Book Reviews: Environmental Communication
Local Organic: Food Rhetorics and Community Writing for Impact
Veronica House.
Logan, UT and Denver, CO: Utah State University Press, an imprint of University Press of Colorado. 2025. 306 pages.
Index Terms — community writing, food security, local food, rhetoric, sustainability
Reviewed by Alisa Bonsignore (alisa@clarifyingcomplexideas.com).
Language presents one of the most familiar challenges in sustainability projects. From food to fracking, renewables to resilience, it’s incredibly challenging to build consensus and drive change without a shared language. How individuals define terms frames the discussion. This shared language challenge underpins what Veronica House examines in her book, Local Organic: Food Rhetorics and Community Writing for Impact. In this book, she explores the role of rhetoric in comprehension and influence within the local food movement in Boulder County, Colorado, based on her time as a community-engaged writing professor.
What does the term “local food” mean to the residents of Boulder County? The answers vary widely. For some, it’s a terminology that invokes a literal distance. For others, it’s the quality of the food and growing conditions — the antithesis of the industrial farming of big agriculture (big ag). Still others look at it through a lens of indigenous knowledge. These definitions vary based on time and place. Which, then, is correct?
The answer is that it depends. And these vagaries of terminology and meaning can lead to a sense of confusion, and even a sense of betrayal, when definitions don’t align. Local food is both a physical thing and a rhetorical idea. Does “local” include the industrial chicken farm that’s just a 10-minute drive away, or does it include small producers with more sustainable practices that need to transport their food by truck for six hours or more?
Big ag is, by nature, fostering agricultural illiteracy. Most people give little thought to the origins of their food. Whether it’s meat, produce, or packaged goods, we simply know that the shelves are stocked when we arrive at the supermarket. But this appearance of abundance is only possible due to overproduction and waste inherent to the system. We’re also confronted with conflicting and confusing terminology: what is free range, and is it superior to cage free, organic, or naturally raised? Even at the farmer’s market, it’s difficult to parse which certifications and methodologies lead to sustainable food systems.
In most contexts, we currently think of local food as the domain of specialty restaurants and farmer’s markets. We tell people to “vote with your fork” to support better agricultural practices. Yet House and her students found that this rhetoric of individual responsibility leans heavily on populations with the financial means to participate in the dialogue when it should be available to all. We can begin to rebuild connections with our food by developing a shared language to understand and align with concepts.
In her courses, House used processes of distributed definition building and ecological community writing. Distributed definition building allowed room for collaboration, adaptation, and accountability within the community. It brought together a variety of disparate voices to build a shared language from which to develop programs and processes that benefitted the whole community. Ecological community writing leans heavily on the Greek origins of the word “ecology” meaning “study of the home.” In this case, the home is our local community, and how we use the terminology defined within our distributed definition building to effectively communicate about pressing issues in food. It is a system that relies heavily on collaboration, relationships, and partnerships, and encourages students to engage deeply with the off-campus community.
Of course, my home is not yours. House makes connections to the concept of “terroir” from winemaking: the idea that locality influences the output. The terroir of the Boulder food movement will not have the same considerations of seasons, population, and availability as that of Birmingham or The Bronx.
This is a timely book. Food security is one of the greatest challenges of our time. As we saw with the supply chain disruptions in the early days of the 2020 pandemic, local food is crucial to community resilience in times of crisis. But the foundations for these resilient systems need to be built now, before the next crisis occurs.
House also points out a central challenge of the sustainability movement as a whole: fear- or data-based communications are not effective motivators. We can’t focus on the poor treatment of animals in industrial meat farming, or the issues with monoculture in our crops. Successful, sustainable change requires a story-based narrative that frames the need for change in a way that emphasizes opportunity over fear and doom. For example, purchasing locally grown, pesticide-free tomatoes not only supports sustainable agricultural practices of small-scale farming, but also delivers food that is picked at the peak of freshness for better flavor and enjoyability.
The language that we choose to use when referring to our food gives power to the systems that provide it. By creating a shared language, we can educate people about their food, shifting our role from that of passive consumer to active participant in the food systems. It is only by understanding a shared language through distributed definition building and ecological community writing that will lead to improved understanding and community engagement.
City Information Modelling (Urban Sustainability)
Ali Cheshmehzangi, Michael Batty, Zaheer Allam, and David S. Jones, eds.
Singapore: Springer Nature. 2024. 262 pages.
Index Terms: city information modelling, participatory urban planning, smart city governance, urban sustainability
Reviewed by—
Fredrika Trivoni Bria, Student, Universitas Diponegoro, supported by Lembaga Pengelola Dana Pendidikan (LPDP), Indonesia
City Information Modelling (Urban Sustainability) explores the transformative potential of City Information Modelling (CIM) as a tool for achieving sustainable urbanization. This book does not merely discuss CIM as an advanced digital framework; it also evaluates how effectively it uses data, technologies, and analytical tools to address key urban issues such as climate resilience, energy transitions, and public participation in planning. Rather than providing a chapter-by-chapter summary, this review assesses the book’s central arguments, situates them within broader scholarly discourse, and critiques the extent to which the book achieves its stated objectives.
The editors and contributors present CIM as an evolution of Building Information Modelling (BIM) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS), bridging building-scale and city-scale systems. It offers a digital twin of cities by integrating spatial, temporal, and semantic data. In Chapter 1, Ali Cheshmehzangi, et al. (pp. 1–16) introduce CIM as a multidisciplinary approach that combines urban planning and management tools. The chapter provides a theoretical CIM foundation emphasizing its potential in data-driven decision-making and policy implementation.
The book’s overarching argument posits that CIM is a multidisciplinary, integrative tool that supports evidence-based urban governance. A key contribution in Chapter 2 by Hadi Soltanifard, et al. (pp. 17–32) discusses how CIM supports sustainable urbanization by focusing on four core areas: collecting high-quality data, integrating planning and design, increasing public engagement, and adopting new technologies that enable flexible management. The authors persuasively argue that CIM offers a comprehensive approach to addressing urban complexity, particularly when integrating real-time data from Internet of Things (IoT) systems and remote sensing. This aligns with broader trends in urban informatics and underscores CIM’s capacity to create resilient urban systems.
Chapter 3 presents an empirical study on the CIM’s role in enhancing public health outcomes. Using Sydney, Australia, as a case study, Mohammad Anvar Adibhesami ,et al. (pp. 33–62) demonstrate how urban interventions, such as improvements in green spaces and public transport, influence health metrics. The chapter underscores the potential of CIM to create healthier urban environments through evidence-based planning. Xiang Zhang (pp. 63–76) examines CIM applications more broadly in Chapter 4, offering a comprehensive overview of how CIM has evolved over time and is currently applied in various urban sectors. The chapter discusses the integration of CIM with BIM and GIS, illustrating its role in enhancing urban infrastructure resilience and sustainability.
Chapter 5 by Adibhesami, et al. (pp. 77–94) explores the application of artificial intelligence in urban design, particularly in pandemic preparedness. The study demonstrates how reinforcement learning and multi-objective optimization can be incorporated into CIM to create urban layout models that mitigate the spread of infectious diseases while accounting for economic and social factors. According to Serhat Yılmaz, et al. (pp. 95–109), Chapter 6 also engages with the concept of accessibility in urban design, though less explicitly than expected. The chapter touches on elements of the 15-minute city concept, particularly in its discussions of participatory planning and urban mobility. For example, research evaluating the impacts of urban densification and accessibility-driven design highlights how CIM can improve quality of life while reducing ecological footprints. However, a more comprehensive development of this theme would have better aligned it with current scholarly debates on sustainable urban mobility.
Chapter 7 by Hadi RezaeiRad and Narges Afzali (pp. 111–138) explores sustainability through measurable indicators, not just abstract principles. Several chapters evaluate the potential of geospatial data to identify land degradation and inform soil ecosystem restoration strategies. The discussion provides strong evidence that CIM frameworks can operationalize sustainability goals, from ecosystem management to infrastructure resilience. However, this article could have benefited from deeper engagement with the challenges of integrating disparate datasets and achieving semantic interoperability, especially in diverse urban contexts.
The advantages of Visual Programming Language (VPL) in CIM, particularly for rapid digital urban surveying and structural analysis, are discussed in Chapter 8 by Federico La Russa (pp. 139–164). This chapter highlights how CIM, coupled with VPL, can enhance infrastructure resilience and risk assessment, especially in earthquake-prone areas. In Chapter 9, Jiayi Jin and Mingyu Zhu (pp. 165–184) examine the Port of Tyne to illustrate how digital twins can simulate urban dynamics, optimize emergency responses, and foster industrial ecology. This chapter provides an excellent example of how CIM tools can address specific challenges in urban-marine interfaces while demonstrating adaptability for broader urban planning needs.
Augusto Pereira and Mario Prokopiuk (pp. 185–214) explore institutional frameworks and governance in Chapter 10, focusing on Curitiba, Brazil. The chapter proposes an institutional maturity model for CIM, assessing the readiness of governance structures to integrate it for improved decision-making and sustainable urban management. Similarly, Hossein Omrany, et al. (pp. 215–247) in Chapter 11 contribute a framework for integrating CIM technologies with zero-energy community initiatives. Their research highlights the potential of CIM to guide decarbonization efforts by synthesizing building-level and city-scale data. However, while these technological discussions are compelling, the article’s coverage of data standardization issues is relatively limited. Greater emphasis on overcoming interoperability challenges would have enhanced the practical applicability of these frameworks.
One standout example of CIM’s practical application is the study of Tekirdag, Turkey, where researchers used machine learning and digital twin technologies to mitigate risks such as earthquakes and floods. By simulating risk scenarios and evaluating government responses, the study illustrates how CIM can bridge theoretical models with real-world strategies for enhancing urban resilience. This integration of predictive modelling and hazard mitigation demonstrates the book’s ability to connect academic research with practical applications.
Discussion of participatory governance is another notable contribution, particularly its emphasis on using CIM to enhance citizen engagement. Several chapters explore how digital platforms can democratize urban planning by making data and models accessible to the public. In Chapter 12, Ali Cheshmehzangi, et al. (pp. 249–253) discuss alignment with contemporary research on participatory urbanism and highlight CIM’s role in fostering more inclusive decision-making processes. However, as the editors acknowledge, achieving true inclusivity will require addressing socio-economic and technological disparities, especially in the Global South.
City Information Modelling makes a significant contribution to the study of sustainable cities and informatics by positioning CIM as a multidisciplinary framework with relevance for academics, urban planners, and policymakers. Its comprehensive approach, which blends theoretical insights, emerging technologies, and real-world applications, establishes CIM as a vital tool for addressing the complexities of modern urban governance, particularly in areas such as climate resilience, energy transitions, and participatory planning. However, despite its strengths, the book exhibits notable limitations. Its geographical focus leans heavily toward cities with advanced technological infrastructures, particularly in Europe and Australia, with limited inclusion of cases from Asia and South America. This bias reduces its relevance for urban areas with constrained resources, where issues such as slums and inadequate infrastructure are more prevalent. Additionally, while interoperability challenges and data standardization are acknowledged, the volume does not provide in-depth discussions or concrete solutions to these issues, limiting its utility for practitioners aiming for wide-scale implementation. To broaden its impact, future efforts should focus on making CIM frameworks more inclusive and adaptable, ensuring their applicability across a wider range of urban environments, especially those with limited technological resources.
More-than-Human Aesthetics: Venturing Beyond the Bifurcation of Nature
Melanie Sehgal and Alex Wilkie, eds. Bristol, United Kingdom: Bristol University Press. 2024. 258 pages, including index.
Index Terms—aesthetics, bifurcation of nature, environmental philosophy
Reviewed by Diane Martinez, Associate Professor, Western Carolina University
More-than-Human Aesthetics: Venturing Beyond the Bifurcation of Nature is the second book in the Dis-Positions Series at Bristol University Press. This series promotes “novel fields of inquiry, adventurous theoretical and empirical projects, and inventive methodological practices” (p. xii). It brings together the intersectional work among researchers and scholars in “sociology, anthropology, history, geography, design and philosophy, not least as they bear on the broad field of science and technology studies” (p. xii). This series provides context for the book in that contributors use a “Whiteheadian” lens to “rethink approaches to what has been called the Anthropocene” (p. xiii). Using the philosophical writings of Alfred North Whitehead, contributors wrestle with his notions of aesthetics as it relates to the bifurcation of nature, a split between “‘bare nature’” and “‘nature as perceived’” or the division between body and mind, thought and feeling (p. 4). The editors, Melanie Sehgal and Alex Wilkie, posit that concepts and discussions about aesthetics have been relegated to the “margins,” and that this is part of the problem when looking at ways to solve our current environmental crisis. Thus, discussions about aesthetics can help us rethink the split between thinking and feeling propagated from Western modernity. A return to the arts challenges modern and Western concepts of knowledge and knowledge practices and provides “more just (symmetrical) environmental politics of liveable worlds” (p. 16).
The book is a scholarly collection of philosophy with fourteen chapters divided into four sections: Feeling and Experiencing, Problematizing and (Re)Valuing, Infecting and Caring, and (Un)Learning and Luring. Although the editors provide an explanation about the book’s structure in the introduction, it would be helpful to have a detailed discussion at the start of each section about what those categories mean related to the overall topic of aesthetics and the bifurcation of nature.
Readers should be prepared for deeply complex, difficult meditations on a wide range of philosophical topics, such as exploring historical and modern concepts of aesthetics to analyze how we view our experiences in this world; using external objects to explore alternatives for storing nuclear waste; drawing on Whitehead’s notions of “social aesthetics” (p. 71) to develop a social aesthetic of race; connecting Whitehead with Dante’s great refusal as a means of dissecting the environmental tipping point we live in; using dance as a lens for understanding climate change; reflecting on a medical “never event” to uncover new approaches to patient care; explaining how addictive properties of social media affect our view of nature; and sharing pedagogical approaches to unlearn our modern frames of thought regarding nature.
More-than-Human-Aesthetics is written for academics, not students or the public. In most chapters, including the introduction, contributors expect readers to be familiar with A. N. Whitehead’s work, along with other philosophers’ writings like Kant, Dewey, and Guattari. Without a solid education in philosophy, readers may struggle to get to the heart of each chapter and its connection or application to the Anthropocene or modern-day environmental matters. Additionally, almost all chapters are written in a scholarly style with discipline-specific language, which may make it difficult for non-philosophy majors or experts to read and understand.
Technology-Enhanced Language Teaching and Learning: Lessons from the Covid-19 Pandemic
Karim Sadeghi, Michael Thomas, and Farah Ghaderi. London, UK. Bloomsbury Academic. 2024. 275 pages, including index.
Index Terms: digital technology, educational technology, hybrid learning, post-pandemic education, technology-enhanced language teaching and learning.
Reviewed by Yanhui Chen, Ph.D. student, Shanghai International Studies University (SISU) / SISU Intercultural Institute (luckycyh@126.com)
In the context of the global shift towards digital transformation in education, the publication of Technology-Enhanced Language Teaching and Learning: Lessons from the Covid-19 Pandemic emerges as a timely resource, which delves into how digital technologies have reshaped language education during the unprecedented challenges posed by the global pandemic. This volume synthesizes global theoretical and practical perspectives on pandemic-era challenges and opportunities in language education, alongside critical lessons for integrating digital technologies into teaching and learning practices, aligning with UNESCO’s vision for leveraging information and communication technologies to enhance educational outcomes. It uncovers important messages for stakeholders about embedding technology into the multifaceted contexts of language teaching and learning in contemporary society, and addresses critical issues highlighted by UNESCO, such as digital divide and educational inequalities. Given the pivotal role of hybrid learning in ensuring continuous education during the Covid-19 pandemic, this volume provides essential support for educators to innovate and sustain effective educational practices in the digital age.
The book is structured into five thematically coherent parts, encompassing a total of seventeen chapters. The logical arrangement of the five parts—emergency CALL, responses to CALL, technology integration, e-assessment, and post-Covid lessons—systematically addresses various aspects of technology-enhanced language teaching and learning. The introductory chapter sets the stage by tracing the evolution of Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) and highlighting the shift from traditional applications to a broader, technology-enhanced approach. The introduction delineates the trajectory of CALL from its origins in mainframe computing to the contemporary digital era, critically examining its affordances and challenges in global language education.
Part 1 presents case studies that illustrate the immediate responses to the shift to online teaching. Chapter 2 explores the distracted learning environment in synchronous online courses. Chapter 3 examines the teaching of Italian as a second language during the pandemic, highlighting teachers’ perspectives on issues like technology familiarity and teaching strategies. Chapter 4 elaborates on three cases of transitioning to online English teaching in various countries, emphasizing teacher knowledge, sociocultural context, and local support.
Part 2 details how learners and educators responded to online learning realities. Chapter 5 focuses on the adult English learners’ attitudes and emotional experiences, which provides valuable insights into the affective dimensions of online learning, particularly for immigrant and refugee students. Chapter 6 illustrates the development of L2 learner autonomy in a Japanese online study-abroad program, while chapter 7 examines technology’s role in fostering autonomy and motivation in out-of-class language learning for advanced learners. Chapter 8 employs corpus analysis to critique media representations of Australian EAL/D students during lockdowns, revealing systemic marginalization and misrepresentation of this group.
Part 3 elucidates various innovative technology integrations in language teaching. Chapter 9 discusses how popular media such as Netflix can be leveraged to enhance engagement and social interaction in language learning. Chapter 10 shares insights from a critical participatory action research study on online learning, emphasizing reflective practice for effective transitions. Chapter 11 offers strategies for using synchronous videoconferencing in writing instruction.
Part 4 tackles the challenges of online language assessment. Chapter 12 explores formative assessment in synchronous online language teaching during the Covid-19 pandemic, highlighting its effectiveness and support for student learning. Chapter 13 discusses the potential of e-portfolios for language assessment to enhance student learning and offers practical implementation tips. Chapter 14 discusses transitioning to digital-based assessments, emphasizing validity, reliability, integrity, and technology’s role in fair and effective online evaluations.
Part 5, the book’s concluding section, looks to the future of language education. Chapter 15 reflects on lessons for post-Covid language education, emphasizing flexibility and inclusivity, and the integration of online and face-to-face instruction. Chapter 16 examines digital inequalities and decolonization in CALL, offering insights and suggestions for equitable language education policies. Chapter 17 summarizes key insights and lessons learned from the pandemic, and outlines a research agenda for future CALL studies.
Technology-Enhanced Language Teaching and Learning: Lessons from the Covid-19 Pandemic has made substantial contributions to the fields of CALL, language education, and educational technology. Firstly, it advances theoretical understanding of CALL by exploring the interplay between technology, and pedagogy in language learning. By incorporating voices from teachers, students, and researchers across diverse geographical locations and language teaching contexts, the book provides a historical record of the pandemic’s transformative impact on language education, and illustrates how sociocultural contexts shape online language teaching practices, as seen in case studies from the US, China, and Indonesia. Each chapter is also research-based, with comprehensive literature reviews that cover a wide range of previous studies. This not only adds credibility but also helps readers situate current research within the existing body of knowledge, thereby contributing to the theoretical development of the field.
Secondly, the book’s emphasis on practical case studies and empirical research provides numerous useful insights for both researchers and practitioners. It synthesizes real-world examples of teaching strategies, assessment methods, and technology integration applicable in the classroom to demonstrate how hybrid models inform resilient language education frameworks. In addition, the interdisciplinary approach of this book also makes it valuable for professionals in educational technology, curriculum design, and teacher training to have a deeper understanding of the complex issues in language teaching and learning in the digital age.
Thirdly, the book’s focus on the emotional and psychological dimensions of online learning is particularly noteworthy, as it addresses an often-overlooked aspect of technology-enhanced education. By highlighting the affective challenges faced by learners, particularly those from marginalized backgrounds and vulnerable groups in language education during the pandemic, the book underscores the importance of designing inclusive and supportive online learning environments. For example, chapters on adult immigrant and refugee students’ online learning and the media representation of Australian EAL/D students shed light on the unique challenges they face, such as technological barriers, cultural differences, and social isolation. This focus on equity and inclusion is crucial for informing more just language education policies and practices, thus having a far-reaching impact on the practical implementation of language teaching.
While the book is comprehensive in its coverage of technology-enhanced language teaching and learning, it does have some limitations. One notable omission is the lack of a dedicated discussion on the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in language education. Given the rapid advancements in AI and its increasing use in language learning applications, this is a significant gap that could have been addressed. Furthermore, while the book provides valuable insights into the challenges of online learning, it could have offered more concrete recommendations for addressing these challenges. For example, while several chapters discuss the importance of teacher training and professional development, there is limited discussion of specific strategies or frameworks for implementing such training.
What’s more, the book touches on issues of digital divide and inequality, but it could have delved deeper into these topics. A more in-depth analysis of how to address these inequalities in language education, both within and between countries, would have been beneficial. Finally, the book’s focus on the short-term experiences and immediate responses to the pandemic, while timely, raises questions about its long-term relevance. As the world moves beyond the immediate crisis, it will be important to conduct longitudinal studies on how the lessons learnt during the pandemic can be applied to future educational challenges.
In conclusion, Technology-Enhanced Language Teaching and Learning: Lessons from the Covid-19 Pandemic stands as a crucial contribution to the field of language education in the digital age. By documenting the experiences of educators and learners, it examines the critical role of technology in fostering resilience, autonomy, and innovation in language teaching practices, presenting a wealth of practical insights, research-based findings, and diverse perspectives that can inform post-pandemic language education and. Overall, the book’s emphasis on empirical research and theoretical reflections makes it a must-read for learners, educators, researchers, and policymakers alike on understanding how the pandemic has reshaped language education through the lens of technology, and navigating the challenges and opportunities of technology-enhanced language teaching and learning in the post-pandemic era.
The Existential Toolkit for Climate Justice Educators: How to Teach in a Burning World
Jennifer Atkinson and Sarah Jaquette Ray, eds. Oakland, CA: University of California Press. 2024. 339 pages, including index.
Index Terms—climate justice, emotional education, environmental curriculum, sustainable teaching
Reviewed by Diane Martinez, Associate Professor, Western Carolina University.
Over the past decade or more, teaching about the climate crisis has been a matter of choice with teachers being able to choose how to address environmental issues in their classes. In recent years, it is almost impossible to avoid this subject. With so much negative news coverage, students and teachers feel overwhelmed when talking about the current climate challenges. The Existential Toolkit for Climate Justice Educators: How to Teach in a Burning World is a resource to help mitigate dark conversations about the present and the future.
The book has 37 chapters divided into eight sections. Emotion is the main theme for each chapter. Climate conversations are emotional for most people, especially for those tasked with cleaning up the previous generations’ messes. Students report feeling overwhelmed, depressed, and hopeless about their future, as well as helpless against powerful industries that continue to ravage and pollute the earth despite urgent calls to stop or modify current operations. This is where editors, Jennifer Atkinson and Sarah Jaquette Ray, step in and offer a hand to teachers who have been fielding climate conversations and activities alone.
The Existential Toolkit for Climate Justice Educators is an interdisciplinary amalgam of lesson plans and assignments for teaching about the climate crisis and climate change with the goal of helping students understand their emotions about the subject and to turn their emotions into positive activities. Most chapters are short and introduce the lesson or assignment by explaining how it evolved in the author’s classroom or how it is beneficial when teaching about a particular aspect of climate or the environment. Some chapters are more discussion-oriented, whereas others offer step-by-step instructions for implementing a lesson or project.
Although the editors explained the book’s organization in the main Introduction, each section would have benefitted from having had its own Introduction. The section titles alone are not all that descriptive or self-explanatory about what readers will find in a section. I found it hard to distinguish the chapters in one section from the chapter topics in another section. A one-page introduction for each section would have provided helpful context, making the book less overwhelming and more effective. Each chapter’s focus on helping students with their emotions felt overwhelming, leaving me depressed by the daunting task ahead. Breaking up the reading by understanding the sections better can help readers avoid this burnout. Despite these minor drawbacks, educators and counselors will find several chapters helpful for their interactions with students on this important subject.