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Stephen Gliessman's complementary volumes, Agroecology: The Ecology of Sustainable Food Systems, Second Edition and Field and Laboratory Investigations in Agroecology, Second Edition are now available together for one low price! Completely revised, updated, and reworked, the second edition of Agroecology presents new data, readings, case studies, and options as well as more emphasis on topics such as the values, beliefs, and ethics of sustainable food systems. The new Laboratory Investigations in Agroecology, Second Edition facilitates hands-on, experimental learning that involves close observation, creative interpretation, and constant questioning of findings. ... Read more

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An introduction to the principles of ecology and the science behind the major environmental issues. With a strong emphasis on human and applied ecology, this text provides an accessible account of the causes of climate change, species extinction and habitat loss. ... Read more

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Food security and environmental conservation are two of the greatest challenges facing the world today. It is predicted that food production must increase by at least 70% before 2050 to support continued population growth, though the size of the world's agricultural area will remain essentially unchanged. This updated and thoroughly revised second edition provides in-depth coverage of the impact of environmental conditions and management on crops, resource requirements for productivity and effects on soil resources. The approach is explanatory and integrative, with a firm basis in environmental physics, soils, physiology and morphology. System concepts are explored in detail throughout the book, giving emphasis to quantitative approaches, management strategies and tactics employed by farmers, and associated environmental issues. Drawing on key examples and highlighting the role of science, technology and economic conditions in determining management strategies, this book is suitable for agriculturalists, ecologists and environmental scientists. ... Read more

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Take a balanced look at ways to ensure food security and to work to erase hunger around the world

Agriculture is the most aggressively managed ecosystem. Agricultural Sustainability: Principles, Processes, and Prospects provides a comprehensive examination of all facets of agricultural sustainability, beginning with the history of the evolution of the concept to the present. Challenges to sustainability are clearly presented along with practical strategies to counter prospective problems. This vital resource considers options for the future, as well as reviewing past approaches for their value in today’s world.

When one considers that the alternative to agricultural sustainability is the collapse of the world’s food systems, it is understood that compromise is impossible. Agricultural Sustainability takes a holistic approach to the issues that are involved in making agriculture ecologically sound, economically viable, and socially responsible around the world. The book is divided into three parts. Part One clarifies the concept of agricultural sustainability, bringing a rational and balanced view of the core elements. Part Two discusses ways to promote sustainability in the world, including practical scientific and technological processes for improving yields while ensuring food security for future generations. Part Three peers into future decades, reviewing the vision documents of international agencies, their perceptions and expectations for the years ahead, and present dysfunctional aspects in the current food system. The book is extensively referenced and includes figures and charts to clearly explain data.

The book examines:

the historic evolution of the concept of agricultural sustainability

the combined effects of a multiplicity of agricultural systems

concepts for validating the sustainability of a production system

the role of natural capital in production

the role of science and technology in sustainable use

managing land, water, biodiversity, and energy

quantitative approaches to measuring agricultural sustainability

the current status of agriculture—and predictions for its growth in the coming decades

case studies of agricultural growth from India and China

problems—and possibilities—of creating a hunger-free world by the end of this century

Agricultural Sustainability is crucial, enlightening reading for field workers in NGOs and agricultural extensions; personnel in local, national, and international developmental organizations; and educators and students of sustainable agricultural production, food security, rural development, environmental science, and the conservation of natural resources. ... Read more

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This third edition of an enduring and popular book has been fully updated and revised, exploring the two opposing paradigms of sustainability in an insightful and accessible way. Eric Neumayer contends that central to the debate on sustainable development is the question of whether natural capital can be substituted by other forms of capital. Proponents of weak sustainability maintain that such substitutability is possible, while followers of strong sustainability regard natural capital as non-substitutable.

The author examines the availability of natural resources for the production of consumption goods and the environmental consequences of economic growth. He identifies the critical forms of natural capital in need of preservation given risk, uncertainty and ignorance about the future and opportunity costs of preservation. He goes on to provide a critical discussion of measures of sustainability. Indicators of weak sustainability such as Genuine Savings and the Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare - also known as the Genuine Progress Indicator - are analyzed, as are indicators of strong sustainability, including ecological footprints, material flows and sustainability gaps.

This book will prove essential reading for students, scholars and policymakers with an interest in ecological and environmental economics and sustainable development. ... Read more

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foreword by John Friedmann

In many areas of the world, environmental degradation in and aroundhuman settlements is undermining prospects for both socioeconomicjustice and ecological sustainability. To explore the issues involved inthis worldwide problem, Keith Pezzoli focuses on a dramatic instance ofconflict that grew out of the unauthorized penetration of humansettlements into the Ajusco greenbelt zone, a vital part of MexicoCity's ecological reserve.

The heart of the book is the story of what happened when residents ofthe Ajusco settlements fought relocation by proposing that the areas betransformed into productive ecology settlements. Pezzoli draws uponurban and regional planning theory and practice to examine biophysicalas well as ethical and social sides of the story, and he uses theMexican experience to identify planning strategies to link economy,ecology, and community in sustainable development. ... Read more

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Regional Development
Pezzoli's book offers an insightful and applicable understanding of sustainable development through regional activism.This book is appropriate for scholars, academics, activists, and developers but iseasily readable by all peoples. ... Read more

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This is the fourth in a series of books publishing the best contributions on environmental management accounting (EMA) from around the world. It has been developed by the Environmental Management Accounting Network (EMAN). Contributions are drawn primarily from papers presented at EMAN-EU and EMAN-Asia Pacific conferences in the last two years. Brought together in this volume are international examples of leading thinking and practice in this rapidly developing area.

Sustainability Accounting and Reporting provides an up-to-date overview of the most current views, developments, costs and benefits in environmental and sustainability accounting and its links to reporting. The book discusses new developments in environmental accounting and investigates topics in and links between corporate environmental and sustainability issues as well as between strategy, measurement and information management, and between accounting and reporting.

Papers presented in this research based publication have been through an independent peer review and thorough editing process to ensure the highest possible research quality for theory based submissions and, for the more applied contributions, the greatest potential usefulness and impact for corporate and public-policy practitioners.

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A challenging, controversial, and highly readable look at our lives, our world, and our future.

In this remarkable challenge to conventional thinking about the environment, David Owen argues that the greenest community in the United States is not Portland, Oregon, or Snowmass, Colorado, but New York, New York.

Most Americans think of crowded cities as ecological nightmares, as wastelands of concrete and garbage and diesel fumes and traffic jams. Yet residents of compact urban centers, Owen shows, individually consume less oil, electricity, and water than other Americans. They live in smaller spaces, discard less trash, and, most important of all, spend far less time in automobiles. Residents of Manhattan- the most densely populated place in North America -rank first in public-transit use and last in percapita greenhouse-gas production, and they consume gasoline at a rate that the country as a whole hasn't matched since the mid-1920s, when the most widely owned car in the United States was the Ford Model T. They are also among the only people in the United States for whom walking is still an important means of daily transportation.

These achievements are not accidents. Spreading people thinly across the countryside may make them feel green, but it doesn't reduce the damage they do to the environment. In fact, it increases the damage, while also making the problems they cause harder to see and to address. Owen contends that the environmental problem we face, at the current stage of our assault on the world's nonrenewable resources, is not how to make teeming cities more like the pristine countryside. The problem is how to make other settled places more like Manhattan, whose residents presently come closer than any other Americans to meeting environmental goals that all of us, eventually, will have to come to terms with. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (37)

Not your ordinary environmentalist book
David Owen comes down hard on the typical environmentalist. (Think of the type who moves to the middle of nowhere, gets new wheels via Cash for Clunkers, upgrades his home rather than repair, etc.) The Sierra Club isn't perfect. (Typical environmentalist is shrieking!!!) The suburbs aren't the answer. (Did anyone think they were?) Neither is rural living. (Typical environmentalist won't be spending all of his or her time kayaking - he or she will be driving everywhere to complete basic chores!)

So, how do we save the environment? Think of New York City and its old European sisters. Density is the key. Solid public transportation makes city life A LOT easier. (Especially the NYC subways.)

p. 120 " 'You can't have successful transit if you create an environment that doesn't support it. '" Owen quotes Zupan.

"Transit leverage" p. 121

Owen doesn't think New Yorkers are more sophisticated than other Americans. Just look at these passages:

"New Yorkers don't ride the subway because they're more enlightened or more environmentally aware; New Yorkers ride the subway because owning and driving a car in the city is almost ridiculously disagreeable." p. 122

"As committed as New Yorkers appear to be walking and riding the subway, it wouldn't take much to turn them into car owners. If every Manhatten apartment came with a free garage parking space, Manhattanites would have cars, too." p. 123

Owen also highlights the stupidity of green remodeling. It's more wasteful to rebuild an entire house just to make it more green.

Is plastic the enemy? Ask the president of a plastics manufacturing company who wastefully remodelled his home to make it more "green". Plastic isn't his enemy on payday. In fact, we wouldn't be living as well as we do if we didn't have plastic.

However, the book does have its boring stretches. I had to skim technical descriptions of windows - just didn;t hold my interest. If you're debating the merits of "green" windows, then you'll want to study these passages. (That's why it gets four stars.)

In conclusion, a book highlighting the hypocrisy of the green movement is much needed. And there's plenty of footnotes and references so that you can continue the research on your own. I highly recommend everyone who has ever had any interest in the green movement to at least read the first two chapters. And, in the interest of not being wasteful, borrow Green Metropolis from your local library!

Great read, but the ideas seem a little too idealistic
What's the best way to live green? Move to the country, right? Wrong. Move to the city. Manhattan, for instance. That's the best way to reduce the amount of resources you use. You live "smaller," drive less, and save on fuel and other resources.

Sounds great. But hard to do. In fact, even though the author makes a great case for doing that, he and his family do just the opposite. Move from Manhattan to the country. Go figure.

Another great book by David
Not a doomed and gloom we're all going to die soon if we don't change book.
I'm a contractor who has read all Davids previous books and love the topics and really like his style of writing.
I learned a lot from this book and it completely changed my view on things. The best part is you don't feel like you're getting lectured by a know-it-all, you just learn interesting things.

What About Resilience in Urban Centers?
I have not read this book. My bias is in favor of Transition Towns approaches.
That said, I do not see any mention made of food production, just the observation that trucking food from California is cheaper than trucking food from upstate New York. (I question whether that is so even in the present. As for the future, think of peak oil and of roads crumbling from lack of maintenance.) Detroit's experiment with urban agriculture is promising, but New York real estate is still too expensive and densely packed to make that an option.
Generally, the issue of resilience (ability to recover from an external shock, such as food or energy interruption) is ignored. What is New York to do after three days of food interruption? For buildings higher than, say, five stories, how are people going to get to their homes when electricity for elevators fails, or power to run the elevators becomes prohibitively expensive?
It is arguable that small towns and even small cities will be more successful than rural enclaves, but Manhattan?

Does some things well
This book does two things well.

First, it sets out a strong affirmative case for the environmental soundness of compact cities - not just because urbanites drive less but also because they use up less space, causing lower levels of energy use.For example, the average New York household uses less than 1/3 as much electricity as the average Dallas household, and New Yorkers emit a lower share of greenhouse gases than their proportion of national population (2.7% of Americans, only 1% of emissions).

Second, by criticizing other ideas commonly proposed by environmentalists (e.g. eating locally, recycling, more efficient cars) it shows that the U.S. is unlikely to reduce emissions without reurbanizing.For example, buying a more fuel-efficient car might reduce emissions slightly -- but won't have any effect if you drive more out of a newfound feeling of virtue.And a more fuel-efficient car won't reduce the environmental impact of the extra parking spaces, roads and electricity use required by suburban life.Similarly, "eating locally" is unlikely to have a positive environmental impact if you drive to reach locally-grown food- especially since nonlocal food often travels with a wide variety of other goods, which means each additional pint of nonlocal strawberries has zero environmental impact (unlike each additional drive to a farmers' market).

However, Owen sometimes gives short shrift to topics that deserve more extensive discussion.For example, he notes that recycling may cost as much energy as it saves but doesn't elaborate.

Another weakness: Owen doesn't address pro-sprawl commentators' arguments (e.g. the idea that fast traffic and smooth traffic flow, by reducing idling, creates energy savings that balance out the energy savings of more compact development and slower traffic). ... Read more

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This unique title draws together in one volume some of the best thinking to date on the pressing social and environmental challenges we face as a society. These are the Top 50 Sustainability Books as voted for by the University of Cambridge Programme for Sustainability Leadership s alumni network of over 3,000 senior leaders from around the world. In addition to profiles of all 50 titles, many of the authors share their most recent reflections on the state of the world and the ongoing attempts by business, government and civil society to create a more sustainable future.

Many of these authors have become household names in the environmental, social and economic justice movements from Rachel Carson, Ralph Nader and E.F. Schumacher to Vandana Shiva, Muhammad Yunus and Al Gore. Others, such as Aldo Leopold, Thomas Berry and Manfred Max-Neef, are relatively undiscovered gems, whose work should be much more widely known.

The profiled books tackle our most vexing global challenges, including globalisation (Globalization and Its Discontents, No Logo), climate change (Heat, The Economics of Climate Change) and poverty (The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid, Development as Freedom).

Some of these featured thought-leaders are highly critical of the status quo (e.g. David Korten, Eric Schlosser and Joel Bakan), while others suggest evolutionary ways forward (e.g. Amory Lovins, Hunter Lovins, Paul Hawken and Jonathon Porritt). Some place their faith in technological solutions (e.g. Janine Benyus, Ernst Ulrich von Weizsäcker), while others are upbeat about the potential of business to be a force for good (e.g. John Elkington, Ricardo Semler, William McDonough and Michael Braungart).

By featuring these and other seminal thinkers, The Top 50 Sustainability Books distils a remarkable collective intelligence one that provides devastating evidence of the problems we face as a global society, yet also inspiring examples of innovative solutions; it explores our deepest fears and our highest hopes for the future. It is a must-read for anyone who wants to tap into the wisdom of our age.

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Providing the theoretical and conceptual framework for this continually evolving field, Agroecology: The Ecology of Sustainable Food Systems, Second Edition explores environmental factors and complexities affecting agricultural crops and animals. Completely revised, updated, and reworked, the second edition contains new data, new readings, new issues and case studies, and new options. It includes two completely new chapters, one on the role of livestock animals in agroecosystems and one on the cultural and community aspects of sustainable food systems.

The author clearly delineates the importance of using an ecosystem framework for determining if a particular agricultural practice, input, or management decision contributes or detracts from sustainability. He explains how the framework provides the ecological basis for the functioning of the chosen management strategy over the long-term. He also examines system level interactions, stressing the need for understanding the emergent qualities of populations, communities, and ecosystems and their roles in sustainable agriculture. Using examples of farming systems in a broad array of ecological conditions, the book demonstrates how to use an ecosystem approach to design and manage agroecosystems for sustainability. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

This Book Could Save You a Bundle on Prescription Sleep Medication
I agree with the "No Doz" reviewer.Agroecology need charismatic promotion, not a plow-speed lecture on soil chemistry.This book, likes its author, should be put to pasture.

EASY TO READ: and
so most text books are really dificult to fallow. NOT THIS ONE. it's easy to read the chapters, at about 10 pages of easy to to read print with a high degree of readability. This book is about CONCEPTS. it's just that simple not real indepth. i think the first comment should drop out of college because if he can't read this book, he just wont make it in the real world.

This book is taking concepts about our enviroment and using them in our agricultural production. however he spends alot of time talking about mexico, which has some huge enviromental hinderances. This book isn't indepth, not technical it's just an "idealistic" way of production.

The class i had the book in was about the ecology of agriculture with an emphasis on recognizing sustanible systems.

BEST BOOK ON AGROECOLOGY
I highly recommend the Book Agroecology by Steve Gliessman. It reflectsindepth knowledge of agricultural issues of today food production systems.Those of us interested in challenging thoughts and ideas to achievesustainability must look at the contributions of this book. Some chaptersdemand basic knowledge of Ecology while other chapters demand higher levelof ecology and Biology. The book provides examples from different parts ofthe world (tropical and temperate zones) so that it should be very usefulto agronomists, and agroecologists from countries other than the US. Asan agroecologist I highly recommend this book. I find it very useful toteach Agroecology and Ecology, in both agricultural schools and Biologystudents.

Take No-Doz if you're going to read this book!
My gosh, I've never fallen asleep faster! I pity all of you students who are required to read this pathetic work of literature.While Mr. Gliessman definitely knows his agroecology, he has difficulties conveying his thoughts to the reader. Also, you may be in a bit of trouble if you don'thave a Ph.D in this field as the book takes off with a very complexvocabulary and may as well be Morse code: you can figure out what he'strying to say with the help of numerous other reference books.Onesuggestion to those students needing to buy this book for a class: DROPOUT! ... Read more

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A Progressive, Action-Oriented View of Sustainability
By far one of the best books I have read on sustainability.This is a lengthy book and Norton can definitely be both wordy and well over my head at times, but the message is solid.Adaptive Management offers a complement to progressive viewpoints by firmly rejecting economic reductionism, while promoting an action-oriented process that doesn't allow individuals to hide behind uncertainty to avoid making tough decisions.If you are an individual who believes that environmental problems do exist, and don't want to get mired down in the polarized arguments of environment versus economics, give this book a read.Some key topics discussed in this book are:

* Linkages between science and social values
* Pragmatism and a "middle-way"
* Darwinism and evolution
* Adaptive management & social learning
* Pluralism
* Creating a new vocabulary for sustainability & environmental issues

Norton argues that our "current language is inadequate because it leads to polarization over environmental values and to ideological environmentalism."Instead Norton proposes adpative management and uses the length of the book to discuss the context and concepts that surround the implementation of such a concept.What strikes me about adaptive management is that it is geared to handle both uncertainty and learning (constant evolution), two features which logically seem crucial to dealing with todays issues.It will take me a long time to fully digest the amount of information in this book, but it was well worth the read and I would recommend it to anyone who wants a deeper understanding of what "sustainability" is--or more importantly, could be. ... Read more

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An international team of leading scholars and young researchers in environmental psychology offers a relatively new perspective on the origin and solutions of the current environmental crisis. They explain how human nature has played a prominent role in the emergence of ecological problems such as global warming, threats to biodiversity, resources scarcity and pollution. But also, they demonstrate that such problems are interlinked with social problems such as poverty, famine, social and economical inequities and violence. According to this book's authors, psychological theories and empirical evidence show that the solutions for those socio-ecological problems are to be found in human nature and its psychological predispositions. These include personal motives, world-visions, future perspective, environmental emotions, altruistic tendencies and behavioral capacities among other psychological predispositions that could allow the adoption of sustainable lifestyles. Meeting the ideals of sustainability requires the participation of the natural and social sciences, including psychology, in order to guarantee the fulfilment of its purposes.Behavioural sciences study the psychological characteristics and the contextual factors that lead people to adopt more sustainable lifestyles. In addition, these sciences investigate how sustainable behaviours promote happiness, psychological well being and restoration, which are considered among the aims of sustainable development by governments throughout the world. The authors, who are recognised experts in these areas, offer a state-of-the-art review and data on what it is known regarding the psychological dimensions of the environmental crisis, its behavioural solutions and the repercussions of sustainable behaviour on human well being. ... Read more

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Presents inspiring and detailed examples of integrated systems design thinking by many of the foremost designers in the field. Covers applications in industrial design, materials, housing design, urban planning and transport, landscape and agriculture, and energy and resource use. Softcover. Hardcover available. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A great read and also good as a course text!
This type of book is well overdue. It covers both the theoretical and practical side of sustainable design and is very well set out. It is an excellent reference book and covers the full spectrum of sustainable design issues, which affect us all!

thought provouking
design for sustainability is defnitly a sourcebook for sustainable designers.it spanes through every aspect of our existance and ofers a new way of living it sustainably. from hemp clothes to earth building and even touches thinking patterns of design, giving the profetional designer not only eco-logical solutions but new perspectives to the process of design.
this book opened my mind to new pathes of thought and action. ... Read more