Categorie: Book

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Een wereld vol patronen

De geschiedenis van kennis

Rens Bod | maart 2019, Uitgeverij Prometheus

Het idee dat de wereld kan worden begrepen aan de hand van patronen en onderliggende principes is een van de belangrijkste inzichten van de mens. 

Dit boek gaat over deze uniek menselijke zoektocht die meer dan 40.000 jaar geleden begon met het krassen van streepjespatronen op mammoetbotten en die heeft geleid tot de wetenschappen van vandaag. Welke routes heeft menselijke kennis doorlopen om van dit bescheiden begin uit te groeien tot onze moderne inzichten over natuur en cultuur? 

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Playing God in Yellowstone

The Destruction of America’s First National Park 

Alston Chase | 1987, Harper Collins

Beavers have disappeared, and their prime food, aspen and willow, has drastically declined. Cougars, bobcats, and wolves are no longer here, victims of predator control from earlier times. Deer, moose, and bighorn sheep are scarce; visitors seldom see black bears, and the grizzly is threatened with extinction. Meanwhile, bison and elk flourish to the detriment of rangeland.

Wildlife management in Yellowstone has been criticized for decades. Chase reviews the park’s history and examines the vacillating policies and political pressures that affect its management.

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Form and Flow

Kian Goh | 2021, The MIT Press

An examination of urban climate change response strategies and the resistance to them by grassroots activists and social movements.

Cities worldwide are formulating plans to respond to climate change and adapt to its impact. Often, marginalized urban residents resist these plans, offering “counter plans” to protest unjust and exclusionary actions.

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The Mind of a Bee

Lars Chittka | 2022

Most of us know the hive mind—the power of bees as a fantastic collective. But do we know how uniquely intelligent bees are as individuals?

In The Mind of a Bee, scientist and author Lars Chittka draws from decades of research, including his pioneering work, to argue that bees have remarkable cognitive abilities. He shows they are profoundly smart, have distinct personalities, can recognize flowers and human faces, exhibit basic emotions, count, use simple tools, solve problems, and learn by observing others. They may even possess consciousness.

Taking readers deep into the sensory world of bees, Chittka illustrates how bee brains are unparalleled in the animal kingdom in terms of how much sophisticated material is packed into their tiny nervous systems. He looks at their innate behaviours and how their evolution as foragers may have contributed to their keen spatial memory. Chittka also examines the psychological differences between bees and the ethical dilemmas that arise in conservation and laboratory settings because bees feel and think. Throughout, he touches on the fascinating history behind studying bee behaviour.

Exploring an insect whose sensory experiences rival those of humans, The Mind of a Bee reveals the singular abilities of some of the world’s most incredible creatures.

Bibliography

Chittka, L. (2022) The Mind of a Bee. Princeton, USA: Princeton University Press.

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De Bosatlas van de duurzaamheid

Noordhoff | 2019

De atlas laat zien welke effecten de toenemende invloed van de mens op de aarde  heeft, bijvoorbeeld in de vorm van klimaatverandering, het opraken van grondstoffen, verlies aan biodiversiteit en tekort aan zoet water.

De atlas geeft ook inzicht in de afspraken die er in internationaal verband zijn gemaakt om deze ontwikkelingen een halt toe te roepen, zoals het Klimaatakkoord van Parijs. Maar de nadruk ligt toch vooral op een vlootschouw van concrete maatregelen die burgers, overheden en bedrijven kunnen nemen om hun voetafdruk te verkleinen.

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Nature-Based Solutions for Cities

Edited by Timon McPhearson, Nadja Kabisch and Niki Frantzeskaki  | 2023, Edward Elgar Publishing

Nature-based solutions (NBS) are increasingly being adopted to address climate change, health, and urban sustainability, yet ensuring they are effective and inclusive remains challenging. This book advances the science of NBS in cities through chapters by leading experts in the global south and north contexts. It discusses the frontiers for next-generation urban NBS.

NBS are fundamentally inter- and transdisciplinary approaches that require systems thinking and multilevel governance. Focusing on cities’ multiple challenges, from heat and air pollution to stormwater and threats to human health, this book proposes diverse ideas for embracing complexity in mainstreaming NBS and inspiring new approaches to creating the ecological urban futures we need.

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Transdisciplinarity

Synthesis towards a modular approach

Ortwin Renn | 2021

[Quote]: “The need to cope with future challenges posed by major transformations such as digitalization and sustainable development has led to several approaches to establish new concepts and methods of science and research.

Scientific studies are supposed to provide background knowledge, to facilitate the desired transformations towards a sustainable future and to help resolving complex problems that accompany societies in transition. Concepts such as transformative, transdisciplinary or co-creative approaches elucidate the direction in which scientific research strives for its new role(s).

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