Roosevelt University's Contributions to the RSC
Through their connections with urban restoration organizations, RU offers a unique perspective into urban sustainability and environmental justice issues.
For a more in-depth appreciation of what this looks like, please read Michael Bryson and Michael's Haward's
For a more in-depth appreciation of what this looks like, please read Michael Bryson and Michael's Haward's
Cultivating the Wild on Chicago's South Side:
Stories of People and Nature at Eden Place Nature Center
"...And what of the wild, both around and within us? How do reclaimed inner-city green
spaces like Eden Place cultivate wildness? Michael Howard’s mantra is a deceptively simple
truth: "If we build it, the wild will come." Not just refuge-seeking animals, the furtive coyote,
and the soaring hawk, but also the teeming microbes and invertebrates of a restored topsoil
enriched by years of compost and rooted with prairie forbs and grasses. These, too, are
manifestations of the wild. Not just the acquisition of ecological literacy among children and
their families, but also the renewed joy of working the soil, tending vegetables and greens,
planting trees—small acts of stewardship and healing that, bit by bit, counteract decades of
alienation, fear, and cultural trauma. These, too, are reclamations of the wild through both bodily
labor and cultural memory. At Eden Place, the wild is not simply there; it is always in the
process of being remade."
Stories of People and Nature at Eden Place Nature Center
"...And what of the wild, both around and within us? How do reclaimed inner-city green
spaces like Eden Place cultivate wildness? Michael Howard’s mantra is a deceptively simple
truth: "If we build it, the wild will come." Not just refuge-seeking animals, the furtive coyote,
and the soaring hawk, but also the teeming microbes and invertebrates of a restored topsoil
enriched by years of compost and rooted with prairie forbs and grasses. These, too, are
manifestations of the wild. Not just the acquisition of ecological literacy among children and
their families, but also the renewed joy of working the soil, tending vegetables and greens,
planting trees—small acts of stewardship and healing that, bit by bit, counteract decades of
alienation, fear, and cultural trauma. These, too, are reclamations of the wild through both bodily
labor and cultural memory. At Eden Place, the wild is not simply there; it is always in the
process of being remade."
