Engelska

When summer arrives, tourists replace the city s usual residents, who instead flock to the countryside. But more and more people are moving to or closer to big cities, and they no longer work the land. At the same time, we are still as dependent on what the countryside has to offer in terms of food. What role will our rural designs and the cultivation of organic food play in the future?  New Ruralism and Rural Agrarian Urbanism may provide solutions to these challenges.  This book, with contributions from leading experts in the field, addresses issues such as sustainable food production and community planning.

<p>Jane Jacobs (1916 2006) gained international recognition with her groundbreaking book The Death and Life of Great American Cities and became a prominent political activist. But despite early worldwide attention, she remains unknown to many. Jacobs written work has unusual breadth to it, with eight books ranging from economics and ecology to politics and social philosophy, taking on the whole mystery of society.  </p><p>In this anthology, 13 writers consider unique aspects of Jacobs, reassessing her work in the context of our contemporary reality.</p>

<p>The history of collecting natural history specimens touches upon many aspects of our past. The fascination with nature was at least as important for its view of humanity as for science. One telling example is the Timm Natural Collection at Engelsberg Ironworks, created by the ironworks proprietor Gabriel Casper Timm and his son Paul August in the nineteenth century. </p><p>Throughout their lives, they devoted much of their leisure time to collec-ting plants, insects, minerals and other treasures of nature. Some came from near their home in Västmanland, Sweden, while others were collected from across Scandinavia. Father and son were in close contact with collectors and scientists, and at the same time built up a library consisting of volumes on natural science along with books on spirituality and faith. Ultimately, collec-ting natural history specimens reflected a kind of wonder about creation. </p><p><i>Collecting Nature</i> places the Timm Natural Collection in a larger context so that the reader encounters other collectors, thinkers, and scientists of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. In the book, a picture is created of how the world of ideas in collecting has developed and continues to influence us even today.</p>