Author Archives: Freedman

Knight Center research director honored

research-mattersThe MSU College of Communication Arts & Sciences is showcasing Knight Center research director Bruno Takahashi as one of eight faculty members honored for their research and creative activities.
Takahashi, an assistant professor of journalism and communication, is an authority on international news coverage of environmental issues, especially climate change.
Takahashi’s overall research agenda focuses on environmental discourses from an international and intercultural perspective. Within this broad area, he is particularly interested in media representation across nations and its relationships with policy-making.
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Why small parks matter

By Eric Freedman
Ask natural scientists why small parks matter and you’ll hear about habitats, biodiversity, carbon sequestration and buffer zones between developments. Ask the same question to social scientists and you’ll hear about maintaining human connections with nature, centers of community concern, neighborhood identity and healthy outdoor activities.
Small parks can even serve a public policy purpose as a political rallying point. That happened last

Taksim Gezi Park in Istanbul. Imaget: Wikipedia Commons

Taksim Gezi Park in Istanbul. Imaget: Wikipedia Commons


year in Turkey when government plans to develop 9-acre Taksim Gezi Park – one of Istanbul’s smallest parks and among the few remaining green spaces in the city’s Beyoğlu district– triggered sit-ins and national demonstrations.
From a humanist as well as scientific perspective, poet-environmental activist Wendell Berry has written that we need not cherish just the great public wildernesses” but small ones as well.
But ask my 4-year-old grandson why small parks matter and the answer is simpler: fun.
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When environment and culture intersect

Eric Freedman

Eric Freedman


By Eric Freedman
When journalists report on environmental issues, our stories and photos usually concern natural resources – lakes, forests, oil, oceans.
Or things we have built – cities, power plants, dams, bridges.
Or natural disasters – tsunamis, earthquakes, hurricanes.
Or mega-issues – alternative energy, air quality, climate change.
Unfortunately, we often overlook interesting and important stories that highlight the cross-over between culture and environment.
Here’s some information about two programs – one international, one in Michigan – that recognize that cross-over, that intersection of people and nature by highlighting, honoring and protecting cultural heritages that, in many cases, connect with the environment.
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Once among the greenest cities, Bishkek ranks among the dirtiest

Eric Freedman

Eric Freedman


By Eric Freedman
It’s a crisp late autumn morning in Bishkek as I write this. I’m sitting on a park bench within sight of the White House, the center of Kyrgyzstan’s national government. It’s a sunny Sunday, a bit before noon, and I can see the reflection of yellow leaves—soon to fall—on my iPad screen. A few people are strolling through the park now, although later in the day young lovers and would-be lovers will occupy these benches.
Mountains outside of Bishkek. Image: Eric Freeman

Mountains outside of Bishkek. Image: Eric Freeman


In the distance, there’s already snow visible on the nearby Ala-Too range of the Tian Shan Mountains.
The roses, a summertime pride of Bishkek’s parks, are dead, the bushes cut back and awaiting clean-up. The marigolds, too, are dead but the cold-damaged mums still hang on.
 
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