Over 10 years ago, Ted Bernard travelled to nine communities across the United States to meet residents who were working collaboratively to solve natural resource conflicts. While there may have been different perspectives over process, their common goal was to achieve higher levels of sustainability as vibrant communities. He visited places as diverse as tiny one-mile-square Monhegan Island in Maine and cities as large as Chicago and Chattanooga, and with Jora Young, wrote about their findings in 1997 in "The Ecology of Hope". Now Bernard has caught up with these communities again to discover their progress, and see what a difference their collaborative conservation has made in 15 years. This book chronicles that journey; the successes, the speed bumps, and the remarkable tenacity and persistence of the partnerships and initiatives driving change during exceedingly hard times. Overall, community-based sustainability initiatives have proved resilient, despite the down-spiralling of the global economy and the looming problems of global climate change. Their quest points to the need for new perceptions of nature and of humankind, more guidance from nature, and less consumption and materialism. They offer advice on how to live on pieces of land without spoiling them. Offering hopeful roadmaps for other communities working toward a sustainable future, this book will appeal to community activists, natural resource professionals, educators, and environmentalists.

Author Biography

Ted Bernard is a professor of the Environmental Studies Graduate Program at University of Ohio. He is a lifelong environmental activist who has spent over 35 years teaching, writing and organizing for numerous causes. He is the co-author of The Ecology of Hope.