Down to the wire : confronting climate collapse / David - Index of

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170 farther horizons
a person’s life but also an improved ability to cope with problems
(Mayer and Frantz, 2004; Mayer et al., in press)
Biophilia is emerging as an important component of architecture
and landscape design (Kellert, Heerwagen, and Mador, 2008).
Design that calibrates with our senses by including light, natural
materials, white sound, and connection to nature tends to promote
learning, accelerate healing in hospitals, increase productivity
in the workplace, and likely a great deal more. The design of
spaces, landscapes, and streetscapes also affects human behavior in
powerful and pervasive ways (Sullivan, 2005; Kaplan and Kaplan,
1989).
The creation of a sustainable society depends on improving
the psychological health of individuals and their sense of connectedness
to others and nature, but it also depends on improving the
capacity of organizations and governments to learn. One of the
best examples of corporate learning I know is that of Interface,
Inc., the largest U.S. manufacturer of carpet tiles. Founder and
CEO Ray Anderson shifted the priorities of the company in the
mid-1990s to eliminate waste and use of fossil fuels and is now
within reach of that goal. The Interface example is presently the
gold standard for corporate learning, and others like Wal-Mart are
traveling along the same path.
There are many other examples of decent, creative, and resilient
behavior across many domains of experience. They need to
be studied, understood, and applied to better advantage in the
global effort to build a durable civilization. An urgent challenge
for the discipline of psychology, and for students of mind more
broadly, is to apply their professional skills to better understand
our connections to nature and how to help foster the psychological
traits of mind and behavior necessary for a decent future.
It is a challenge as well to the users of psychological research,
including advertisers, graphic artists, political consultants, and
communications experts, to adopt more stringent codes of conduct
that appeal to the angels of our better nature. Abraham