To comprehensively address the complexities of current socio-ecological problems involved in global environmental change, it is indispiseble to achieve an integration of ecological understanding and ethical values. Contemporary science proposes an inclusive ecosystem concept that recognizes humans as components. Contemporary environmental ethics includes eco-social justice and the realization that as important as biodiversity is cultural diversity, inter-cultural, inter-institutional, and international collaboration requiring a novel approach known as biocultural conservation. Right action in confronting the challenges of the 21st century requires science and ethics to be seamlessly integrated. This book resulted from the 14th Cary Conference that brought together leading scholars and practitioners in ecology and environmental philosophy to discuss core terminologies, methods, questions, and practical frameworks for long-term socio-ecological research, education, and decision making.

This book advances Earth Stewardship toward a planetary scale, presenting a range of ecological worldviews, practices, and institutions in different parts of the world and to use them as the basis for considering what we could learn from one another, and what we could do together. Today, inter-hemispheric, intercultural, and transdisciplinary collaborations for Earth Stewardship are an imperative. Chapters document pathways that are being forged by socio-ecological research networks, religious alliances, policy actions, environmental citizenship and participation, and new forms of conservation, based on both traditional and contemporary ecological knowledge and values. “The Earth Stewardship Initiative of the Ecological Society of America fosters practices to provide a stable basis for civilization in the future. Biocultural ethic emphasizes that we are co-inhabitants in the natural world; no matter how complex our inventions may become” (Peter Raven).

This book offers an authoritative analysis of the challenges that have arisen as a result of modern technologies. It covers several environmental problems, such as climate change, overexploitation of natural resources, loss of natural habitats, pollution and human population growth, and discusses practical scenarios for sustainable human dwelling of our planet. Adopting an interdisciplinary approach, the first part introduces “global changes”, describing how they are happening in reality, and the challenges arising from them. The second part introduces methodological approaches borrowed from various disciplines, such as engineering, management science, philosophy and theology, which can help deal with the contemporary challenges resulting from global changes. Lastly, the third part discusses some of the themes presented in the light of novel concepts, such as the Anthropocene, and includes interesting proposals and ideas about how human beings could dwell the Earth in this new age. Offering a comprehensive theoretical reflection on the relation between technology, environment and human beings, it also provides a practice-oriented guide for researchers and decision-makers working on a new ethical paradigm of acting in the Anthropocene.

With contributions from top geographers, this Companion frames sustainability as exemplar of transdisciplinary science (critical geography) while improving future scenarios, debating perspectives between rich North/poor South, modern urban/backwards rural, and everything in between. The Companion has five sections that carry the reader from foundational considerations to integrative trends, to resources use and accommodation, to examples highlighting non-traditional pathways, to a postscript about cooperation of the industrialized Earth and a prognosis of the road ahead for the new geographies of sustainability.

This fifth volume in the Ecology and Ethics series integrates key concepts of the previous four volumes by addressing biocultural conservation through novel educational methods. In Field Environmental Philosophy (FEP), the authors undertake two complementary tasks. First, they address a problematic facet of education as an indirect driver of a global change and biocultural homogenization. Second, they contribute to solve the former problems by introducing the FEP method as well as other educational approaches from around the world that value and foster conservation of biological and cultural diversity. A particular emphasis is therefore on the integration of sciences, arts, humanities, and ethics into educational practices that involve the participation of local communities with their diverse forms of ecological knowledge and practices. The book is divided into four parts. Part I introduces FEP concepts and practices that involve a 4-step cycle of transdisciplinary research, poetic communication through composition of metaphors, design of field activities guided with an ecological and ethical orientation, and participation in biocultural conservation activities. Part II exposes problems as well as solutions in formal education (from preschool to higher education) and non-formal education to respect biocultural diversity. Parts III & IV provide case studies developed at long-term socio-ecological research (LTSER) sites, botanical gardens, and other platforms for non-formal education that contribute to biocultural conservation. This book supports a paradigm shift addressing still understudied indirect drivers of global change to foster the conservation of biological and cultural diversity. It is a valuable asset for scientists and practitioners in science and humanities education.

To assess the social processes of globalization that are changing the way in which we co-inhabit the world today, this book invites the reader to essay the diversity of worldviews, with the diversity of ways to sustainably co-inhabit the planet. With a biocultural perspective that highlights planetary ecological and cultural heterogeneity, this book examines three interrelated themes: (1) biocultural homogenization, a global, but little perceived, driver of biological and cultural diversity loss that frequently entail social and environmental injustices; (2) biocultural ethics that considers –ontologically and axiologically– the complex interrelationships between habits, habitats, and co-inhabitants that shape their identity and well-being; (3) biocultural conservation that seeks social and ecological well-being through the conservation of biological and cultural diversity and their interrelationships.

This book introduces an innovative approach to sustainable and regenerative mountain development. Transdisciplinary to biophysical and biocultural scales, it provides answers to the "what, when, how, why, and where" that researchers question on mountains, including the most challenging: So What! Forwarding thinking in its treatment of core subjects, this decolonial, non-hegemonic volume inaugurates the Series with contributions of seasoned montologists, and invites the reader to an engaging excursion to ascend the rugged topography of paradigms, with the scaffolding hike of ambitious curiosity typical of mountain explorers. Chapter 8 is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

Dive into the complex realm of global warming with Global Warming - A Concerning Component of Climate Change. Authored by leading experts, this book offers profound insights into diverse aspects of global warming, from water balance dynamics to carbon footprints in unexpected domains like high schools. Explore pressing issues such as the impacts on ecosystems, agriculture, and dairy production, as well as the intersection with human activities like fast fashion and student perceptions. With its interdisciplinary approach, this volume serves as a vital resource for researchers, policymakers, educators, and activists committed to addressing climate change challenges. Join the journey towards a more sustainable future - one where collective action and informed decision-making pave the way for resilience and transformation.

This edited book provides perceptions on “indigeneity” through a global perspective. Emphasizing the contemporary and postcolonial debates on indigenous, it delves into diversity and dissonance within indigenous concepts. Through its chapters based on theoretical and empirical studies from Asian, African, and American perceptions of indigenous societies, it brings out complexity, resilience, and response of “indigenous” in the post-colonial global society. It especially looks at how these societies manage to move forward by going beyond the stigma of the colonial past. The chapters in the book are divided into three sections where they discuss indigenous cultures through interdisciplinary perspectives. The narrative approach of historical concepts and contemporary indigenous challenges within the book include anthropological, cultural, ecological, historical, literary, and legal studies. The contributions in the collection come from widely respected international scholars who are engaged in indigeneity and postcolonial questions. It allows the reader to (re)discover the theories and resilience of the indigenous societies that are historically marked and are reshaping the histories and contemporary narratives in the world. This book is of particular interest to scholars, students, policymakers, and people curious about the histories and the dynamic progress of the indigenous and indigenous societies of Africa, the Americas, and Asia.

The northwest boreal region (NWB) of North America is a land of extremes. Extending more than 1.3 million square kilometers (330 million acres), it encompasses the entire spectrum between inundated wetlands below sea level to the tallest peak in North America. Permafrost gradients span from nearly continuous to absent. Boreal ecosystems are inherently dynamic and continually change over decades to millennia. The braided rivers that shape the valleys and wetlands continually change course, creating and removing vast wetlands and peatlands. Glacial melt, erosion, fires, permafrost dynamics, and wind-blown loess are among the shaping forces of the landscape. As a result, species interactions and ecosystem processes are shifting across time. The NWB is a data-poor region, and the intention of the NWB Landscape Conservation Cooperative is to determine what data are not available and what data are available. For instance, historical baseline data describing the economic and social relationships in association with the ecological condition of the NWB landscape are often lacking. Likewise, the size and remoteness of this region make it challenging to measure basic biological information, such as species population sizes or trends. The paucity of weather and climate monitoring stations also compound the ability to model future climate trends and impacts, which is part of the nature of working in the north. The purpose of this volume is to create a resource for regional land and resource managers and researchers by synthesizing the latest research on the historical and current status of landscape-scale drivers (including anthropogenic activities) and ecosystem processes, future projected changes of each, and the effects of changes on important resources. Generally, each chapter is coauthored by researchers and land and natural resource managers from the United States and Canada.