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Understanding Urban Ecosystems: A New Frontier for Science and Education A Book Building on Papers and Discussions at the Eighth Cary Conference Institute of Ecosystem
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| Springer-Verlag, Inc. New York Anticipated publication date - summer 2000 |
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Editors:
Alan R. Berkowitz - Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Box R, Millbrook, NY 12545. Phone: 845-677-7657, FAX: 845-677-6455, E-mail: berkowitza@ecostudies.org
Karen S. Hollweg -North American Association for Environmental Education, 1825 Connecticut Ave., N.W., Suite 800, Washington, DC 20009. Phone: 202-884-8894, FAX: 202-884-8455, E-mail: khollweg@nas.edu
Charles H. Nilon - School of Natural Resources, Univ. Of Missouri, 302 Anheuser-Busch Natural Rresource Bldg., Columbia, MO 65211-7240. Phone: 573-882-3738, FAX: 573-884-5070, E-mail: NilonC@Missouri.edu
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Draft Table of Contents
Introduction
1 Alan R. Berkowitz, Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Charles H. Nilon, University of Missouri, and Karen S. Hollweg, North American Association for Environmental Education.
Introduction.
About Cary Conferences and setting the stage for the book.
Section I. The Importance of Understanding Urban Ecosystems
I.1 Karen Hollweg North American Association for Environmental Education, Celeste Pea, National Science Foundation and Alan R. Berkowitz, Institute of Ecosystem Studies
Why is understanding urban ecosystems an important frontier for education and educators?
How teaching about urban ecosystems can serve as a vehicle for education reform and help achieve national education standards.
I.2 Bunyan Bryant and John Callewaert, School of Natural Resources and Environment, University of Michigan
Why is understanding urban ecosystems important to people concerned about environmental justice?
The critical links between knowledge, power and environmental quality, stressing the value of knowledge as a tool and instigator for redressing environmental inequities in cities.
I.3 Jack Shu, Office of Community Involvement, California State Parks
What is the role of ecosystem knowledge in fostering community development?
The role of partnerships and sustained access to knowledge-generating resources for fostering both youth development and neighborhood revitalization.
I.4 Steward T.A. Pickett, Institute of Ecosystem Studies
Why is developing a broad understanding of urban ecosystems important to science and scientists?
The often overlooked benefits scientists derive from education, including public participation in research, collaboration in framing questions and strategies, access to communities, and payoffs from having to put one’s concepts into simple terms.
I.5 Alan R. Berkowitz, Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Charles H. Nilon, University of Missouri, and Karen S. Hollweg, North American Association for Environmental Education.
Synthesis.
A summary of the current level of public understanding of urban ecosystems, drawing on surveys and other work that identifies key misconceptions people have and how public understanding varies among different groups in our society.
Section II: Foundations and Frontiers from the Natural and Social Sciences
II.1 Charles H. Nilon, University of Missouri, Alan R. Berkowitz, Institute of Ecosystem Studies, and Karen S. Hollweg, North American Association for Environmental Education.
Introduction to Section II - What do we mean by "understanding urban ecosystems?"
Chapters II.2-II.5 identify key concepts from the natural and social sciences that are essential in defining cities as systems. Chapters II.6-II.10 present integrated perspectives on cities as ecosystems.
II.2 Anthony D. Bradshaw, University of Liverpool
Natural ecosystems in cities - a model for cities as ecosystems.
The processes that shape the biological richness of urban ecosystems.
II.3 Nancy Grimm, Lawrence J. Baker and Diane Hope, Arizona State University
An ecosystem approach to the study of cities: familiar foundations and uncharted frontiers.
The big ideas and conceptual frameworks in ecosystem science that should guide the development of broad understanding of urban ecosystems among students and the general public.
II.4 William Rees, University of British Columbia
Ecological economics and an understanding of urban ecosystems.
Using ecological footprint analysis to identify and value ecosystem services in urban ecosystems and the hinterlands they are linked to.
II.5 Carolyn Harrison and Jacquelin Burgess, University College London
Social science concepts and frameworks for understanding sustainable development in cities.
Factors influencing public involvement and understanding of cities as systems and the importance of various forms of power in controlling flows in cities.
II.6 Morgan Grove, USDA Forest Service and Karen Hinson, Western School of Technology and Environmental Science
A social ecology approach to understanding urban ecosystems and landscapes.
Using spatial analysis to develop an integrated understanding of how biological, physical and social forces shape the dynamics of urban ecosystems.
II.7 Martin Melosi, University of Houston.
The historical dimension of urban ecology: frameworks and concepts.
Using historical analysis and concepts for developing an integrated understanding of urban ecosystems.
II.8 Anne Whiston Spirn, University of Pennsylvania
The ecoscape and the city.
Integrating urban planning, design, and public participation into a framework for understanding cities.
II.9 Lawrence E. Band, University of North Carolina
Abstracting the fundamentals of watershed form and function: Modeling along the urban to rural gradient.
Using simulation modeling of urban ecosystems as a tool for identifying key concepts and conceptual frameworks for teaching about cities.
II.10 Rusong Wang, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences
A human ecology model for the Tianjin urban ecosystem.
Integrating human ecology, ecosystem science, and philosophical views of cities into an urban ecosystem model.
II.11 Charles H. Nilon, University of Missouri, Alan R. Berkowitz, Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Karen S. Hollweg, North American Association for Environmental Education
Synthesis.
Identifying common themes, and mapping out important frontiers, especially those at the interface between science and public understanding.
Section III: Foundations and Frontiers from Education Theory and Practice
III.1 Karen S. Hollweg, North American Association for Environmental Education, Alan R. Berkowitz, Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Charles H. Nilon, University of Missouri
Introduction to Section III: Foundations and frontiers from education theory and practice.
A mixture of theory and practice in urban ecosystem education, ranging from children to college students and the general public.
III.2 Kathleen Hogan and Kathleen C. Weathers, Institute of Ecosystem Studies
Psychological and ecological perspectives on the development of systems thinking.
A review of the literature and current research in cognitive psychology, learning theory and ecology as it helps explain how students and scientists develop understandings of complex systems like cities.
III.3 Jo Ellen Roseman and Luli Stern, American Association for the Advancement of Science
Applying research on teaching and learning to improving ecological literacy: Implications of Project 2061 science literacy reform tools.
Concrete examples of how education research and learning theory are being applied to plan sequences of learning experiences for K-12 students that will enable them to develop concepts and skill for understanding ecosystems.
III.4 Bora Simmons, Department of Curriculum and Instruction, Northern Illinois University
An interdisciplinary approach to urban ecosystems.
The value of interdisciplinary standards like NAAEE's guidelines, and the opportunities and challenges for infusing these into the formal education system.
III.5 Louise Chawla, Kentucky State University, and Ilaria Salvadori, University of California, Berkeley
Cities for children and children for cities: Learning to know and care about urban ecosystems.
A review of the literature and current research in sociology and anthropology as these field help explain from a theoretical perspective how youngsters develop attitudes, values and motivations that influence their ability to understand the cities in which they live.
III.6 Shoshana Keiny, Moshe Shachak and Noa Avriel-Avni, Ben-Gurion University
Ecological thinking as a tool for understanding urban ecosystems: a model from Israel.
A description of how inquiry and ecological concepts are being combined to create professional development courses for secondary teachers that involve the teachers and, subsequently, their students, in investigating, collecting data and coming to understand urban systems.
III.7 Gary Smith, Calif. Dept. of Education
Developing students' systems thinking for creating sustainable urban communities: a California model.
A theoretical model and rationale for teaching systems thinking, followed by a description of classrooms in a Los Angeles school where the model is being used.
III.8 Carol Fialkowski, Field Museum
Approaches to urban ecosystem education in Chicago: Perspectives and processes from an environmental educator.
UNESCO's Environmental Education goals, national Environmental Education guidelines, and student needs are addressed in programs that provide students with intellectual understandings, analytical skills and motivation necessary for sound decision-making about urban ecosystems.
III.9 Bruce Grant, Widener College
"Campus ecology" as a means to urban ecological literacy.
Campus ecology curriculum teaches urban ecosystem ecology in microcosm and thereby enables students to attain urban environmental literacy.
III.10 Henry Campa III, Delia F. Raymer and Christine Hanaburgh, Michigan State University
Ecosystem management education: teaching and learning principles and applications.
Integrating and applying principles through problem-based learning for teaching undergraduates about urban ecosystems.
III.11 Debra Roberts, Planning Development Department, Durban Metropolitan Counci, South Africa
Using the development of an environmental management system to develop and promote a more holistic understanding of urban ecosystems in Durban, South Africa.
The City of Durban is developing in its citizens an understanding of where they live and what forces and elements shape that city, so that they can participate more fully in the planning and development of their urban ecosystem.
III.12 Karen S. Hollweg, North American Association for Environmental Education, Alan R. Berkowitz, Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Charles H. Nilon, University of Missouri
Synthesis.
Identifying common themes, and mapping out important frontiers, especially 1) the need for more informative evaluation data - to corroborate and extend the lessons learned, 2) better tools for assessment, and 3) more research on teaching and learning at all levels about complex systems like cities.
Section IV: Visions for the Future of Urban Ecosystem Education
IV.1 Alan R. Berkowitz, Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Charles H. Nilon, University of Missouri, and Karen S. Hollweg, North American Association for Environmental Education
Introduction to Section IV. How can the promise of urban ecosystem education be achieved?
Diverse perspectives on how we can bring together perspectives, practitioners and resources from science and education to implement effective education programs about cities as ecosystems.
IV.2 Frank Golley, University of Georgia
Urban ecosystems and the 21st century - a global imperative.
In cities, function (or process) creates structure, not the other way around. Further, adaptation to the city requires a different set of mental patterns and skills than does life in the rural landscape.
IV.3 William Burch, Yale University and Jacqueline Carrera, Parks and People Foundation
Out the door and down the street--enhancing children's play and work environments as if adulthood mattered.
A holistic ecology as experienced by actual human beings within their environment of buildings, lots, streets, parks and other infrastructure, with their associated plants, animals, air and waters is seen as the proper place for capturing learning for adulthood.
IV.4 Rodger Bybee, National Research Council
Integrating urban ecosystem education into educational reform.
To effectively integrate urban ecosystem perspectives into the education system: 1) support the extant standards, 2) include the entire educational system, not just schools, 3) act narrowly and concretely, and 4) eventually work to bring about broad-scale educational change based on the urban ecosystem theme (the most difficult challenge).
IV.5 James Kohlmoos, US Department of Education
Urban ecosystem education and school reform: creating a democracy of excellence in education for the 21st century.
Urban ecosystem education—whether as a curricular innovation, a whole school change model, a school-based public information initiative, or an informal education strategy—can make a significant contribution to a "democracy of excellence" in education in the years ahead.
IV.6 Peter Cullen, University of Canberra
Perspectives on the future of urban ecosystem education.
The promise of urban ecosystem education will only be achieved by collaboration - dividing the problem up into disciplinary lumps and hoping it can be put together at the end will fail.
IV.7 John Wolford, Missouri Historical Society
The future of urban ecosystem education from a social scientist's perspective.
The value of involving the people your are studying in your work.
IV.8 Julian Agyeman, Tufts University
The contribution of urban ecosystem education to the development of sustainable cities.
Linking urban ecosystem researchers and teachers with local community groups and institutions as part of the global movement to build sustainable human settlements.
IV.9 Alan R. Berkowitz, Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Karen S. Hollweg, North American Association for Environmental Education and Charles H. Nilon, University of Missouri
Synthesis.
New directions for research and education in and about urban ecosystems.