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Overview
For more than three decades, David Orr has been one of the leading voices of the environmental movement, championing the cause of ecological literacy in higher education, helping to establish and shape the field of ecological design, and working tirelessly to raise awareness of the threats to future generations posed by humanity's current unsustainable trajectory.Hope Is an Imperative brings together in a single volume Professor Orr's most important works, including classics such as "What Is Education For?," "The Campus and the Biosphere," and "Loving Children: A Design Problem." The book offers a complete introduction to the writings of David Orr for readers new to the field, and represents a welcome compendium of key essays for long-time fans. It is a must-have volume for every environmentalist's bookshelf.
Editorials
Book News
"Orr (environmental studies and politics, Oberlin College) has assembled 35 essay he wrote between 1985 and 2000 documenting and analyzing what he calls the white-water rapids that human civilization entered during that period. The overall themes are the fundamentals, sustainability, ecological design, education, and energy and climate. Among the topics are verbicide, walking north on a southbound train, designing minds, ecological literacy, and Pascal's wager and economics in a hotter time."
Treehugger
“David W. Orr is obviously a very intelligent man and his essays provide rich food for thoughts for those of us who want to steer the world in a more sustainable direction.”
Green Teacher
"Hope Is an Imperative is a compilation of some of the most provocative and poignant essays of distinguished American environmental studies professor and writer David Orr. In the essays, Orr examines myriad political, social, economic and psychological obstacles to sustainable living facing modern societies. While not providing a specific template for teaching students about sustainability, the wisdom in this anthology can provide inspiration and ideas for how to apply sustainability principles into your teaching programs, community, and life. Ranging in topics from economic growth to religion and architecture, each chapter explains how these topics relate to sustainability. Moreover, it suggests ways to move beyond the detrimental constructs of our present education system, building practices, environmental policies, and ideologies. In the section on education, Orr is critical of current pedagogy which he says 'emphasizes theories, not values; abstractions rather than consciousness; neat answers instead of questions; and technical efficiency over conscience.' Orr wants students not just to theorize but to participate, in a system where land, air and sea become the driving force of the curriculum and provide a context for why we learn what we learn. Advanced/enriched high school students may also enjoy this book."
Larry Schweiger
"David Orr is a treasure trove of provocative thought as he probes the treacherous fault lines leading to unsustainable communities and ecological collapse. He challenges us to tear down the walls of separation between analytical science and intergenerational love and to ponder knowledge in search of life-sustaining wisdom."
Massachusetts Environmental Education Society Website
"Orr lays out our societal blocks candidly, examines them, and then plainly and honestly states next steps. Steps that, while not necessarily easy, will help us evolve beyond current cultural constructs. This book dares you to be humble and to not react to ignorance and arrogance but rather reflect and respond with care and integrity.
This book begins and ends by challenging and encouraging those who profess to lead, to teach, to do good in the world: Demonstrate your worth. Be humble, be honest, be visionary. Act. Study, love, appreciate, work with, and emulate what gives us life, purpose, connection, and beauty. There is so much more I would love to share about this book. It is totally worth your time and energy. Read it!"
author of Biomimicry: Innovation Inspried by Nature
“When someone new to sustainability asks me how to prepare for the journey, I say read David Orr. When a longtimer asks what will open their heart and mind all over again, I send them David's latest. If you crave honest, impassioned, and impeccably researched conversation about things that really matter, buy this book as a gift to yourself. You'll find no better thinking partner.”
author of Wild Comfort
“Like our other environmental heros, Rachel Carson and Aldo Leopold, David Orr’s genius likes in his ability to bring together the practical wisdom of the ecological sciences, the moral clarity of ethics, and the power of incisive prose. Hope is an Imperative is a gift of enduring insight and imagination, a source of hope in itself.”