Over the past 75 years, democratic societies have reaffirmed their strong commitment to upholding human dignity in healthy environments. In practice, however, achieving human dignity has had a mixed record of outcomes, with major shortfalls across diverse problem context. Led by Susan Clark and co-authored by Evan Andrews and Ana Lambert, this book addresses this discrepancy, conceived as the human dignity gap, and provides concepts, tools, and strategies for citizens and leaders to close the gap. The book is available for pre-sale.
In this book, the authors argue that for human dignity to thrive in a healthy environment, citizens, leaders, and communities must be compassionate, skilled, ethical, and capable of solving problems. Consequently, individuals hold the responsibility for fostering their own problem-solving skills. Thus, they have a role to play in developing these skills to advance human dignity in healthy environments, working in parallel to the legal and rights based avenues for securing dignity. To this end, this book elucidates and illustrates a holistic and integrated approach to problem-solving known as the policy sciences approach.
The book provides the reader with a depth of insights for problem solving and a breadth of theory and applications, including brief examples from the policy scientists around the world. The book is intended to appeal to diverse local, national, and international audiences. These include citizens, leaders, professionals, decision-makers, and, in general, anyone interested in solving integrated problems with human dignity in focus. The book is relevant for people interested in developing their thinking skills and applying them to address individual, institutional, and policy problems, including in university classrooms and professional development settings, where current and future leaders can benefit from problem solving skills.
On the significance of the book, lead author, Dr. Susan Clark, Professor Emeritus, Yale University, “Human dignity (to be treated as though we matter) and living in healthy environments is what we all want! To better work towards this dual goal requires that each of us develop the knowledge and skills that make them possible. Addressing any shortfall is a matter of grounded problem solving. This book offers clarity on goals, knowledge about the human condition, and skills to address actual problems.”
For his part, Dr. Evan Andrews, postdoctoral fellow, Memorial University and TBTI member, reflected on the journey in putting together the book, “This book is special, and there is not anything quite like it around. The combination of theory, applications, and skill building helps encourage pragmatic and creative problem solving for citizens and leaders who want to make a real difference. The book is also special because of the collaborations involved. It has been an incredible gift to work with Susan, Ana and the guest contributors on this manuscript.”
Finally, Ana Lambert (Ph.D. Candidate, University of Manchester) has reflected on her experience, “Working on this book involved a thoughtful reflection on the societal and environmental challenges, such as global environmental change, development, water insecurity, wildfires, human-wildlife conflict, and public health. As a young professional, it was stimulating to collaborate and exchange ideas with Drs. Clark and Andrews. Their extensive experience gave me valuable insights, allowing me to contribute meaningfully to the book.”