FUTURES BY DESIGN: THE PRACTICE OF ECOLOGICAL PLANNING

neglects this body of work. Theories of environmental psychology help reveal the motivations not only of those already committed to environmentalism (the audience at hand), but of the broader population as well. While Ecological Identity makes a useful contribution to the environmental field, the book suffers from a schizophrenic focus. It is hard to know who the intended audience is. The descriptions of exercises seem aimed at educators and those interested in environmental pedagogy, while the supporting material (the history of environmentalism, or the ecological citizenship material, for instance) seems introductory and aimed at the student. Perhaps the best use of this book is as a textbook for a graduate course, in which students actually perform the exercises defined in the book. However, this book might have made an outstanding contribution to pedagogy in a slightly different form if it had more clearly focused on environmental education from the perspective of ecological identity. I believe that the chapter on education should have formed the heart of the book. In summary, Ecological Identity: Becoming a Reflective Environmentalist is an interesting contribution to the literature on environmentalism. It is useful in two main ways. It has broad relevance to those wanting to reflect on their own relationship to the environment, as a kind of self-help book for the environmentally conflicted. For me, it recalled many of the personal feelings and values about the environment that formed my identity over the decades and led to a career in landscape architecture. Secondly, the classroom exercises are the most powerful of Thomashow’s contributions. (I admit to some bias as an educator.) Although exploring our place in nature can be a solitary pursuit, this book convinces me that some of our most profound insights are realized in groups that engage together in stimulating discussion and activity. Along these lines, the book also provokes a hard look at how we relate to students who are contemplating their place in the environmental professions. I wished for the book to either integrate these two objectives (and audiences) in a stronger way or to focus more directly on ecological identity in environmental education. Donna L. Erickson is an Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture at the School of Natural Resources and Environment at the University of Michigan.