The Restorative Power of Nature: Saving Our Children

CLEVELAND: Richard Louv, a futurist and journalist focused on family, nature and community, will be speaking about his most recent book Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder at noon on Friday, September 22, 2006, at The City Club of Cleveland.

Louv argues that with increased emphasis on technology and structured play, children live a “denatured childhood.” He calls for a return to an awareness of and appreciation for the natural world. Not only can nature teach kids science and nurture their creativity, nature needs its children to be its future stewards.

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Louv is an advisor to the Ford Foundation's Leadership for a Changing World award program and the Scientific Council on the Developing Child, and is a visiting scholar at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University. He is also a partner in The Frameworks Institute and a founder of Connect for Kids, the largest child advocacy site on the web.

Louv appearances include NPR’s Morning Edition, The Morning Show on CBS, Good Morning America, Today, Talk of the Nation, PBS NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, and NBC Nightly News. The United Nations commissioned his monograph on fatherhood for the U.N. Year of the Child. Author of six other books, Louv is a columnist for “The San Diego Union-Tribune” and has written for The “New York Times,” The “Washington Post,” The “Christian Science Monitor” and others.

This Forum is in partnership with the Anne Mulligan Marcus Fund of the Nature Center at Shaker Lakes.

Tickets for this City Club Friday Forum are $18 for members and $30 for non-members. Lunch is included. Reservations are required at least 24 hours in advance of the event. They can be purchased by calling The City Club at 216.621.0082 or visiting the website at www.cityclub.org.