This book emphasizes concepts and methods for solving problems that occur through the interaction of the eyes and vision of people with their environment. Student clinicians will learn to assess their patient's visual tasks, visual environments, and visual performance needs in order to provide quality eye care.

Nature was always vital in Thomas Merton’s life, from the long hours he spent as a child watching his father paint landscapes in the fresh air, to his final years of solitude in the hermitage at Our Lady of Gethsemani, where he contemplated and wrote about the beauty of his surroundings. Throughout his life, Merton’s study of the natural world shaped his spirituality in profound ways, and he was one of the first writers to raise concern about ecological issues that have become critical in recent years. In The Environmental Vision of Thomas Merton, author Monica Weis suggests that Merton’s interest in nature, which developed significantly during his years at the Abbey of Gethsemani, laid the foundation for his growing environmental consciousness. Tracing Merton’s awareness of the natural world from his childhood to the final years of his life, Weis explores his deepening sense of place and desire for solitude, his love and responsibility for all living things, and his evolving ecological awareness.

Today it is widely recognized that we face urgent and serious environmental problems and we know much about them, yet we do very little. What explains this lack of motivation and change? Why is it so hard to change our lives? This book addresses this question by means of a philosophical inquiry into the conditions of possibility for environmental change. It discusses how we can become more motivated to do environmental good and what kind of knowledge we need for this, and explores the relations between motivation, knowledge, and modernity. After reviewing a broad range of possible philosophical and psychological responses to environmental apathy and inertia, the author argues for moving away from a modern focus on either detached reason and control (Stoicism and Enlightenment reason) or the natural, the sentiments, and the authentic (Romanticism), both of which make possible disengaging and alienating modes of relating to our environment. Instead he develops the notion of environmental skill: a concept that bridges the gap between knowledge and action, re-interprets environmental virtue, and suggests an environmental ethics centered on experience, know-how and skillful engagement with our environment. The author then explores the implications of this ethics for our lives: it changes the way we think about , and deal with, health, food, animals, energy, climate change, politics, and technology.

This up-to-date and comprehensive reference presents the fundamentals of environmental planning, incorporating theory, practice and case studies. The book includes balanced coverage and real world examples to illustrate the concepts. Political, ethical, and societal considerations are all addressed. Presents the fundamentals of environmental planning and methodological material for analysis. Real world examples are provided to illustrate concepts. Political, ethical and societal considerations are addressed. Coverage is balanced between theoretical and practical.

Annotation "This book documents a high school ecology class that employs currere, William Pinar's idea for curriculum as autobiographical text, and analyzes the course's success from the author's point of view as both the practitioner and the curriculum developer."--BOOK JACKET. Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

The debate on sustainable production often ends in discussions on the feasibility of far-reaching changes in relation to the competitiveness of companies. Industry itself and policy-makers tend to back away from engaging in profound processes of industrial transformation. Examples of companies who have voluntarily moved beyond what is seen as 'reasonable' and 'feasible' can overcome this deadlock. This book collects a fine sample of companies who have taken up their responsibility in this respect. To quote the editors of this book: "They are cases that might provide other firms and policy-makers with ideas for innovative environmental responses that are outside the slowly rising trend of improvement that we are currently observing: in short, the cases are of firms and ideas that are ahead of the curve". The editors and many of the authors of this volume are members of the Greening of Industry Network and have been debating with one another for years. Founded in 1991, the Greening of Industry Network comprises over 1500 individuals representing academia, business, public interest, labor and government from more than 50 countries. Participants work together to build policies and strategies toward creating a sustainable future through many vehicles -- coordinating research efforts, publications, planning and participating in workshops, public forums and conferences. To provide benefit to broader society, the Network stimulates public dialogue and brings together academic researchers from many disciplines with other stakeholders who traditionally do not work together in coalitions.

How can we get from where we are to where we want to be? Metaphors for Change attempts to answer this question and provide a roadmap for sustainability by bringing together the thoughts of a unique collection of leading change agents from business, government and academia. Environmental questions have previously been dealt with metaphorically, by catastrophism or manicheism (zero growth; Malthusianism, Deep Ecology; "man is the enemy"; less is more). These metaphors have had limited impact because they have failed to connect with the mainstream of cultural, political, and business ideas. This book examines a number of new metaphors – and related partnerships, tools and action – which appear to have greater possibilities for the world in which we now live. The editors argue that Metaphors for Change can deliver to the public and to decision-makers new perceptions ("structured knowledge") that can help interpret the past and the present, and help us forge the future. The wider the gap between the "now" and the "necessary", the stronger the bridging perceptions have to be in order to break through barriers of fear and conservatism. Some of the concepts considered are: sustainable development; the polluter pays principle; the precautionary principle; eco-efficiency; eco-effectiveness; life-cycle assessment; design for the environment; eco-services; dematerialization; industrial symbiosis; industrial ecology; and zero emissions. There are of course other useful metaphors on the horizon, some of them included in this book. Including key contributions from the ground-breaking conferences ECO 97 and ECO 99, along with other specially commissioned and reprinted pieces, Metaphors for Change provides a treasure chest of new ideas, innovations and action. Accessible and forward-thinking, it will prove indispensable both as a student learning tool and as a panoramic overview of the sustainability metaphors key thinkers believe we should be putting into practice.