At Island Press, we are advocates for change and stewards of knowledge in many forms. Since our inception, our mission has been clear: to provide the best ideas and information to those seeking to understand and protect the environment and create sustainable, equitable solutions to its complex problems. We pursue this mission in a rapidly changing media environment. Increasingly, important conversations take place across blogs, online media outlets, and on social media.
While books continue to be at the heart of our work, we understand that not everyone has the time or resources to write a book, or it may not be the most effective format for their message. That’s why Island Press is proud to offer its Short-form Program as a resource for writers, advocates, nonprofits, and other change agents.
The program provides editorial and marketing support to create original articles, op-eds, and other “short-form” writing on a variety of topics including urban resilience, climate change, environmental justice, energy, conservation, green infrastructure, transportation, planning, design, food, water, and public health. We publish these written pieces in a variety of online and print media outlets and share them on other digital and social media platforms.
Many of our short-form contributors bring new and underrepresented voices to the public conversation on environmental issues. We also publish short-form pieces with current or prospective Island Press book authors, who find that articles and op-eds are a great way to “road test” ideas or bring their book’s message into the public conversation in real time.
To date, the program has published nearly 700 such short-form pieces in outlets including The Guardian, The New York Times, The Nation, The Hill, USA Today, Planning Magazine, and dozens of smaller, local publications.
A compilation of our 2023 short-form work, Resilience Matters: Flourishing in an Era of Extremes, is available for free online. You can also stay up to date with our recently published work by following Island Press on Medium.
Island Press gratefully acknowledges the support of the Freedom Together Foundation, The Kresge Foundation, and The Summit Foundation, without whose support this program would not be possible. Read our Code of Ethics statement here.
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Are you working to improve your community? Have ideas about building a greener, fairer future? Consider collaborating with the Island Press Short-form Program. We can help hone your ideas and get your message out to audiences that matter. Contact Editor Laurie Mazur lmazur@islandpress.org for more information.
If you are a nonprofit organization, governmental agency, university department, or other like-minded group, we encourage you to also learn more about the Island Press Partnership Program.
Note: Prior to 2024, the Island Press Short-form Program was known as the Island Press Urban Resilience Project (URP). More details about that iteration of the program can be found here. Books on urban resilience topics continue to be supported. For book projects please contact (editorial@islandpress.org) or the appropriate editor.