Kitchen Table Sustainability offers a unique view on sustainability through the lens of community engagement.
Drawing on a rich tapestry of personal stories, professional and academic knowledge and a heartfelt care for communities and the Earth, this book encourages communities to engage with conversations about sustainability at the "kitchen table" where anyone can contribute and everyone has a place.
Kitchen Table Sustainability introduces a powerful new EATING approach to community engagement, encompassing Education, Action, Trust, Inclusion, Nourishment and Governance. It distils decades of wisdom from community planning, engagement and sustainability practice into a practical guidebook full of inspiring examples and case studies.
Whether you are struggling to know where to start or wondering why your community engagement processes are stuck and not achieving the sustainability results you wanted, this book can help.
Written by one of the world's leading experts on community engagement and planning, with contributions from experienced practitioners, scholars and activists, Kitchen Table Sustainability is a must-have for anyone who wants to ensure a livable Earth for future generations.
Foreword by Professor Peter Newman i? Perhaps the World Ends Herei? by Jo Harjo Preface 1: Introduction 2: The Sustainability Story 3: Community Engagement: A Pathway to Sustainability 4: The EATING Approach... 5: Education 6: Action 7: Trust 8: Inclusion 9: Nourishment 10: Governance 11: Conclusions, Challenges and a Way Forward Index
Wendy Sarkissian PhD, an author and lecturer with a doctorate in environmental ethics, has taught in schools of planning, landscape architecture and architecture and has co-authored several award-winning books. As a consultant and researcher focusing on sustainability and community engagement, she has pioneered innovative planning and development approaches, earning forty professional awards. Nancy Hofer, who holds a Master's degree from the School of Community and Regional Planning at the University of British Columbia, has a background in ecology and natural resource conservation. Yollana Shore, qualified in environmental science, majoring in social policy and development, is experienced in social planning and community engagement and is an independent business owner and qualified personal development practitioner. Steph Vajda, qualified in planning, has over ten years' experience in environmental and social justice advocacy at local community and national levels and has worked as a social planner in Brisbane since 2001. Cathy Wilkinson is qualified in planning and has a Masters of Environmental Science and is now completing her PhD in Sweden. She led the development and implementation of Melbourne's most recent metropolitan strategy for the Victorian State Government.
Wendy Sarkissian and colleagues come through again, giving us fresh ideas and perspectives.' John Forester, Cornell University 'This timely book opens the door so that the theory and practice of sustainability can enter into the experience of the 'everyday' ... [Wendy Sarkissian] has pioneered innovative planning and development approaches in an astonishing variety of contexts.' Beth Offenbacker, Chair of the American Planning Association International Division 'Heads up for the brilliance and warmth of Kitchen Table Sustainability! Because the book is rooted in the human scale, it exudes the aroma of possibility.' Chellis Glendinning, award-winning author of My Name Is Chellis and I'm in Recovery from Western Civilization 'Offers accessible, insightful thinking about the most daunting challenge facing 21st century cities.' Leonie Sandercock, University of British Columbia 'Drawn from a lifetime of experience ... and a wide reading of the pertinent literatures, this is a primer of community planning for a turbulent age.' John Friedmann, School of Public Affairs, UCLA 'The authors' metaphor of a kitchen table is brilliant, and this is a large and welcoming table indeed, with room for all to squeeze around it... This is a book rich in practical insights and advice, useful processes, engagement tips and strategies, and successful stories told.' Timothy Beatley, University of Virginia 'A book to be savoured... The process will generate hope and will help communities to face whatever else life will throw at them.' From the Foreword by Peter Newman, Curtin University, Western Australia 'A powerful, reflective contribution by this great pioneering practitioner and her team on the vital importance of community engagement for achieving local and global sustainability.' Nick Wates, author of The Community Planning Handbook and The Community Planning Event Manual and editor of communityplanning.net 'Loaded with examples of good practice in the operation of voluntary groups and coalitions... Definitely recommended reading for community activists.' Green World 'Useful and thought-provoking information' Food Ethics Council