Toward Sustainable Communities: Solutions For Citizens And Their Governments

Description

The need to make our communities sustainable is more urgent than ever before. Toward Sustainable Communities remains the single most useful resource for creating vibrant, healthy, equitable, economically viable places. This comprehensive update of the classic text presents a leading-edge overview of sustainability in a new fully illustrated, full-color format. Compelling new case studies and expanded treatment of sustainability in rural as well as urban settings are complemented by contributions from a range of experts around the world, demonstrating how "community capital" can be leveraged to meet the needs of cities and towns for: * Energy efficiency, waste reduction, and recycling * Water, sewage, transportation, and housing * Climate change and air quality * Land use and urban planning. Fully supported by a complete suite of online resources and tools, Toward Sustainable Communities is packed with concrete, innovative solutions to a host of municipal challenges. Required reading for policymakers, educators, social enterprises, and engaged citizens, this "living book" will appeal to anyone concerned about community sustainability and a livable future.
Mark Roseland is director of the Centre for Sustainable Community Development at Simon Fraser University and professor at SFU's School of Resource and Environmental Management. He lectures internationally, advises communities and governments on sustainable development policy and planning, and has been cited as one of British Columbia's "top fifty living public intellectuals."

Reviews

Author Mark Roseland participated in events associated with the 2012 Rio +20 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro (June 20-22) and co-convened the Third International Urban Research Symposium of ICLEI: Local Governments for Sustainability, in Belo Horizonte, Brazil (June 14-17). While there he also unveiled the fourth edition of his now-classic book, Toward Sustainable Communities: Solutions for Citizens and Their Governments. He also launched a new online network called Pando | Sustainable Communities, created to facilitate and inspire collaboration and knowledge sharing among researchers, practitioners and government decision-makers. Its goal is to spark local initiatives that will cultivate vibrant, caring, livable and economically resilient communities. When I wrote the first edition of Towards Sustainable Communities in 1992, the first Rio Earth Summit had just happened and the kinds of initiatives I profiled were relatively rare, says Roseland. While drafting this edition, it became clear that innovations for sustainable communities are now happening so quickly that one book cant begin to cover them all. His Pando network concept developed as a logical outgrowth of his book, which showcases hundreds of proven, adaptable initiatives already making communities of all sizes more sustainable. In addition to my books case, theory and method for building more sustainable communities, it became clear that we could benefit from an accessible, live platform to share great ideas. And we should do more than offer a collection of great strategies we need to connect the creative thinkers and doers behind them. Pando will meet that need.

Author description

Mark Roseland is the Director of the Centre for Sustainable Community Development at Simon Fraser University and teaches at SFU's School of Resource and Environmental Management. He lectures internationally and advises communities and governments on sustainable development policy and planning. He has published widely, and his work has been cited in numerous journals. Mark has been cited by the Vancouver Sun as one of British Columbia's "top 50 living public intellectuals".