Richard Louv to speak at Urban Ecology Center

If you follow Urban Wilderness you may already know this, but Richard Louv wrote the book that I consider the most important concerning our relationship with nature since at least McKibben's The End of Nature and very possibly since Carson's Silent Spring. It is Last Child in the Woods: Saving our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder. If you haven't read it, well, get it asap!

Louv has written a new book, called The Nature Principle: Human Restoration and the End of Nature-Deficit Disorder and he will be giving a talk about it at the Urban Ecology Center next Wednesday, May 18 at 7 pm.

I signed up to attend as soon as I saw the announcement in their online newsletter. (If you're not already a member, what are you waiting for?!)
Here's the announcement:

Author Richard Louv has some important questions for us:
“Does your daily nature intake include running on the treadmill with a forest scene on the TV monitor in front of you? Or perhaps playing WII tennis with your kids – instead of playing outside in a real tennis court?”

In his new book, The Nature Principle, Louv explains how we are increasingly surrounded with new technology and why that means we need contact with nature even more. Next Wednesday, May 18th from 7 – 9pm, we are honored to host Louv as he reads from and discusses The Nature Principle at our Riverside Park location.

Click here to see a video about the new book.

Louv is also the author of Last Child in the Woods, in which he explains a condition he calls “nature-deficit disorder” – the negative effects of a lack of contact with nature. In fact, the second edition of this book includes a description of Louv’s visit to our Riverside Park location!

Along with a group of like-minded folks, Louv also helped to start the Children & Nature Network to help facilitate the increasingly important connection between kids and the outdoors.

Needless to say, we’re thrilled to be hosting him and we hope that you’ll join us for his talk next week! If you’d like to purchase The Nature Principle, Boswell Books will be selling them at the event.

Seating is limited, be sure to reserve a seat by calling the Urban Ecology Center at (414) 964-8505.