John Fraser - The Social Value of Zoos

The Social Value of Zoos

Combining anecdotes with scientific data, this book is a journalistic inquiry into what is currently known about zoos and aquariums as sociocultural intersections of mission, public perception, and on-site meaning making. The authors draw on conservation psychology and other social science research to explore how zoos might develop and deliver more effective learning experiences to promote and nurture conservation values and collective action. While people use zoos with specific priorities and motivations in mind, these are social settings. Indeed, it is because they represent an important, vast, and trusted social enterprise that zoos have such powerful opportunities to change how diverse public audiences view, value, identify, and engage with animals and the broader biophysical environment.

John Fraser is a conservation psychologist, architect, and educator with over thirty years working with zoos and aquariums, and studying how they function in society. He is the President and CEO of Knology, a research institute in the United States; serves as Editor-in-Chief of Curator: The Museum Journal ; and is a past president of the Society for Environment, Population and Conservation Psychology.

Tawnya Switzer is a collaborative writer, who supports thought leaders at Knology, Open Society Foundations, Union Congregational Church, and the Transformative Justice in Education Center at UC Davis. A patterns thinker, Tawnya focuses on dynamics, strategies, and high-impact communications that advance well-being, equity, justice, and sustainability.

The Social Value of Zoos

John Fraser

Tawnya Switzer

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Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9781108486132

DOI : 10.1017/9781108644679

John Fraser and Tawnya Switzer 2021

This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press.

First published 2021

A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names : Fraser, John Robert, 1960- author. | Switzer, Tawnya, 1977- author.

Title : The social value of zoos / John Fraser, New Knowledge Organization Ltd, Tawnya Switzer.

Description : Cambridge, UK ; New York, NY : Cambridge University Press, 2021. | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2020036363 (print) | LCCN 2020036364 (ebook) | ISBN 9781108486132 (hardback) | ISBN 9781108731812 (paperback) | ISBN 9781108644679 (epub)

Subjects : LCSH : Zoos Social aspects.

Classification: LCC QL 76 . F 73 2021 (print) | LCC QL 76 (ebook) | DDC