How Wordsworth helped inspire the national park system

+ 'green jobs' are booming US Edition - Today's top story: William Wordsworth and the Romantics anticipated today's idea of a nature-positive life [View in browser]( US Edition | 7 January 2023 [The Conversation] [The Conversation]( In the holiday rush, you may have missed a piece of good news last month. At a much-delayed global conference in Montreal, almost 200 nations adopted a landmark agreement for protecting nature and slowing the loss of wild species. It’s a step toward a goal many conservationists advocate: creating a “nature-positive” future in which human activities enhance nature instead of depleting it. This would be a radical shift, but the concept isn’t new. Arizona State University humanities scholar Jonathan Bate traces it back to the poet William Wordsworth and other 19th-century Romantics, who asserted that the well-being of human society [depended on a healthy relationship with the environment](. This week we also like articles about the uptick in [union organizing and strikes](, the [cognitive benefits older people derive from social dancing](, and [Alfred Russel Wallace]( – a founder of evolutionary theory who wound up much less famous than his colleague Charles Darwin. Jennifer Weeks Senior Environment + Energy Editor Wiliam Wordsworth lived and wrote in Grasmere, in England’s Lake District, from 1799-1808. Mick Knapton/Wikipedia [William Wordsworth and the Romantics anticipated today’s idea of a nature-positive life]( Jonathan Bate, Arizona State University The idea that human activity threatens nature, and that it is important to protect wild places, dates back to the dawn of the Industrial Revolution. Not only is it good aerobic exercise, but dancing may help the elderly with reasoning skills and memory. Thomas Barwick/Stone via Getty Images [Kick up your heels – ballroom dancing offers benefits to the aging brain and could help stave off dementia]( Helena Blumen, Albert Einstein College of Medicine Dancing requires physical, social and cognitive engagement and, as a result, it may bolster a wide network of brain regions. Workers such as these Starbucks employees in St. Anthony, Minn., increasingly went on strike in 2022. Michael Siluk/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images [Worker strikes and union elections surged in 2022 – could it mark a turning point for organized labor?]( Marick Masters, Wayne State University Workers have filed the most union petitions since 2015 and the number of strikes have surged, but whether this turns into a sustained increase in membership rates is still unclear. - [Following Alfred Russel Wallace’s footsteps to Borneo, where he penned his pioneering evolution paper]( Giacomo Bernardi, University of California, Santa Cruz An evolutionary biologist visits the remote jungle mountaintop where a little-known naturalist wrote his insightful paper about the mechanisms of evolution that spurred on a rivalrous Charles Darwin. - [Green jobs are booming, but too few employees have sustainability skills to fill them – here are 4 ways to close the gap]( Christopher Boone, Arizona State University; Karen C. Seto, Yale University Green jobs go beyond solar panel installation and wind turbine maintenance. They’re found in fields from design to economics and in many types of management. - [Richard Avedon, Truman Capote and the brutality of photography]( Rebecca Senf, University of Arizona In a 1959 essay, Capote noted how Avedon seemed to capture ‘every hard-earned crow’s foot’ in his subjects – perhaps not realizing that he would one day be photographed by that same unvarnished gaze. - [Kevin McCarthy voted speaker of the House of Representatives – some questions answered about a chaotic week]( - [On New Year’s Day, Buddhist god Hotei brings gifts and good fortune in Japan]( - [Beyond Section 230: A pair of social media experts describes how to bring transparency and accountability to the industry]( - [Visualizing the inside of cells at previously impossible resolutions provides vivid insights into how they work]( - [4 ways Netanyahu’s new far-right government threatens Israeli democracy]( - [Diversity of US workplaces is growing in terms of race, ethnicity and age – forcing more employers to be flexible]( The Conversation Quiz 🧠- Here’s the first question of [this week’s edition:]( A record 12 women will serve in what public office in the U.S. in 2023? - A. Member of the House of Representatives - B. Senator - C. Supreme Court justice - D. State governor [Test your knowledge]( - - More of The Conversation Like this newsletter? You might be interested in our weekly and biweekly emails: • [Weekly Highlights]( • [Science Editors' Picks]( • [This Week in Religion]( • [Politics Weekly]( • [Global Perspectives]( • [Global Economy & Business]( Trying out new social media? Follow us: • [Mastodon]( • [Post.news]( • [Instagram]( • [LinkedIn]( - - About The Conversation We're a nonprofit news organization dedicated to [helping academic experts share ideas with the public](. We can give away our articles thanks to the help of foundations, universities and readers like you. [Donate now to support research-based journalism]( [The Conversation]( You’re receiving this newsletter from [The Conversation]( 303 Wyman Street, Suite 300 Waltham, MA 02451 [Forward to a friend]( • [Unsubscribe](