The Nine Elements of a Sustainable Campus
There are other books on greening our colleges and universities, but this latest is the best. Thomashow'sThe Nine Elements of a Sustainable Campusis wonderfully comprehensive, clear, and useful. His writing style is efficient but quietly elegant, so the book is actually a pleasure to read. What a huge difference it would make if all of America's higher education campuses read this book and pursued the good advice in it!(James Gustave Speth, author ofAmerica the Possible: Manifesto for a New Economyand former dean of Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies)This is a trail-blazing book that should be required reading for university leaders at every level. It's that important. The ideas inThe Nine Elements of a Sustainable Campuscan transform universities, and universities can lead the cultural and structural transformations that are essential to a thriving future.(Kathleen Dean Moore, co-editor ofMoral Ground: Ethical Action for a Planet in Peril)The Nine Elements of a Sustainable Campusis essential reading for those engaged in campus sustainability. It is an insightful, holistic, and thought-provoking book that eloquently integrates the myriad complex elements and immense opportunities of campus sustainability. Mitch Thomashow artfully weaves his personal sustainability narratives for a compelling read which demonstrates an integrated and purposeful approach to campus sustainability.(Heather A. Henriksen, director of the Office for Sustainability, Harvard University)Colleges and universities are idea factories that impact all aspects of our collective ability to adapt to and invent the future. Sustainability of the linkage between our designed environment and our inherited natural environment must be ensured for our future success. Thomashow, inThe Nine Elements of a Sustainable Campus, provides a great blueprint on how colleges and universities can use their campuses as the teaching platform to make sustainability a core value and a core outcome for all of our planning and thinking. If we can design our colleges and universities to instill these values and ideas then we will see a greatly improved chance of a sustainable future.(Michael M. Crow, president, Arizona State University)Overall I foundNine Elementsan inspiring read. For those already familiar with the field it may not offer startling new solutions to achieving sustainability overnight, but it does provide nuanced insight into how we might undertake the journey in an accessible and engaging way. At a time when we still need many more university leaders who vocally champion sustainability, it is particularly significant that someone in Thomashow's position has added his weight to the growing body of voices calling for profound sustainability transformation, in universities and beyond.(Jon EmmettLondon School of Economics Review of Books)