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Island Press began with a simple idea: knowledge is power—the power to imagine a better future and find ways for getting us there. Founded in 1984, Island Press’ mission is to provide the best ideas and information to those seeking to understand and protect the environment and create solutions to its complex problems.

Showing 281-300 of 330 items.

Introduction to Restoration Ecology

Island Press

Written for upper-division undergraduates and first-year graduate students, this new textbook offers a real-life introduction to the field of restoration ecology and an interdisciplinary overview of the theory behind it. The text is organized around a restoration process that has been tested and revised by the authors in their restoration ecology courses taught at the University of Wisconsin-Madison over the past thirty years.
 
Success in ecological restoration requires not only technical proficiency but also skill in the social, cultural, and political arenas. Introduction to Restoration Ecology can help students develop the skills they need to succeed in all of these areas and is a much-needed new resource.

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The Case for a Carbon Tax

Getting Past Our Hang-Ups to Effective Climate Policy

Island Press

A clear-eyed, sophisticated analysis of climate-change policy, Hsu weighs the economic, social, administrative, and political merits of a carbon tax to argue it is the most effective policy.

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Chasing Molecules

Poisonous Products, Human Health, and the Promise of Green Chemistry

Island Press

Chasing Molecules explores the development of green chemistry as an alternative to the dangerous synthetic chemicals found in countless consumer products.

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Shifting Baselines

The Past and the Future of Ocean Fisheries

Island Press
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Making Healthy Places

Designing and Building for Health, Well-being, and Sustainability

Island Press

Making Healthy Places presents a diagnosis of-and offers treatment for-problems related to the built environment.

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Intelligent Tinkering

Bridging the Gap between Science and Practice

Island Press

Robert J. Cabin explores the relationship between science and practice in ecological restoration. Despite the often distinct cultures and methodologies of scientists and practitioners, Cabin shows how each has a vital role in effective restoration and offers suggestions for improving working relationships.

One approach he advocates is what he calls "intelligent tinkering," where practitioners employ the same kind of careful but informal trial-and-error strategy followed by such groups as indigenous peoples and hobbyist mechanics. Cabin illustrates the power of intelligent tinkering using examples from his own work and other restoration projects.

 The gap between science and practice is a widespread problem across all fields of applied science. Intelligent Tinkering offers an insightful look at the underlying causes of the problem, along with invaluable suggestions for addressing it.
 

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Making Nature Whole

A History of Ecological Restoration

Island Press

Making Nature Whole is a seminal volume that presents an in-depth history of the field of ecological restoration as it has developed in the United States over the last three decades. The authors draw from both published and unpublished sources, including archival materials and oral histories from early practitioners, to explore the development of the field and its importance to environmental management as well as to the larger environmental movement and our understanding of the world.

Making Nature Whole is a landmark contribution, providing context and history regarding a distinctive form of land management and giving readers a fascinating overview of the development of the field. It is essential reading for anyone interested in understanding where ecological restoration came from or where it might be going.

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Wicked Environmental Problems

Managing Uncertainty and Conflict

Island Press

This new book examines past experience and future directions in the management of so-called "wicked" environmental problems-those characterized by large-scale, long-term policy dilemmas and contentious political stalemates. Most important, the book reviews current thinking on the way forward, focusing on the implementation of "learning networks," in which public managers, technical experts, and public stakeholders collaborate in decision-making processes that are analytic, iterative, and deliberative.

Wicked Environmental Problems offers new approaches for managing environmental conflicts and shows how managers could apply these approaches within common, real-world statutory decision-making frameworks. It is essential reading for anyone concerned with managing environmental problems. 

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The Agile City

Building Well-Being and Wealth in an Era of Climate Change

Island Press

In a very short time, America realized that global warming poses real challenges to the nation's future. The Agile City engages the fundamental question: What to do about it?

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Towards 0-Impact Buildings and Built Environments

Island Press

A compilation of key notes and best papers of the 2010 Sustainable Building Euregional Conference.

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Sustainability in America's Cities

Creating the Green Metropolis

Island Press

This book highlights how America's largest cities are acting to develop sustainable solutions to conflicts between development and environment.

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Architecture of Community

Island Press

A seminal work by a renowned architect and planner that provides a contemporary roadmap for designing or completing today's fragmented communities.

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The Rising Sea

Island Press

The authoritative book on sea level rise and its coastal consequences.

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Urbanism in the Age of Climate Change

Island Press

This provocative and engaging work emerges from Calthorpe’s belief that, just as the last fifty years produced massive changes in our culture, economy and environment, the next fifty will generate changes of an even more profound nature.

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Biophilic Cities

Integrating Nature into Urban Design and Planning

Island Press

A biophilic city, says Beatley, is a place that learns from nature and incorporates natural forms and images into its buildings and cityscapes. Biophilic Cities outlines the essential elements of a biophilic city, and provides examples and stories about cities that have successfully integrated biophilic elements – from the building to the regional level – around the world.

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Ecological Economics, Second Edition

Principles and Applications

Island Press

Ecological Economics is an introductory-level textbook for an emerging paradigm that addresses this flaw in much economic thought

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The Sprawl Repair Manual

Island Press

The Sprawl Repair Manual demonstrates a step-by-step design process for the re-balancing and re-urbanization of suburbia into more sustainable, economical, energy- and resource-efficient patterns, from the region and the community to the block and the individual building.

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Cities for People

Island Press

Renowned architect and urban planner Jan Gehl explains the methods and tools he has used to reconfigure unworkable cityscapes into safe and sustainable cities for people – something he has helped do in Copenhagen, Melbourne, and New York City.

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Principles of Brownfield Regeneration

Cleanup, Design, and Reuse of Derelict Land

Island Press

The first book to provide an accessible introduction to the design, policy, and technical issues related to redevelopment of "brownfields" – idle property whose development or improvement is impaired by contamination.

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