ABSTRACT
This chapter takes the concept of affordances in a new direction by examining evidence for whether nature's dynamics of growth and regeneration can afford hope in the natural world's potential to recover from environmental threats such as climate change and biodiversity loss. It reviews research with young people who participate in ecological restoration projects in their communities to determine what they did, how they experienced collective work with others, the environmental changes that they noticed, and how they responded to nature's renewal. By the end of these projects, participants often expressed greater awareness and appreciation for local natural areas, confidence in what they could achieve together, and feelings of responsibility and satisfaction because they helped other living things and their communities.
