Bill Rees says it best, “If you want sustainable cities, folks, they depend on sustainable countryside.” Yet the agricultural and natural lands that surround our urban centres are being systematically paved over and dug up to make way for housing, highways and industrial development.

Please note, the print copy you receive of this issue may be a black and white reprint. Counting money is easy – but how do we place a value on a healthy body, a vibrant neighbourhood or a flourishing environment? Measuring Progress goes beyond the GDP to explore ways of […]

Buy this issue in print or digital format to read the rest: Editorial: Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner Launching street festivals. Planting watermelon. Doling out fake traffic tickets. If you’re wondering what these have in common, read on. They’re ingenious ways of handling issues, prying open the box.

Water Privateers – Tony ClarkeInternational trade agreements and loan conditions are pushing the privatization of public water systems around the world.Inset: Water Privatization Glossary – David A. McDonaldInset: GATS Threat – Karl Flecker Public Water – Ron CrawleyThe Canadian Union of Public Employees has been leading the fight against the privatization of […]

Editorial: Our Place in the World This issue of Alternatives explores how the built environment – the physical structures making up our cities, towns and villages – influences our relationships with nature and our fellow human beings. The basic insight expressed in the various theme articles is that if we […]

Editorial: Culture Jammers and Basic Civility – Robert Gibson Free Radio – JEFF FERRELLCaught between community service and criminalized activity, pirate microbroadcasters are challenging authority.Inset: Meet Godzilla: Media Monster Poised to Gobble the World by RICHARD EDMONDSON

Editorial: Beyond Sprawl – Nina-Marie Lister The Best So Far – Don AlexanderVancouver’s remarkable approach to the Southeast False Creek redevelopment is a big step towards sustainable redevelopment planning for urban sites. Gardens Overhead – Jessica KwikRooftop culture sprouts in North American cities.Inset: The Up Side of Green Roofs and […]

Editorial: Imagine No Resources – Mark Meisner Jock Talk, Goldfish, Horse Logging and Star Wars – Joan Sherman and Michael GismondiAn Alberta pulp company uses a variety of slick communications tools to establish a green image.

Editorial: Diverse by Nature – Stephen Bocking Behind the Green Curtain – Michael M’GonigleDespite the rhetoric, BC’s recent forestry reforms will not protect biodiversity, and herein lies a cautionary tale for advocates of incremental change.

Editorial: Sharing and protecting the commons – Doug Baker Bucking the Free Market Economy: Using Land Trusts for Conservation and Community-Building – Steward Hilts and Peter MitchellInset: Merging the conservancy and community approaches to land trusts by Matt Wood Reclaiming Deserted Corridors: Rights of Way as Common Property Resources – […]