Place-Based Solutions

Charles G. Curtin's Place-Based Solutions argues for a 'prosilience' approach—moving beyond returning to past baselines toward intentionally designing landscapes and institutions that thrive amid novel crises.

Drawing on decades of on-the-ground conservation and climate adaptation work, Curtin emphasizes small and mid-sized organizations, ethical and equitable institutional design, and long-term learning.

The book presents real-world examples—rancher-led collaborations, carbon-negative interventions like biochar, and regional projects linking burned-forest biomass to local economies—to show how local incentives and monitoring can scale impact.

Curtin critiques top-down solutions and highlights the 'messy middle' where most human-environment interactions occur, calling for adaptive, culturally grounded collaboration.

Ultimately, he presents a hopeful, pragmatic roadmap for aligning finance, technology, and traditional knowledge to produce regenerative outcomes across landscapes.