Book Description

In the Land of Orpheus provides a rich ethnographic description of village life and conservation efforts in an ecologically important region of one of the most biologically diverse countries in Europe. Barbara Cellarius describes natural resource use and economic survival strategies in a rural Rhodope Mountain village and the ways in which the lives of residents of a rural community are affected by outside forces, particularly the economic and political uncertainties that have plagued Bulgaria since the collapse of communism. She examines larger forces, including environmental nongovernmental organizations, interested in linking global conservationpriorities with local communities. ... Read more

Book Description

From the ancient Appalachians to the high Sierra, mountains have always symbolized wilderness for Americans. Susan Schrepfer unfolds the history of our fascination with high peaks and rugged terrain to tell how mountains have played a dramatic role in shaping American ideas about wilderness and its regulation.

Delving into memoirs and histories, letters and diaries, early photos and old maps, Schrepfer especially compares male and female mountaineering narratives to show the ways in which gender affected what men and women found to value in rocky heights, and how their different perceptions together defined the wilderness preservation movement for the nation. The Sierra Club in particular popularized the mystique of America's mountains, and Schrepfer uses its history to develop a sweeping interpretation of twentieth-century wilderness perceptions and national conservation politics.

Schrepfer follows men like John Muir, Wilderness Society cofounder Robert Marshall, and the Sierra Club's own David Brower into the mountains-and finds them frequently in the company of women. She tells how mountaineering women shaped their lives through high adventure well before the twentieth century, participating in Appalachian mountain clubs and joining men as "Mazamas"-mountain goats-scaling Oregon's Mount Hood.

From these expeditions, Schrepfer examines how women's ideas, language, and activism helped shape American environmentalism just as much as men's, parsing the "Romantic sublime" into its respective masculine and feminine components. Tracing this history to the 1964 Wilderness Act, she also shows how the feminine sublimes continue to flourish in the form of ecofeminism and in exploits like the all-woman climb of Annapurna in 1978.

By explaining why both women and men risked their lives in these landscapes, how they perceived them, and why they wanted to save them, Schrepfer also reveals the ways in which religion, social class, ethnicity, and nationality shaped the experience of the natural world. Full of engaging stories that shed new light on a history many believe they already know, her book adds subtlety and nuance to the oft-told annals of the wild and gives readers a new perspective on the wilderness movement and mountaineering. ... Read more

Book Description

The idea of "ecotourism" has taken off in recent years, but a crucial detail is often neglected: how do we know that an enterprise truly meets the goals and standards of ecotourism? Certification?the rating of lodges, resorts, tour operators, and other sectors of the tourism industry by independent auditors who verify environmental and social impacts?has emerged as the most promising answer. Ecotourism and Certification offers a valuable overview of ecotourism certification and lays out the basic challenges and strategies for establishing certification programs.

The book begins by establishing baseline information on the tourism industry, situating ecotourism within the larger tourism industry, and tracing the history of certification. The second chapter explores the concepts underlying certification followed by a chapter that examines certification as a tool in other industries such as forestry and coffee production. The remainder of the book highlights case studies of the most promising certification schemes around the world. Written by experts who have been closely involved with the projects described, case studies include:

• the NEAP Program in Australia
• Costa Rica's government-financed Sustainable Tourism Certification (CST) program and other programs in Central America
• more than 50 eco-labeling and certification programs for accommodations in Europe
• programs to certify beaches and national parks
• efforts in South Africa and Kenya to establish certification programs

Reviews (1)

Disappointing
Island Press uses to publish interesting books. Now they cater to a like-minded group of Beltway consultants.

While there is no consumer demand for ecotourism certification, you won't learn that in this book which sings the praises of a solution no one wants. Disappointing ... Read more

Book Description

Designing the Green Economy explores realistically, and in detail, the worldAIs enormous potential for human and ecological regeneration. It also explains why this potential has been suppressed or distorted by industrial institutions-thus creating economic crisis, growing inequality, and environmental destruction. Today the great divideO between waste and green economies can be narrowed by emerging legal, institutional, and market approaches to production and environmentalism. Milani explores the practical and theoretical implications of fully unleashing these new productive forces to create community-based ecological economies. Milani argues that neither sustainability, social justice nor economic stability can be secured without comprehensive redesign of the economy along ecological principles. He looks at key sectors of the economy-including manufacturing, energy, and money and finance-to illustrate how this redesign can, and is, taking place through both incremental grassroots initiatives and transformative politics. Brian Milani is research coordinator for Eco-Materials Group in Toronto, Canada. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Better than Natural Capitalism
As an environmental economist, I find Milani's treatment of much the same territory as Hawken/Lovins/Lovins to have a much broader vision.The key concept Milani introduces is regenerative economics, in contrast to the increasingly conventional notion of sustainability.As the name suggests, Milani's approach is about designing economic activity so as to improve, not simply maintain natural systems.While Hawken/Lovins/Lovins are awash with technical detail and appeals to the business ethics, Milani asks us to consider community organizing as a key element to green economics. ... Read more

Book Description

Peter Hay gives readers an inclusive and balanced survey of most ofthe major issues debated by western environmentalists over the last threedecades. The book covers issues in philosophy, religion, politics, and economicsas presented or as criticized by environmentalists. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Evaluating Sustainable Development
Ukaga and Maser have constructed a book that helps organizations understand and implement power-filled evaluations.

This book helps us formulate project objectives that are specific, measurable and time bound and to formulate evaluation questions that are relevant to our objectives.

True to the ideals and integration of sustainable development, this work encourages participation by the masses and focuses on economic, environmental and community quality in a simultaneous and interlocking manner.The authors acknowledge the inherent complexity of sustainability and offer methods that reduce the intimidation of a complex working environment.

The authors apply the concepts and practice of evaluation to all temporal stages of program management. Their evaluation processes ask us whether we should start a project, how it's working, whether we should change its course, and whether it is accomplishing it's goals and objectives. They advocate ferreting out current values and conditions as a precursor to evaluation. This provides a baseline or starting point; so people can set goals for getting to an even better place, and effectively measure their progress toward that future place. In their model, a baseline description of a community, culture and organization is preparatory step toward crafting an evaluation of community stability and sustainability.

They show us how to take our people beyond the usual drudgery and isolation of evaluation process, using the process to facilitate decisions, demonstrate accountability, enhance relationships and support planning. They make it critical for stakeholders to play active roles in evaluation of sustainable development so the challenges, opportunities and circumstances of their world are represented therein. This form of participatory evaluation is a precursor to participatory decision-making. The involvement of advocates in evaluation of their own programs makes them the best judges of its success.

This book has broad application. Ukaga and Maser have grounded their recommendations in their respective practices - from Minnesota to Nigeria. It offers evaluation methods for sustainability on both global and local scales; for those addressing immediate problems of survival and development in non-industrialized countries, and for those involved in large organizations and industrialized nations.

Dr. Steven B. Daley-Laursen
Dean, College of Natural Resources, University of Idaho ... Read more

Book Description

The world is in the midst of an ecological explosion with devastating implications. Thousands of species of microbes, plants, and animals are being introduced, both deliberately and inadvertently, to new land areas, seas, and freshwaters. In many regions, these new colonists are running wild, disrupting the dynamics of ecosystems, pushing native species toward extinction, and causing billions of dollars in direct economic damages.

Alien Species in North America and Hawaii provides a comprehensive overview of the invasive species phenomenon, examining the threats posed and the damage that has already been done to ecosystems across North America and Hawaii. George W. Cox considers both the biological theory underlying invasions and the potential and actual effects on ecosystems and human activities. His book offers a framework for understanding the problem and provides a detailed examination of species and regions. Specific chapters examine:

Book Description

The ISO 14000 quality system allows today's executives and managers to comply with hundreds of EPA statutes and over 10,000 regulations. ISO 14000 Implementation Simplified uses self-tests, exercises, and more to help the reader understand and implement ISO 14000 in any organization. Complex methodologies are presented in a practical manner that is easy to understand and illuminating to use. ... Read more

Book Description

'A new phrase has entered the language.' Anita Roddick, founder of the Body Shop

'Creative and compelling.' Guardian

'Essential reading.' Head of the International Panel on Climate Change

If the whole world wanted to live like people in the United States we would need the resources of five planets like Earth. Simms shows how millions of us in the West are running up huge ecological debts: from the amount of oil and coal that we burn to heat our houses and run our cars, to what we consume and the waste that we create, the impact of our lifestyles is felt worldwide. Whilst these debts go unpaid, millions more living in poverty in the majority world suffer the burden of paying dubious foreign financial debts. The book explores a great paradox of our age: how the global wealth gap was built on ecological debts, which the world's poorest are now having to pay for. Highlighting how and why this has happened, he also shows what can be done differently in the future - and what steps we can take to stop pushing the planet to the point of environmental bankruptcy. ... Read more

Book Description

This volume, intended for corporate managers and communicators, brings the newly emphasized area of social concern and responsibility into clear focus. Anderson provides a complete overview of all aspects of social responsibility. He gives a wealth of practical advice, backed by numerous case studies for the executive who seeks a clear, workable understanding of corporate social responsibility. Each chapter is followed by a list of references; many chapters also include real-world scenarios highlighting important social responsibility issues. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Corporate Social Responsibility
EXcellent history, excellent read/style, excellent primer for anyone interested in the complex and difficult issue of CSR. I will use this in my research and lectures. ... Read more

Book Description

Environment and Toursim is an introductory text about the relationships between tourism, society and the environment. The book examines the meanings of 'tourism' and 'environment' and gives a historical overview of the growth of tourism.It discusses how the tourism industry markets physical and cultural environments, to be consumed by the tourist and the consequences of tourism on these physical and cultural environments. ... Read more

Book Description

All living organisms consume energy, modify resources from the environment and produce waste.That is an inescapable fact of life.But in nature all material wastes are recycled as inputs to other living organisms.The only true waste is diffuse, low-grade heat.

In order to create a truly sustainable economy we must mimic the ecosystem so that the waste of every household and business becomes resource inputs to other enterprises and the only waste produced is diffuse, low-grade heat from renewable resources like solar.

In Direct Pointing to Real Wealth author Thomas J. Elpel demonstrates that it is inevitable that we will create an ecologically sustainable economy.Tom turns conventional thinking on its head and out-lines steps you can take to increase your prosperity right now while closing the loop on waste and speeding the transition to a greener world.

Direct Pointing to Real Wealthis an enlightened look at the nature of money. Discover how the economy is like an ecosystem and how money is a token we use to represent calories of energy in the ecosystem.Toms unique approach to money takes you beyond the numbers game to a direct examination of the laws of physics, biology, and economics. These laws are the same today as in the Stone Age, when people worked only a few hours per day and had much more leisure time than we do now.

Whether you are raising a family or running a business, Toms book gives you a fresh new look at economics, ecology and how to achieve your Dreams.Break through perceived limitations to discover a world of prosperity and abundance! ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Textbook more than Field Guide
I am reviewing this book from the viewpoint of a person who is on a very limited income.I must say that I was quite excited about the possibilities this book had to offer after reading some articles related to the subject on the Hollowtop website.Those articles were very well written, and had some advice that was helpful to someone like me dealing with extremely limited funds.Reading those, and thinking that they were a taste of what was to come, I decided to buy the book.
Sadly, those articles were much better written than the book.
There are some excellent ideas presented on economic/enviormental theory, and closing the loop on waste; hence the 2 stars, but most of the information seems to be recycled from other authors/sources, and written for corporations.He even recycles several of his own paragraphs word for word throughout the book.I felt that the text wandered on the most interesting points, leaving me frustrated over the effort to see his reasoning.Some passages had the distinct feeling of listening to a Brian Tracy "success tape".
I had hoped that the author would elaborate on the building of their house, the methods his family uses to close the loop on waste, and how they got by on 5% of their income.
This is a fascinating subject.I'd like to see a more cohesive version written in the author's personal experiences, and scaled to a small as well as corporate level.

Informative, Thought Provoking, and Inspiring
This is the third book of Tom's that I have read.There is no way to say enough to describe how this book has affected me.It comfimed, for me ways that I veiwed money and my personal views of finances.It also gave me the inspiration and insight to approach finances from a different level.I bought the book on a gut feeling (I wasn't interested in it, that I knew of) and I am really glad I did.Starting in November a class will be taught at our Nature School using this classic "Field Guide".Bravo Tom, great information, Thank you!And to those wondering to read it or not...definately, get this book and cherish it!

A thoughtful look at money ... and the world
Thomas Elpel's book covers a broad span of topics, from do-it-yourselfskills around the house and garden to international economic theory andpractice, but its core message is that many people seem to plan their livesbackwards.They go out to make money without first thinking about how tospend it to make themselves secure and happy, or how their work might hurtthe environment and other people.Elpel proposes that we first decide whatwe want in life, including material wants, then work toward those things asgoals, making money when we need it but not as our primary objective.Noteveryone will want to move to the country and raise their own food, butevery reader of this book will find food for thought and kernels of insightinto the way our lives, the economy, and the world function.A lot ofpeople who frequently get themselves into financial trouble would benefitfrom this book but, unfortunately, they're probably the ones least likelyto read it. ... Read more

Book Description

Sustainability: The Corporate Challenge of the 21st Century provides leaders and managers with a framework for understanding and adopting the principles and practices that contribute to a renewable, sustainable workforce and environment. Organizations that can achieve both human and ecological sustainability will be the successful drivers of the new economy--and those that don't face the prospect of extinction. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

An Excellent Treatment of an Important Subject
Dexter Dunphy and colleagues have written an excellent volume based on their work in Australia pulling together the environmental community and the corporations they criticized to find common ground.They develop a solid framework for assessing sustainability in a sense far broader than just the environment, establishing stages by which corporate and community action can be assessed.Carefully selected examples and cases illustrate their points.Their intellectual framework is similar to the one used to look at diversity here in the United States, and manages to demystify and depoliticize at the same time.

The environmentalist, the corporate social responsibility advocate and the organization development practitioner will all find what they need in this book.The last chapter reads like the proposal for Dexter's latest book, but this one is the place to start.

I can't wait to hear Dexter keynote at the Organization Development Network's Conference in Portland, Oregon in October!

Actioning Sustainabililty
A terrific compilation of contemporary Australian thinking about actioning sustainability.Essential reading for all those involved with transforming organisations around sustainability principles. ... Read more

Book Description

This accessible and provocative book explores whether getting unhooked from economic growth to meet the needs of the environment is possible. Although giving the environment priority over growth may seem radical, the author argues that it can be accomplished using marketable emissions allowances, transferable development rights, and other tools popular with conventional economists. It can also be achieved by creating more interesting and environmentally friendly urban landscapes less beholden to the automobile. The key problem will be ensuring that everyone who wants employment can find it. This will require a transition to a shorter workweek, the wistful goal of many a harried worker. More leisure, a higher-quality environment, and more attractive cities and towns are the potential rewards of a less consumption-oriented society. Yet how can the power of special interests be overcome in the name of environmental conservation? This is the author's critical final question as he offers a clear path to a sustainable economic and environmental future. ... Read more

Book Description

Underneath the ever-roiling surface of public markets, information technology continues to remake the economy. Fifty years after the first commercial computer was sold, we stand on the brink of introducing intelligence into over a trillion items in commerce at a price too small to calculate. The age of disposable computing will transform every industry. Are you ready?

Reviews (4)

Super tools for applying the Killer App!
Are you prepared to adapt your strategies to the constantly changing future?Are you ready for the rate of change to speed up?The Strategy Machine by Larry Downes (author of Unleashing the Killer App), contains great conceptual tools for thinking about ways to re-invent your business in the face of the technological and globalization revolutions.

It is clear that Downes wrote The Strategy Machine after getting a great deal more exposure to the strategic management process than he had when he wrote the classic Unleashing the Killer App.Where Killer App revolves around the central idea of organizations evolving towards success by destroying their own markets, fully a third of The Strategy Machine focuses on the greatest challenges of strategic change:overcoming cultural inertia and execution.This very likely comes from a close look at companies that, in the late 1990's, at least gave lip service to the revolutionary concepts in Killer App - companies that ultimately fell on hard times as the US economy bogged down on the twin disasters of the dot com bust and 9/11.In a sense, the book attempts to answer a question we will be hearing for years to come:Why did the 1990s juggernaut of self-destructive revolutionary companies slow down?

The core of Downe's strategic thinking revolves around three stages that an industry can go through - each of which amounts to a separate "industrial revolution", despite the fact that elements of each may be occurring simultaneously within a given industry:

1. Efficiency - Value is created through cost reduction with a full-bore attack on transaction costs.

2. Exchange - Value is created through information assets which arise from "virtual markets" which expose hidden transaction costs and other inefficiencies.

3. Emergence - Increased integration of the industry leads to an efficient "information supply chain"

One of the core concepts of the Killer App - the technological innovation that disrupts an industry by restructuring the supply chain - is a clear target for companies that are seeking to ride the emergence wave.Strategically, we see this concept somewhat differently based on your perspective:if you are a young company, you are probably seeking success by driving this kind of disruption, but if your company is more mature, your strategy may revolve around how you can profit from disruption that may extinguish your current business model.

The Strategy Machine does an excellent job ofhelping you to understand the concept of emergence so that you can be a part of the information supply chain - and therefore, one of the survivors in your industry.It then drives into some interesting prescriptions - always a tricky thing in strategy - which can help you think about executing on these concepts.First, Downes suggests that you design three concurrent plans for your strategy - one for each stage of industry transformation.The aim of these concurrent plans is to have a balanced portfolio of strategic projects going all the time - some delivering the mature process improvements required at the efficiency stage, some the blend of old and new technologies that characterize the exchange stage, and a few, very risky projects on the experimental end of the emergence stage.The Strategy Machine even goes so far as to suggest a ratio (3:2:1) of resource allocation to the projects as well as some good tools for populating your strategy portfolio and thinking about funding of projects at different stages.This is the meat of the practical tools offered by this book, and they are good tools.

The final part of The Strategy Machine covers the challenge of execution.Downes covers the social inertia confronted by all real strategic change, and gives a detailed assessment of the different types of obstacles - both external and internal - that you will have to overcome to successfully implement a profound change in your strategic direction.This part of the book is rich in anecdotes and real-world examples of companies that did or did not succeed in overcoming these obstacles.Unfortunately, while the concepts and examples are good, this last third of the book lacks the practical tools that make the middle third so valuable.Even so, The Strategy Machine is to be commended for devoting so much of its content to the ugly underside of strategy - implementation.This area is absolutely critical to strategic success, yet most strategy books focus all of their attention on information gathering, analysis and strategy formulation, leaving readers holding the bag when it comes to actual execution of strategy.

If your company is either seeking to disrupt an industry with innovative strategy or looking to survive an anticipated disruption, The Strategy Machine will give you excellent food for thought as well as some practical tools for thinking about the composition of your company's strategy portfolio.

Some good stuff from a consultant
Have you ever had a consultant come in start off trying to explain what he's doing and you look at him funny. The consultant then goes in and does his thing. A few months later after the consultant's changes have had time to settle, get the edges off, etc. you go 'he had some pretty good ideas' I'm glad we hired him. That's sort of how this book is. In the beginning the author starts off explaining his theory and ideas and you kind of go "ummm yeah okay". Then he starts to put it into practice and you go "okay I see using part of that and some of this would work for my business" and at the end he brings it all together and half the stuff he said in the beginning was semi-useless, but you can see why he said it, and it comes together and you say "I can see how this would improve things".Overall I give the book a StuPage C.

Fascinating
A Must Read for the business executive. I found its advice to be enormously helpful in this particularly challenging time.

How many times can we hear the same message
This book has a few good nuggets, but the rest is filled with the same consultant-speak techno-hype that has been played before. This myth of a "new economy" should have been destroyed by the dot-bomb, or by the recent accounting scandals, or by the recession. We seem to forget that it is execution that counts. When will we realize that you can't build sustainable competitive advantages through technology. You can build more efficient operations, have better means of collecting, analyzing and using information, and respond in a much more rapid way to stakeholder needs; yet technology is only as good as the fundamental execution of your business. If you want a more enlightening, practical guide on technologies that will make an immediate difference, try "Going Wireless"; if you want to concentrate on strategic "blocking and tackling" pick up "Execution". ... Read more