The City is an Ecosystem: Sustainable Education, Policy, and Practice (Advances in Urban Sustainability)

"The City is an Ecosystem maps an interdisciplinary, community-engaged response to the great ecological crises of our time-climate change, biodiversity loss, and social inequality-which pose particular challenges for cities, where more than half the world's population currently live. Across more than twenty chapters, the three parts of the book cover historical and scientific perspectives on the city as an ecosystem; human rights to the city in relation to urban sustainability; and the city as a sustainability classroom at all educational levels inside and outside formal classroom spaces. It argues that such efforts must be interdisciplinary and widespread to ensure an informed public and educated new generation are equipped to face an uncertain future, particularly relevant in the post-COVID-19 world. Gathering multiple interdisciplinary and community-engaged perspectives on these environmental crises, with contemporary and historical case study discussions, this timely volume cuts across the humanities and social and health sciences, and will be of interest to policymakers, urban ecologists, activists, built environment professionals, educators, and advanced students concerned with the future of our cities"-- Provided by publisher. The City Is an Ecosystem maps an interdisciplinary, community-engaged response to the great ecological crises of our time—climate change, biodiversity loss, and social inequality—which pose particular challenges for cities, where more than half the world’s population currently live. Across more than 20 chapters, the three parts of the book cover historical and scientific perspectives on the city as an ecosystem, human rights to the city in relation to urban sustainability, and the city as a sustainability classroom at all educational levels inside and outside formal classroom spaces. It argues that such efforts must be interdisciplinary and widespread to ensure that an informed public and an educated new generation are equipped to face an uncertain future, particularly relevant in the post-COVID-19 world. Gathering multiple interdisciplinary and community-engaged perspectives on these environmental crises, with contemporary and historical case study discussions, this timely volume cuts across the humanities and social and health sciences and will be of interest to policy makers, urban ecologists, activists, built environment professionals, educators, and advanced students concerned with the future of our cities. Cover 1 Half Title 4 Series 5 Title 6 Copyright 7 Contents 8 List of Figures 11 About the Contributors 13 Acknowledgments 20 1 Introduction 22 Part I The City as Ecosystem 32 2 Ecology and Technological Enframement: Cities, Networks, and the COVID-19 Pandemic 34 3 Social Determinants of Health as a Framework for Addressing Urban Climate Adaptation 46 4 Climate Change Policy: Lessons From Classical Rome 57 5 Greenspace in Small Cities: Opportunities for Sustainability Education 68 6 The Birds and Bees of Urban Biodiversity: Patterns, Problems, and a Path Forward 80 7 Action Research in a Tokyo Suburb: Building Community Ties Through Collaborative Landscaping Projects 95 8 Community Design for Inclusive Engagement: The Old Stone House and Washington Park, Brooklyn 109 Part II The Right to the City 124 9 The Right to the City and the Rights of the City 126 10 Making Our Own History: Urban Sustainability in a World in Crisis 137 11 Reconceptualizing the City in the Age of the Anthropocene 150 12 Industrial Gentrification and the Geography of Sacrifice and Gain 163 13 Futurity and Equity in Local Climate Action 176 14 Social Justice and Brooklyn Development: 500 Years of Struggle 187 15 Participatory Action Research in Rio de Janeiro’s Sustainable Favela Network: From Self-Sufficiency and International Collaboration to Participatory Regenerative Infrastructures 198 Part III The City as Classroom 212 16 Teaching About Sustainable Living in Urban Settings: Global Citizenship and Overcoming the Arcadian Myth 214 17 An Environmental Justice Lens on Indianapolis’s Urban Ecosystem: Collaborative Community Curation 226 18 Urban Rewilding Through a Modified Placemaking Lens: A Teaching and Learning Journey 241 19 Using the Prepositional Framework for Urban Environmental Education: Teaching and Learning About Ecology in, of, for, and with Cities 254 20 Manitoba Hydro’s Mega-Dams and the Ethical Teaching of Ceramics and Sustainability 266 21 Resilience for Sustainability Everywhere: Critical Literacy for Students and Everyone Else 275 22 Afterword: Transdisciplinary Urban Ecosystem Research, Education, and Stewardship 286 Index 291 Sustainability;,Climate,change;,Urban,studies;,Cities;,Biodiversity,loss;,Covid-19;,COVID-19;,Human,rights;,City;,Urban,ecology;,Gentrification;,Tokyo;,New,York;,Brooklyn;,Favela;,Rio,de,Janeiro;,Environmental,crisis;,Environmental,justice;,Urban,rewilding Sustainability,Climate change,Urban studies,Cities,Biodiversity loss,Covid-19,COVID-19,Human rights,City,Urban ecology,Gentrification,Tokyo,New York,Brooklyn,Favela,Rio de Janeiro,Environmental crisis,Environmental justice,Urban rewilding This book maps an interdisciplinary, community-engaged response to the great ecological crises of our time-climate change, biodiversity loss, and social inequality-which pose particular challenges for cities, where more than half the world's population currently live.