In her review of Tina Evans’ new book Occupy Education, Anne Ryan writes that it is”part of a lineage that seeks to repair the conceptual rift between humans and nature which exists in western society”. The book explores the role that a well-developed pedagogy of sustainability could play in the quest for solutions to our ecological and social challenges. There’s a strong emphasis on practical action such as localised food production. Ryan’s full review can be read here, along with that of Mark Garavan who believes the book to be “an important contribution to the task of transforming our world.”

We need to cut carbon emissions, and soon. But Nick Bardsley reminds us that any mechanism that we introduce in order to cut them – such as Cap and Share – will have to be accompanied by a number of other measures or it will prove counterproductive. Topics covered in his paper include a proposed substitute for the much-criticised Clean Development Mechanism, the current displacement of food production by biofuels, the relationship between food and energy use, the required shift away from debt-based money and the need for a land value tax.

Ireland is unusual among industrialised countries in that it has no property tax. But that is about to change – and the type of property tax that is brought in will be crucial to Ireland’s future. This new book from the Smart Taxes Network and Feasta explains how a poorly-designed property tax could bring about a second massive transfer of wealth from the 99% to the 1%. A Site Value Tax would be vastly preferable, and the book convincingly shows how easy it would be to assess and implement.

In this talk given to the Cafe Economique in Nottingham on August 30 Brian Davey takes us on a lightning tour of economic thought from the ancient Greeks onwards, describing the increasingly shaky relationship between economics and moral philosophy.

This chapter by Laurence Matthews from our latest book illustrates some features of Cap & Share, a programme for gradually eliminating global fossil fuel use which places a strong emphasis on fairness and equity.

The sustainability of a human society is not just about its relationship with the environment: it’s a problem concerning the nature of the society and the way it is organised. This is the important message of a book by Angela Espinosa and Jon Walker, reviewed here by John Jopling.

This paper by social anthropologist and activist Justin Kenrick aims to highlight the continued existence of the commons, a viable alternative to the socio-economic system which is driving climate change. It draws on existing experiences and challenges in the Kenyan highlands and Scottish islands and on the work of Elinor Olstrom to help identify ways of supporting and restoring the commons at the local, national and global levels.

This paper was prepared by Graham Barnes for the International Social Transformation Conference in Split, Croatia, He argues that “once we realise that currency – nay, money in general – can be designed to fulfill or support specific objectives, it sets us free. Free from the constraints of the broken pseudo-science that is mainstream economics; free to recognise that not all transactions are of equal importance; and potentially free to redesign ourselves away from our existing pervasive elite monetary hegemony and reclaim the monetary commons.”

This talk given by David Knight on July 4th describes three possible future scenarios: runaway climate change; collapse triggered by peak oil; and “green future”. He takes into account recent claims that peak oil can be postponed by the adoption of unconventional methods of oil production, and he concludes by presenting a wish list of actions by governments and citizens.

In the first chapter of Sharing for Survival, Brian Davey reviews strategies for climate change mitigation given the disinterest and even hostility in the political mainstream. He puts forward a strategy for civil society and community organisations in a future of economic chaos to connect to the struggle for equity.

Published by Green Books, The Future of Money by James Robertson restates much of his thinking around monetary reform and brings it bang up to date in the context of the Euro crisis. It focuses a great deal on the arguments for governments reclaiming their right to issue money from the banks, and the enormous potential benefits to society of so doing. Highly recommended.

This new study by David Korowicz explores the implications of a major financial crisis for the supply-chains that feed us, keep production running and maintain our critical infrastructure. He uses a scenario involving the collapse of the Eurozone to show that increasing socio-economic complexity could rapidly spread irretrievable supply-chain failure across the world.

Brian Davey’s preface to our new book Sharing for Survival: Restoring the Climate, the Commons and Society describes climate change as a ‘wicked problem’, with no single, clear solution. The book therefore presents a patchwork-quilt-style diversity of responses to climate mitigation. Although the authors may differ in the specifics of what they suggest, they are united by their concern for effectiveness and equity.