The collaborative orco-management of natural resources - whether between states and local communities or amongst and within communities themselves - is a process of collective understanding and actions to bring about negotiated agreements on roles, rights and responsibilities for decentralized governance of natural resources. At heart, co-management is about sharing power, one of the most difficult but rewarding experiences in personal and social life.The book is designed for profe...

This open access book will contribute to a more nuanced debate around seed system resilience that goes beyond the dominant dichotomous conceptualization of seed governance often characterized as traditional vs modern, subsistence vs commercial, or local vs global. While reflecting on the expanding oligopoly in the current seed system, the authors argue that such classifications limit our ability to critically reflect on and acknowledge the diverse approaches through which seed governance i...

World-renowned environmental activist and physicist Vandana Shiva calls for a radical shift in the values that govern democracies, condemning the role that unrestricted capitalism has played in the destruction of environments and livelihoods. She explores the issues she helped bring to international attention—genetic food engineering, culture theft, and natural resource privatization—uncovering their links to the rising tide of fundamentalism, violence against women, and planetary death. S...

"The definitive solutions-based book for all those questioning why hunger still exists when there is such an abundance of food." — The Huffington Post, "Food Tank's 2015 Recommended Fall Reading List"From bestselling authors Frances Moore Lappé and Joseph Collins comes the twenty-first century's authoritative book on world hunger. Lappé and Collins refute the myths that prevent us from addressing the root causes of hunger across the globe. World Hunger...

Concern about humanity's impact on the planet has never been greater, but what are the drivers of environmental change? This wide-ranging introductory textbook outlines the competing explanations of why environmental problems occur and examines the different political approaches taken to address them. Adopting a case study approach, Hayley Stevenson enables students to gain a detailed understanding of how theories and concepts are applied in practice. Diverse perspectives on a variety of c...

How can science realize its potential and help us tackle global inequality, environmental change and crippling poverty? How can more appropriate technologies be developed for those most in need? Science has long promised much -- new crops, new medicines, new sources of energy, new means of communication -- but the potential of new technologies has frequently bypassed the poorest people and the poorest countries.In Science and Technology for Development, James Smith explores the com...

Genetic engineering and the cloning of organisms are “the ultimate expression of the commercialization of science and the commodification of nature.… Life itself is being colonized,” according to renowned environmentalist Vandana Shiva. The resistance to this biopiracy, she argues, is the struggle to conserve both cultural and biological diversity. As the land, forests, oceans, and atmosphere have already been colonized, eroded, and polluted, corporations are now looking for new colonies t...

Reclaiming the Commons: Biodiversity, Traditional Knowledge, and the Rights of Mother Earth lays out the scientific, legal, political, and cultural struggle to defend the sovereignty of biodiversity and indigenous knowledge. Corporate war on nature and people through patents and corporate Intellectual Property Rights has unleashed an epidemic of biopiracy resulting in important legal battles fighting efforts to patent the rights to many plants, including basmati, neem, and wheat. The autho...

Our diets are going to change dramatically as global warming affects growing seasons and the availability of different foods around the world. Meanwhile, our foodways are among the biggest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions.To address these challenges Food in a Changing Climate demands we look beyond our plates to the roots of inequity in our food systems. It presents an unashamedly political agenda for 'deep adaptation', focused on the rejuvenation and strengthening...

Peri-urban interfaces - the zones where urban and rural areas meet - suffer from the greatest problems to humans caused by rapid urbanization, including intense pressures on resources, slum formation, lack of adequate services such as water and sanitation, poor planning and degradation of farmland. These areas, home to hundreds of millions of people, face unique problems and need distinctive and innovative approaches and solutions.This book, authored by top researchers and practiti...

Cities across the globe are growing fast. Today many are environmental nightmares with polluted air, excessive energy consumption and an absence of nature. But big cities don't have to mean a dystopian future. They can be turned around to be powerhouses of well-being and environmental stability – if we empower women.This book is a unique collaboration between C40 and Friends of the Earth showcasing pioneering voices in the environmental and feminist movements. This book reveals jus...

'Refreshingly fluent narrative, brimming full of stories and metaphors'Tim O'Riordan, University of East Anglia, UK'A great balance between storytelling and analysis which points to the critical need for gaining control over resources'Jacqueline Ashby, CIAT, Colombia'Full of supporting evidence and clear arguments'Norman Uphoff, Cornell University, US'A wonderful book, put together with such vision and passion'Mark Ritchie, Institute of A...