Minding Nature

In this issue • How climate change, in the form of storms and drought, is not coming, it is here and how we should respond by ending our silence • Global examples of the nodal governance of water and agricultural systems and what we can learn from the wisdom and expertise that exists on the ground...

In this issue • Moral philosopher Mary Midgley explores the links among defining humanness, separating human beings from other species, and giving humans greater ontological value • Peter Victor discusses a macroeconomic model of the Canadian economy, LowGrow that indicates how ecologically beneficial growth is possible without unduly affecting essential aspects of well-being...

In this issue •The Center for Humans and Nature Manifesto, a thoughtful statement of our principles and ideals •The values and uncertainties inherent in landscape design and land use planning, and how a sense of place can inform and guide decision making...

In this issue •The Blue River Declaration, an inspiring statement of principles and ideals from a group of 23 leading conservation and environmental writers, thinkers, and teachers •The promise and prospect to “civic agriculture”—what it can mean, and how it can transform our sense of community, place, and mutual responsibility...

In this issue •Intellectual historian Robert Nadeau connects the dots among new discoveries in science and comparative religion that lead to an impetus for ethical action to protect and sustain the planet •Can science and reason alone provide the values we need today? How have the nature of science and the outlooks of religions changed at the dawn of the “Anthropocene” age?...

In this issue •Cosmology and the place of the human self in the natural world, as reflected in the work of Aldo Leopold and by Native American cultural worldviews •Paul Waldau offers a roadmap to common ground between animal protection advocates and ecologically-oriented conservationists…

In this issue •Why we need to rethink basic ethical and philosophical categories if we are to meet the challenges of climate change and global conservation •The making of the documentary film, “Common Ground,” telling the story of land conservation in ACE basin near Charleston, South Carolina…

In this issue •Intrigued by the promise of a better way to earn a living on a fragile but bountiful planet, economist and sociologist Juliet Schor defines elements of a new way of thinking about and practicing, economic life •How environmentalists need to enter a more productive dialogue with Catholics and appreciate the resources of meaning that the Catholic tradition holds for environmental ethics…

In this issue •How the places in which people dwell and the landscapes they call home can influence the way they construct their understanding of both ethics (what is right) and knowledge (what is true) •A map of the emerging field of synthetic biology and what ethical and policy responses ought to be taken to govern this potentially dangerous area of science and technology…

In this issue •How Conservation Psychology researches human relationships with nature, and to understand the reasons for apathy, fear, and denial people exhibit when faced with environmental problems •A special feature honoring the work and teaching of The Rev. Fr. Thomas Berry, a leading historian of culture and religion and one of the most significant eco-theologians of our time…