A wide-ranging and in-depth discussion of the persistently divisive issues surrounding race in this country.

If we want to preserve what's still left of the natural world, we need to stop using so much of it. And, says veteran environmental activist Matt Hern, cities are the best chance we have left for a truly ecological future . . . but what does it take to make a truly sustainable city? Common Ground in a Liquid City is a fun and engaging look at the future of urban life. Hern takes us on a journey through over a dozen urban centers, from Vancouver to Istanbul, Las Vegas, and beyond, exploring the history and current composition of cities around the globe and highlighting the elements of each that make it livable. Each of Hern's ten chapters focuses on a central theme of city life: diversity, street life, crime, population density, water and natural life, gentrification, and globalism. What emerges in the end is an appealing portrait of what the urban future might look like—environmentally friendly, locally focused, and governed from below. Matt Hern is an inveterate city dweller and an environmental and education activist. The editor of Everywhere All the Time: A New Deschooling Reader and the author of Deschooling Our Lives and Field Day, he founded Vancouver's Car-Free Day and is the director of the Purple Thistle Center for alternative education. These days, he lives in Vancouver with his partner and daughters and lectures widely around the globe.

Common Ground, Common Future: Moral Agency in Public Administration, Professions, and Citizenship examines the public and private roles of the citizen as a moral agent. The authors define this agent as a person who recognizes morality as a motive for action, and not only follows moral principles but also acknowledges morality as his or her principa

Today, humanity faces a serious challenge. Much of the Earth¿s biodiversity -- the richness of its many species of flora and fauna -- is at risk. The areas that are home to the greatest numbers of at-risk species are also home to large numbers of rural people, many of them desperately poor. Local agriculture must expand to meet rapidly growing world demand. Yet agriculture, as currently practiced, is a chief cause of the destruction of valuable habitats, pushing species towards extinction. If agricultural policies are not changed, large numbers of endangered species of all types will be lost. This report explores strategies for ways in which ecoagriculture can meet this challenge and help feed the world¿s people and protect biodiversity. Illustrations.

Land that is owned and managed for the common good is a hallmark of community land trusts. CLTs are locally controlled, nonprofit organizations that steward permanently affordable housing (and other assets) for people of modest means. This book explores the global growth of CLTs in twenty-six original essays by authors from a dozen countries.

"Revised and updated" -- Cover.

Imagines a village in which there are too many people consuming shared resources and discusses the challenge of handling our world's environment safely.