Earth Stewardship: An Initiative by the Ecological Society of America to Foster Engagement to Sustain Planet Earth - Earth Stewardship: Linking Ecology and Ethics in Theory and Practice - page 171

Melillo et al. 2014 ). Civil society, including individual citizens, businesses, religious
and non-governmental organizations, communities, and tribes, have sought to apply
this understanding to reduce society's impacts on the environment, but these efforts
have so far been insuffi cient to stem the tide of degradation of Earth's life-support
system. A broader, ethically framed approach is needed to move forward. We believe
the concept of stewardship provides a compelling framework to move beyond what
science can accomplish on its own.
In 2009, the Ecological Society of America (ESA) launched an initiative in Earth
Stewardship to raise awareness and to explore ways that ecologists and other
scientists could increase their effectiveness in shifting the planet toward a more
sustainable trajectory. This parallels the Planetary Stewardship Initiative developed
internationally as part of scientifi c planning for Future Earth (Steffen et al. 2011 ).
We defi ne Earth Stewardship as a strategy to shape the trajectories of change in
coupled social-ecological systems to foster ecosystem resilience and human
well- being . It builds on sustainability science (Clark and Dickson 2003 ; Kates et al.
2001 ; Matson 2009 ; Turner et al. 2003 ) and explores approaches to apply this
science to urgent problems facing society and the biosphere (Chapin and Fernandez
2013 ).
Stewardship, according to the Merriam Webster dictionary, means “the activity
and job of protecting and being responsible for something” ( http://www.merriam-
webster.com/dictionary/stewardship ) . The word is an old one, dating from the fi f-
teenth century. According to the Online Etymology Dictionary (etymonline.com), it
combines the idea of a house or hall ( stig ), such as on an estate or large farm, with
the concept of a guard ( weard ). Thus, a steward is one who is entrusted with the care
of a household. Responsibility in a deep and participatory sense is suggested by
stewardship. However, it also implies that the task is undertaken on behalf of some-
one else or a larger entity (May Jr ( 2015 ) in this volume [Chap. 7 ]). In English and
Scottish use, it can also apply to the care of a large political jurisdiction. The term
has more recently come to mean provisioning of ships, and by extension, events,
trains, or airplanes.
The original meaning, focusing on households, seems quite appropriate for an
environmental application. A household associated with an area of land would
include related and unrelated persons and would keep and maintain animals, wood-
lots, and gardens. The sense of responsibility and careful guardianship would attend
the stewardship of a household. Consider that the terms “ecology” and “economics”
also come from a formulation based on Greek that includes the idea of the house-
hold - of nature in this case. Ecology is the study of the household of nature, and
economics relates to its management. Stewardship of Earth acknowledges that
humans are members of the household of nature and that they bear responsibility to
care attentively for this household.
The concept of Earth Stewardship, although rooted in religious thought (Conradie
2006 ; Hargrove 2015 in this volume [Chap. 20 ]; Kearns and Keller 2007 ), is a
broadly ethical idea that does not rely on any one religious tradition in its call for
responsibility to and membership in the larger Earth system and community. Indeed,
its inclusiveness is suggested by similarity to principles underlying efforts as