ABSTRACT
This book opens with a poignant quest, asking, Do we humans living today owe anything to the current and future generations of life on Earth, both human and otherwise? Through this inquiry, we have learned that our social-environmental future is governed by our past and current choices, much of which is shaped through our biophysical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual perspectives. Fear-driven choices create unsustainable social-environment consequences. Because social-environmental aspects are invariably linked to Nature's biophysical principles, adhering to the latter can assist in realigning us with the natural functioning of Earth's myriad ecosystems. The foregoing chapters offer guidance toward social-environmental cooperation for an environmental mediation practitioner and instructor. Provided are instruments and practices to help shift to more cooperative outcomes. Because changing behavior and attitudes can be frightening, mediators are provided with approaches to facilitate and equip disputing parties with tools to bring about their own transformation. This initiative, the choice to peaceful and lawful paths, builds community capacity to address future challenges for collective gain. In so doing, it requires the replacement of destructive behavior and attitudes with constructive choices and actions, which is the topic of Chapter 11.
