The Sustainability Revolution: Portrait of a Paradigm Shift

by Andres R. Edwards, David W. Orr

Sustainability has become a buzzword in the last decade, but its full meaning is complex, emerging from a range of different sectors. In practice, it has become the springboard for millions of individuals throughout the world who are forging the fastest and most profound social transformation of our time—the sustainability revolution.

The Sustainability Revolution paints a picture of this largely unrecognized phenomenon from the point of view of five major sectors of society:

Community (government and international institutions)
Commerce (business)
Resource extraction (forestry, farming, fisheries etc.)
Ecological design (architecture, technology)
Biosphere (conservation, biodiversity etc.)

The book analyzes sustainability as defined by each of these sectors in terms of the principles, declarations and intentions that have emerged from conferences and publications, and which serve as guidelines for policy decisions and future activities. Common themes are then explored, including:

An emphasis on stewardship
The need for economic restructuring promoting no waste and equitable distribution
An understanding and respect for the principles of nature
The restoration of life forms
An intergenerational perspective on solutions

Concluding that these themes in turn represent a new set of values that define this paradigm shift, The Sustainability Revolution describes innovative sustainable projects and policies in Colombia, Brazil, India and the Netherlands and examines future trends. Complete with a useful resources list, this is the first book of its kind and will appeal to business and government policymakers, academics and all interested in sustainability.

Andrés R. Edwards is an educator, author, media designer and environmental systems consultant who has specialized in sustainability topics for the past 15 years. The founder and president of EduTracks, an exhibit design and fabrication firm specializing in green building and sustainable education programs for parks, towns and companies, he lives in northern California.

Genres: Sustainability, Environment, Nonfiction, Economics, Sociology, School

224 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2005

Reviews

[David Hentzen]

This book opened my eyes to what we can and should be doing to help sustain the worlds environments. A very thought provoking book.

[Lily]

This book was actually positive, listing different initiatives of the sustainable movement, and laying out different principles to act upon. I enjoyed that take on the revolution as described here, and would like to read something similar but up to date. Also the foreword was one of the more fun ones I've read.

[sabine]

read in less than an hour. writing quality of min(chatgpt, listicle, middle schooler)

[Gunnari]

This book was filled from start to finish with information regarding how the world has been attempting to shift towards sustainability. To accomplish this feat it described a large number of sustainable principles and protocols. For me it was very informative to have so many different topics covered with a broad brush, but due to this it fell short of what I was expecting. The book primarily discusses the various principles and protocols, while I didn't feel as if I received enough information regarding their success or failure. I agree that many of these green initiatives need to be put into action if we want this world to prosper however, in this book I wanted to see more of how previous green projects based on the principles and protocols had succeeded or failed.

[Bob]

A good overview of sustainability principles that have been established by various movements (e.g. The Natural Step Network, Deep Ecology, etc) and some examples of how they are being put into practice.

[Brett]

This is a pretty good book. It skims the surface on what businesses, governments, and non-profits are doing in pushing sustainability. The one issue I have is there is a lack of specific actions to take. It's a lot of "goals" and "objectives" to achieve.

[Paul]

Informative non-fiction. This is more of a "good resource" than a "good read". Not a bad book to browse through for people interested in learning about environmentalism and sustainable business practices.

[eliza]

Mostly about green business and green architecture. Aside from a nice intro/overview of the sustainability movement, it's all esesntially reviews of green initiative mission statements.

In short: heavy on specifics but light on depth.

[Robert]

This is a good book, it discusses some of the notable conferences and reports that are referenced by today's sustainability experts. If you don't know what sustainability is, this is a good place to start.

[Brian]

Not much to say about this one; it was short, very high overviews, not much depth, I didn't get much from it.

[Nell]

Very basic, but decent overview of sustainability principles... Covers a lot of ground in a small space.

[Travis]

Not much revolutionary here if you've been paying attention to green movements, but a good overview.

[Roger]

Suffered from Powerpoint syndrome, with a plethora of lists and not enough graphics to integrate them.

[Christopher Milnes]

This book provides a great introduction to the sustainability movement. A must-read for anyone interested in sustainability!

[Lenny]

a general overview of sustainability that is being developed or infused (through values and action) in the world. so-so of a book. easy and very quick to read.

[Rebecca]

Reading for work