Presenting emerging perspectives on environmental restoration, this collection of essays by a leading group of environmental scholars combines theoretical discussion with practical approaches. Describing the variety of ways that humans can and should interact with nature, this multi-disciplinary work shares hands-on exercises for engaging urban communities to develop supportive relationships with their surrounding environment. These writings define the paradigm of “restoration design” and the ways that its disciplines and actions can provide humans with a new direction for interrelating with the world in the 21st century.

Robert L. France's profile page

Robert L. France is a leading environmental scholar who has taught at Ca’Foscari University, Harvard University, and McGill University. He is the author of numerous journal articles and the author or editor of several books, including Deep Immersion, Facilitating Watershed Management, Handbook of Water Sensitive Planning and Design, High Arctic Extreme Science, and Wetlands of Mass Destruction.

"The book makes useful contributions by articulating how restoration can be a process of healing-oriented interaction with/in living nonhuman communities, and exploring several practical dimensions of that 'how,' such as the important roles that local communities and creative disciplines play in effective restorations." —Chris Cuomo, Environmental Philosophy Journal

"The book advocates a new 'paradigm of restoration design' rather than restoration ecology, thus admitting that what is involved in this process is the human intentional design of artifactual landscapes and spaces: the creation of 'cultural entities.'" “Eric Katz, Evironmental Ethics

"The perspectives are sufficiently fresh and different for the book to be a significant contribution to the literature on restoration theory . . . I would recommend it to students, practitioners, and scholars who wish to know more about the 'whys' of restoration." “P. Gobster, Ecological Restoration