dumb name, clear copyright infringement, but profoundly useful

worth signing up for:
http://a.aaaarg.org/

k

Environmental Studies Association of Canada - ESAC

Well, when talking about listservs and associations, ESAC should have been an obvious one. There is a $40 fee to join in, and we do have already one subscription to Alternatives, but it sounds like it might be worthy. Chrisa, let me know if you are interested...

Look what you get:

• [Yet] A[nother] subscription to Alternatives Journal, "Canada's Environmental Quarterly since 1971"
• Two issues of the ESAC Newsletter, with information about conferences, research projects, coming events, new publications and teaching materials and more. [Much more].
• An annual directory of ESAC members and their areas of interest/research [and hobbies]
• Access to ESAC-L, our internet information and discussion list [Sharlene might be on this one too!]
• The annual ESAC Conference in association with the Learned Societies Conferences of Canada [Matt presented at one of these!!]

How can you refuse?

"hey, remember that book review you did..."

so my review of the new media handbook and the media literacy reader finally got published in issue 1 of vol. 23 of Visual Studies, Apr. 2008. please read it now, regardless of what continent you are on.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14725860801908585

Self-promotion (shameless)

I am happy to report that I have been publicated! Mind you, not a peer-reviewed venue but as part of a series of grad student papers from FES. So now when I refer to "(Berbes, 2007)", you know what I'm talking about ;)

Here is the abstract:

Environmental crises have prompted a re-evaluation of traditional approaches to environmental management that has often highlighted their inability to deal with the complexity of social-ecological systems. The ecosystem approach (EA) offers an alternative that combines ideas from systems theory, participatory decision-making and adaptive management. However, EAs are still relatively young both as a discipline and as a practice, and as such, their meaning is continuously being redefined. This paper assesses the current state of development and the direction of EAs in the Golden Horseshoe Region (Ontario) by analyzing quantitative and qualitative data from interviews with EA practitioners. Practitioners were involved in projects that applied EA in a variety of fronts from ecological restoration to eco-health to urban development. The survey used helped to identify the theoretical foundations and core themes of EA; the methods, techniques and tools used; and, the factors and barriers to its implementation and potential application to other contexts. Two findings emerged from this research: first, despite the diversity of practitioners and applications, the theoretical understandings of EA are coalescing into a unified view that emphasizes the principles of integration, connectivity and participation. Second, successful implementation of EAs will require a parallel shift in the current institutional setting towards more adaptive forms of governance. Despite this obstacle EA continues to spread to applications in the fields of eco-health and urban development.

To full paper is available on FES Outstanding Graduate Student Paper Series. Kris, the literature review has some stuff on systems theory that may be of interest.