Core Stewardship Principle
Expand skill and confidence in outdoor awareness, responsibility and survival
Deepen understanding of how modern lifestyles affect the envi- ronment. Expand leadership and problem-solving skills by seeking solutions to ecological imbalances.
Expand abilities to understand and empathize with others while explor- ing and responding to local social and environmental issues.
For Older Children (Ages 13 and older) Stewardship Opportunity
Research the meaning of sustainable harvest. How can the environment provide our needs without being damaged by human impact? Learn how to find your way in a natural area using maps, compass and/or GPS. Learn how to recognize at least two constellations in the night sky in each season. Learn how to tell the four directions using clues in the sky.
Calculate your ecological footprint. Research how your country’s lifestyle consumes global resources, and how this compares with other countries. What does sustainability mean? Make a goal for yourself on reducing your ecological footprint. Try it for a month and assess how successful you’ve been. Get your family and school involved too.
Find an organization that is making a difference in your community. Volunteer. Teach someone younger than you an outdoor skill. Find someone to tell you how your area has changed over the years. Find a local hero who is working to protect the environment. Arrange for them to speak at your school. Volunteer in a natural area to help with trail maintenance, ecological restoration or control of invasive species. Help with a community tree-planting project. Participate in planning, planting, maintenance and monitoring. Do you think it was a successful project? Would you make any changes in future projects?
Learn about social and environmental justice.
Find an issue of local concern that you feel strongly about. What problem needs to be solved? How does this issue align with global issues? Get involved. Learn simple action skills: how to make a presentation, how to write a convincing letter, how to organize an event. Learn how to listen and try to understand multiple points of view. Find a mentor who can help you learn and do more to solve this problem.
Express your feelings about your local environment.
Write a story, a poem, create a visual art piece, or write a play that captures your feelings about the land you occupy. Write a letter to your ancestors. What would you say is worth protecting for your children and for their children?
organizations including schools, early childhood programs, youth leaders, Indigenous groups, parent councils, munici- palities and faith groups. Work together in order to develop a plan that ensures every child has access to key stewardship opportunities throughout their development. Then encour- age other communities to do the same. In the end, it takes the heart and conviction of a village, to raise a steward.
Jacob Rodenburg is the Executive Director of Camp Kawartha, an outdoor and environmental learning centre near Peterborough, Ontario. As well, he is the co-author of The Big Book of Nature Activities (New Society Press). For more information about the Pathway to Stewardship initia- tive, visit:
www.campkawartha.ca/pathway-to-stewardship An earlier version of this article was published in the Jan-
uary 2017 edition of Interactions, the journal of the Ontario Society for Environmental Education (
www.osee.org), and is reprinted here with permission. It will also appear this spring in Worldwatch’s new book EarthEd: Rethinking Education on a Changing Planet. (
www.worldwatch.org). Jacob would like to thank Cathy Dueck and Nicole Bell for their invaluable contributions to the Pathway to Stewardship Initiative.
Notes
1. David Sobel “Beyond Ecophobia, Reclaiming the Heart in Nature Educa- tion” Orion Society, Great Barrington, Massachusetts; 2nd Edition, June 2013
2. Simeon Oronda, “What Kind of Children Are We Leaving Behind for Our Planet” Huffington Post Blog, April 21, 2015
3. Mark Olfson, M.D., M.P.H., Benjamin G. Druss, M.D., M.P.H., and Steven C. Marcus, Ph.D. Trends in Mental Health Care among Children and Adolescents, New England Journal of Medicine, May 21, 2015: Jean T. Twenge et al. Birth cohort increases in psychopathology among young Americans, 1938–2007: Report by the Centre of Disease Control and Preventions. Increasing Prevalence of Parent-Reported Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Among Children, United States, 2003 and 2007. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, Novem- ber 12th, 2010: E. Jane Costello, PhD; Sarah Mustillo, PhD; Alaattin Erkanli, PhD; et al. Prevalence and Development of Psychiatric Disorders in Childhood and Adolescence. Arch Gen Psychiatry, Vol 60, August 2003
4. Parliament of Canada, Healthy Weights of Healthy Kids – Report of the Standing Committee on Health 2007
5. ParticiPACTION – The Biggest Risk is Keeping Kids Indoors, The Partici- pACTION Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth, 2015. Found at:
www.participaction.com/sites/default/files/downloads/Participaction- 2015ReportCard-FullReport_4.pdf
6. Richard Louv, The Last Child in the Woods – Saving our children from Nature Deficit Disorder. Workman Publishing, 2005
7. Joy A. Palmer, Jennifer Suggate, Ian Robottom & Paul Hart, Significant Life Experiences and Formative Influences on the Development of Adults’ Environ- mental Awareness in the UK, Australia and Canada, Journal of Environmental Research, Volume 5, 1999.
8. Nicole Bell, Nicole Bell is Anishinaabe (bear clan) from Kitigan Zibi First Nation and an assistant professor and senior Indigenous adviser at Trent Uni- versity’s School of Education and Professional Learning. Author of: “The Ways of Knowing Guide – Earth’s Teachings.” Available at
www.torontozoo.com/ pdfs/tic/ways-of-knowing.pdf
9. Cathy Dueck – Pathway to Stewardship Document:
www.campkawartha.ca/ pathway-to-stewardship
10. Louise Chawla, Significant Life Experiences Revisited: a review of research on sources of environmental sensitivity. Journal of Environmental Research, Volume 4, 1998.
11. Nicole Bell Author of: “The Ways of Knowing Guide – Earth’s Teachings.” Available at
www.torontozoo.com/pdfs/tic/ways-of-knowing.pdf
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