comprehensive exploration of the role of the ecological sciences in sustainability for undergraduates.The urgent quest for more sustainable patterns of development has placed new and difficult demands on both scientists and policy makers as they seek to establish more informed and effective policy processes and management regimes in the the face of pervasive uncertainty. Written by an international group of authors from a range of disciplines - ecology, geography, law, policy analysis and others - the chapters explore issues of scientific legitimacy, public participation, non-governmental organisations, inter-sectoral communication and pragmatic public policy across a wide range of ecosystem management contexts. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (1)

Establishes that the current factory farm,petroleum based agricultural system is not sustainable
Ikerd has done an excellent job of demonstrating that the current factory farm approach to farming is simply not economically sustainable or environmentally sound in the long run.It has TWO Achilles heels .The first is that it relies completely on petroleum based chemicals,fertilizers,pesticides,fungicides,and herbicides that, cumulatively, are contributing to significant soil erosion and top soil loss in order to produce and harvest various grain crops throughout the world.Increases in the price of a barrel of oil automatically translates into higher and higher food prices inall countries.Third world countries are especially impacted negatively .The second involves the factory farm extension to meat production.This approach requires the use of massive amounts of antibiotics to deal with/prevent the periodic outbreaks of contagious diseases that can spread through animal populations' crammed together like sardines in a can.These antibiotics also make the animals fatter,thus generating a higher profit per animal sold.Unfortunately,the social costs of such animal factory farms are passed down to the consumer.The consumerdevelops a resistance to the antibiotics contained in the meat products as he consumes more amd more meat over time.More and more germs are developing such resistance to a wide range of antibiotics. The doctors of sick patients discover all too often that the antibiotics do not work . ... Read more

Product Description
Until recently, the development of building materials has focused on producing cheaper and more durable construction materials. Now more attention is given to the environmental issues. Sustainability of Construction Materials brings together a wealth of recent research on the subject. It provides a comprehensive and detailed analysis of the sustainability of these materials: aggregates, wood, bamboo, vegetable fibers, masonry, cement, concrete and cement replacement materials, metals and alloys, glass, and engineered wood products. Final chapters cover the use of recycled tire rubber in civil engineering works, the durability of sustainable materials, and nanotechnology in sustainable construction. ... Read more

Product Description
This text brings together recent developments in the various aspects of environmental economics, as well as providing an introduction to its theory and practice. Environmental valuation techniques are outlined and applied to developed and developing countries, and to countries in transition from centrally planned to market-based systems. The effectiveness of regulatory and market-based policy instruments, including environmental taxation and tradeable permits, is analyzed and applied to such environmental problems as the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from transport and the conservation of biological diversity. ... Read more

Product Description
There is a growing literature on the interface between the twodisciplines of ecology and economics.Most of the internationalleaders in this are contributors to this book. It includes a numberof topics on environmental resource utilization which concernscientists, ecologists, policy decision makers, economists, etc. ... Read more

Product Description
Environmental issues have increasingly eroded the applicability of traditional approaches to project appraisal. This study sets out to develop a framework for sustainability-oriented project appraisal, with special reference to developing countries. A main theme is the systematic coverage of issues related to the objective of development projects. Compared to traditional approaches the new appraisal model has several distinct features. The study includes two applications of the sustainability-oriented project appraisal. In Colombia it was used in the appraisal of a forestry and environmental protection project aimed at safeguarding tropical forest areas. It also guided the analysis of four policy scenarios for the use of Lake Burullus, an ecologically rich coastal lake in Egypt. Taking account of the experiences in Egypt and Colombia, the study provides practical guidelines for the treatment of sustainabibity concerns for each appraisal phase. ... Read more

Product Description
This book explores approaches to sustainability by linking the economy, society and the environment.The international group of experts uses concepts of sustainability from the physical and social sciences to develop a framework for creating policies for sustainability.

Sustainability in Question goes beyond much of the existing literature on sustainability taking into account culture, institutions, knowledge and traditions.It sheds new light on the ability of humans to create institutional and social arrangements which are able to adapt to changing conditions.The authors consider the current state of environmental and institutional sustainability within the context of economic activity and public policy. They recognize that some of the basic economic notions such as universal substitutability, methodological individualism and the superiority of the price mechanism may be misplaced in the case of environmental protection.

Sustainability in Question will be welcomed by those interested in environmental economics, science, management and environmental studies, as well as by those working in the fields of ecological economics, natural resource economics and environmental sociology. ... Read more