Since the Program has the name 'Global Stewardship' I thought it worthwhile to see how the term has been used by others. At the bottom is a selection of links to resources that can help us define mission and methods
Many sites which refer explicitly to "Global Stewardship" have a Christian and missionary focus; others seem to emphasize environmental ethics and sustainable development.
The Pew Charitable Trusts had a Global Stewardship Initiative in the early 1990's, but few traces of the term remain on their Web site (see attacks on Pew and other "liberal activist" foundations at www.capitalresearch.org to get something of the bitter flavor of recent debates)
Here are a number of links to sources that seem to have something of the same meaning for the term that we intend:
AAAS Roger Revelle Fellowship in Global Stewardship(A post-doctoral program at the intersection of science, technology, and public policy: "The focus will be on human interaction with ecosystems, which includes, but is not limited to, population, sustainable development, food, oceans, global climate change, and related environmental concerns."Canada's Commitment to Global Stewardship (Dr. Robert Slater)
...we have a conflict between the needs of people, the needs of the economy, and the needs of nature. We have that conflict not only on a local scale in our communities, but also on a global scaleWhat is Stewardship? from University of Idaho Extension Forestry
Stewardship connotes an awareness of the natural systems surrounding us, of social responsibility and dedication... Today, global stewardship is rapidly evolving from a moral concept to the ecological and economic reality of toxic waste and global warming... stewardship is an attitude, a dedication to doing the best we can for the land, whether it be the entire globe, the nation, or our own private land. We must accept that each of us will and must define what is best for the land, and we will not always agree, and will not always be right. How people define good land stewardship is not so important as that they develop and practice a stewardship ethic.Education for Life, Work, and Citizenship (an Initiative of the University of Maine System, Sept. 2000 Progress Report)
The University of Maine System has fostered dialogue about the role and responsibility of higher education by initiating system-wide conversation to address the challenge of educating our students for life, work, and stewardship into the new millennium. Students must be prepared to grapple with complex multi-disciplinary issues of the day --poverty, technology, racism, privacy, environmental destruction, violence-- and to connect their knowledge to action. Institutional policies and practices must seek to model democratic values and civic virtues. As Tompkins states, "If the places that young people go to be educated don't embody the ideals of community, cooperation, and harmony, what young people will learn will be the behavior these institutions do exemplify: competition, hierarchy, busyness, and isolation."Human Dimensions of Global Environmental Change: Research Pathways for the Next Decade (1999 --a National Academic Press book which might well serve as the basic reading for the faculty group on Global Stewardship)
I continue to seek examples of empirically-based programs of global scope:
U.S. Global Change Research Program --see their Space-Based Global Change Observations (a 1992 NASA document, which includes the statement that "The U.S. Global Change Research program (USGCRP) is a key component of the nation's overall approach to global stewardship and is one of the nation's highest priority science programs")Center for Health and the Global Environment at Harvard Medical School, and their Quarterly Review. See also Environment and health: Species loss and ecosystem disruption – the implications for human health (Published in the Canadian Journal of Medicine's January 9 issue, written by the Center's Director Eric Chivian, M.D.)
Tracking Marine Morbidity and Mortality from Health Ecological and Economic Dimensions of Major Marine Disturbances Program
One to keep track of: The Environmental Movement's Retreat from Advocating U.S. Population Stabilization (1970-1998): A First Draft of History (Roy Beck and Leon Kolankiewicz Journal of Policy History 12.1 (2000) 123-156)
Journal of World-Systems Research archive
And a journal to consider: Global Change & Human Health
Global Environment & Technology Foundation
Virginia Center for Stewardship ('a "first stop" resource for environmental news, information and events taking place throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia')
A search of Annie for the keyword 'stewardship' is also instructive. This set of 37 should be considered with some care... This is the beginning of an exploration of our existing library resources.
14 Feb
Population and Consumption: Facts & Statistics from GLOBAL ACTION AND INFORMATION NETWORK (1995)
15 Feb
from www.google.com/unclesam search:
NOAA's research in climate prediction and weather forecasting, as supported by the HPCC Program, for example, is critical to its mission to describe and predict changes in the Earth's environment, manage the nation's ocean and coastal resources, and promote global stewardship of the world's oceans and atmosphere...
NASA Environmental Assurance Program
The "Healthy Communities - Indicators Project" (Maine)
Development Center for Appropriate Technology (DCAT)
DCAT fosters creative solutions for meeting current basic human needs in ways that preserve positive options for future generations. DCAT serves as a center for collection, coordination, and distribution of research results, experience, and information, and creates networks which encourage and nurture collaborative projects. In addition, DCAT is committed to making its own contribution toward a new model of global stewardship through education, research, and demonstration of concepts and tools to enable communities to pursue economic and human development in greater harmony with nature.