World Book Day 2023

Solutions for issues like poverty, racism and climate change can be found on your very doorstep or just two door knocks away. Author Cormac Russell is a veteran practitioner of asset-based community development (ABCD). He and John McKnight, the co-originator of ABCD, show how anyone can discover the hidden resources, skills and experience in our neighborhoods to create healthier, safer, greener, more prosperous and welcoming communities by connectiong with your neighbors.

What makes this book an includi favorite? The Connected Community promotes the value of partaking in associational life. Encouraging the building of community and bringing people together is what we at includi also strive for. The illustrative examples from around the world show how we can give others, and thus indirectly ourselves, a foothold in a society that is faltering on many fronts.

Bruce Appleyard revisited his late father Donald’s book Livable Streets (1981). “Livable Streets 2.0” offers a thorough examination of the struggle between automobiles, residents, pedestrians and other users of streets, along with evidence-based, practical strategies for redesigning city street networks that support urban livability.

What makes this book so streetwise? It is a must-read for those who influence future directions in city and transportation planning, urban design, community regeneration, and – not to forget – placemaking. To define accessibility of inclusive third places even better, knowledge about what goes on in the direct urban environment of those places is indispensable.

Jürgen Habermas, an emeritus professor of philosophy, is considered one of the most important thinkers of post-war Germany. “The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere” retraces the emergence and development of the Bourgeois public sphere: a sphere that was distinct from the state and in which citizens could discuss issues of general interest. In light of a media structure changed by digitalization and the crisis of democracy, Habermas recently returned to the topic with his new publication “A New Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere and Deliberative Politics”.

What got this book elected as an includi favorite? Creating relevant public spaces without knowing the history of the public sphere and its crucial role within democracy is unimaginable for us. Both Habermas’ classic, and currently his new book, are of great theoretical value. Pointing to the risks of new communication forms as potential sources of damage to the self-perception of the political public as such, we are motivated to refer to his work in presentations.

American sociologist Ray Oldenburg is the godfather of third places, known by his book “The Great Good Place” (1989). “Celebrating the Third Place” appeared ten years later and highlights the many third places that dot the American landscape and foster civic life. It documents fifteen first-hand accounts by proprietors of third places, as well as appreciations by fans who value spending time here as part of their everyday lives.

What makes this book an instant smile giver? Even though “Celebrating the Third Place” is no longer fully current regarding the existence of some places, the personal stories behind them are of all times. They prove how meaningful seemingly ordinary places – like for example Horizon Books in Traverse City, Michigan, USA – can be. It are third places for all that brighten up the life of the common person – which we all are in the end.

This page-turner features 200 interesting and idiosyncratic places on Earth. Inspired by the movies of director Wes Anderson “Accidentally Wes Anderson” travels to every continent to tell the extraordinary and unexpected true stories behind more than two hundred stunning locations which could very well have passed for a Wes Anderson Film set.

Why does this book deserve a place on our coffee table? Wes Anderson uses a striking visual identity in his movies which evokes a feeling of the past, call it retro vibes. We at includi also like to make a nod to the past by subtly reflecting the regional history of a place and/or by using vintage pieces in our interior designs. The whimsical Andersonesque destinations in the book are not just visually appealing but also inspiring.
Tip: follow Accidentally Wes Anderson on Insta.