Hello Mary -- This is Lindsay Campbell from the Forest Service, writing to you from my new email account. I hope that the New Year is treating you well. A few months ago I sent you the full draft text of our Restorative Commons book in case this would be of use to you in your spring course. Well, the book is now going to printer and should be done by mid-March. Erika reminded me that you only teach in the spring, so I dont want to miss this opportunity to share the laid-out and designed version with you (the images and design add another important dimension, I think). I'm attaching the TOC and intro here and I'll send you the complete PDF via
yousendit.com. Please look for that as a separate email. I'd welcome any feedback you have on the book, in particular I'd love to learn if you are able to use any of the sections in your course. I think you should certainly find Erika's chapter interesting, and it draws on your framework. We are excited about this book coming out as a free, Forest Service publication. It will be available for electronic download or in hard copy via on online order form. Will share full release info with you as we near that date.
Link to file:
https://rcpt.yousendit.com/647714590/2001e72f177e9d6baabfaaea3c1fd740Many thanks for your interest in this project, Lindsay
Lindsay CampbellUS Forest Service Northern Research Station
p: 212.637.4175m: c/o EPA Region 2 290 Broadway, 26th Floor New York, NY 10007
w:
http://nrs.fs.fed.us/nyc/
1 comment:
I love this book. I wish I could drop everything and read it word for word, rather than skim it as I’ve been doing for the past few hours.
I have a favorite picture and a favorite piece of writing.
The graphic on page 170/171 (Pg. 91 of the pdf) by Victoria Marshall, TILL Design, says so much about a key component of urbanization: diverting rivers and straightening them to form right angles and flows that are more convenient for humans to manipulate. We might view our taps with more respect if we see them in this way – as the smallest tributaries of the river on which the rest of the city is built.
I love the article “Memoryscape,” page 188 (pg.100 of the pdf). Especially this quote, “Indeed, in the words of Stephen J. Gould, ‘We cannot win this battle to save species and environments without forging an emotional bond between ourselves and nature as well — for we will not fight to save what we do not love’ (Gould 1991).”
I feel as though this article cuts to the heart of the matter discussed in this book. Often, I think many people feel alienated from environmentalists and don’t understand them because they seem to feel more strongly for nature and other species than they do for human beings. In this article we see the essentially human emotion of grief expressed through a natural landscape. Even with an anthropocentric worldview, it seems impossible to deny that this natural space fulfils an essential human need.
The idea that the space is almost immortal in a sense is really empowering:
“The story of experiences in nature can be told and retold — both passed down to children and shared with peers, with the implied call to go out and create our own experiences in the landscape. Harold’s act of storytelling, his invitation to see the land through his eyes, is truly a “living memorial” to his brother and one with more humanity and emotion than any plaque fixed to the ground.”
Mary: you mentioned that one of the problems with applying health assessments to urban development is that public health does not have confidence in a claim unless the evidence surpasses a very high threshold of validity and reliability. What do you think of the biophillia studies mentioned on pages 42-47 (pages 27-29 of the pdf)? Is this a strong enough foundation for policy making or is this something that we wish to be true but in fact we need to wait for more conclusive evidence? Or should we preempt the evidence as Robert Martensen seems to suggest on page 35 (pdf page 23)?
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