Charles Sturt University (CSU) will celebrate the launch on Tuesday 27 February of six books written and edited by members of the CSU Institute for Land, Water and Society (ILWS).With topics ranging from healthy ageing, freshwater ecosystems in protected areas, and Pacific politics to empowering social workers, the books are encompassed by the ILWS mission to ‘undertake internationally recognised integrated environmental, social and economic research for rural and regional areas’.ILWS director Professor Max Finlayson (pictured) said, “These books from a range of disciplines highlight the variety and depth of work undertaken by Institute members.“Many books contain chapters written by other ILWS members, demonstrating the breadth of expertise available in ILWS for regional Australia.”One author, Associate Professor Rik Thwaites, said his book on the current state and future of community forestry in the Himalayan nation of Nepal was the culmination of years of work by himself and four former students who have graduated with PhDs from CSU in recent years.“Nepal is seen as a model and a laboratory for how community forest can be achieved, managed and implemented. But it is not without its problems, especially as the nation and its people change in the modern world, as we discuss in our book,” Professor Thwaites said.The books to be launched are:* Bernoth, M., & Winkler, D. (2017) (eds.) Healthy ageing and aged care. South Melbourne: Oxford University Press.* Finlayson, C.M., Arthington, A.H., Pittock, J. (eds.) (2017) Freshwater Ecosystems in Protected Areas, Conservation and Management. Routledge.* Midgley, J. & Pawar, M. (eds.) (2017) Future Directions in Social Development, New York. Palgrave Macmillan.* O’Sullivan, D. (2017) Indigeneity: A politics of potential – Australia, Fiji and New Zealand. PolicyPress, University of Bristol.* Pawar, M., Hugman, R., Alexandra, A., Anscombe, A.W.B. (eds.) (2017) Empowering Social workers. Virtuous practitioners. Springer.* Thwaites, R., Fisher, R. & Poudel, M. (eds.) (2018) Community Forestry in Nepal: Adapting to a Changing World. Earthscan from Routledge.The event will commence at 10.30am on Tuesday 27 February in the Gums Café, CSU in Albury-Wodonga.Many of the authors and editors will attend the event, which will be followed by a morning tea and conversations with them.