Stewardship Projects - A Guide for Environmental Stewards
The beginning of sustained stewardship in local communities
Stewardship is an action-oriented ethic that addresses the relationships between people and the wider community of life, living organisms and the inanimate environment, and the interactions between all of them. It involves activities, behaviors, and decisions carried out by individuals, groups, or networks (that is, stewards), including the responsible care (including restoration), use, protection, and tending of the land, environment, and climate. This ethic is informed by a combination of science, moral obligation to social equity and justice (including intergenerational), and acknowledgement of the intrinsic value of the environment that sustains us. Generally speaking, stewardship involves principles of preservation, conservation, sustainability, and adherence to the precautionary principle (i.e., where there are threats of serious or irreversible damage, lack of scientific certainty should not be used as a reason for postponing mitigation efforts), and related practices, which enhance resilience in ecosystems and the wider community of life (Attfield, 2016; NOAA, 2022; Chapin et al., 2010; Leopold, 1949).
As a way of demonstrating knowledge gained in Climate Stewards and California Naturalist courses, participants utilize their passions and personal interests to benefit their local communities by planning and implementing a Stewardship Project (formerly known as Capstone Project). An important aspect of this project is the concept of service learning, in which participants contribute to community welfare by addressing locally identified issues and at the same time gain insight into their local environments. By combining service with learning, mutual growth and development is fostered for both the learner and the community. Therefore, the outcome of this course requirement is a completed or conceptualized project that supports an organization and/or community. In California Naturalist courses, the Stewardship Project can also work in conjunction with the course Participatory Science project and/or the course iNaturalist project.
Participants must get pre-approval for their projects early in the course and submit a project proposal. The Project Proposal Form assists participants with organizing their projects, outlining project outcomes, timelines, and what is needed to complete the proposed project within the required time frame.
Instructors can support the development of participant Stewardship Projects and also increase stewardship at their own organizations by creating and sharing a list of potential projects that serve their organizations.
Participants are encouraged to work in teams. Coordinating projects with classmates has shown to be an important factor in creating ongoing stewardship practices, the ultimate goal of both California Naturalist and Climate Stewards courses. Participants will deliver individual or group Stewardship presentations (five minutes per person) on graduation day. Presentations can be completed in many different ways, including slideshows, videos, essays, or a speech.
Participants are required to complete a Stewardship Project in one of six areas:
- Community Resilience and Adaptation
- Conservation/Restoration
- Education/Interpretation
- Environmental and Climate Justice
- Participatory Science, or
- Program Support
Some examples of each are provided below. Click on the links to view the projects.
Stewardship Project Category | Project Examples (Links) | Project Significance |
|---|---|---|
Environmental and Climate Justice | Interesting presentation; often overlooked environmental problem Good example of how to use StoryMaps to share data, project outcomes, and to engage a specific audience | |
Program Support | Technical support- an interactive site that benefits a local nonprofit land trust Marketing and outreach support - an attractive, informative newsletter encouraging volunteerism | |
Participatory Science | Highly participatory example Good example using iNaturalist | |
Community Resilience and Adaptation | Educational webpage advocating for a community project with an Indigenous Knowledge focus Participant established a continued stewardship practice for self in their community | |
Education and Interpretation | Colorful, engaging presentation of a highly relevant subject Cultural and horticultural education lesson plan and presentation | |
Conservation and Restoration | Informative video project that could easily be converted to a PSA or IG Story, etc. Participant became certified in Indigenous Knowledge - based stewardship at a local organization |
Please see our Stewardship Project Guidelines for more details about the requirements for Stewardship Projects.
Participants are expected to spend a minimum of eight (8) hours on the Stewardship Project in addition to the forty (40) hours of course contact time, and will add hours spent on the Stewardship Project into the Volunteer Portal.
By the last day of class, California Naturalists and Climate Stewards shall have:
- Finished the initial 8 hours of volunteer work for the project
- Presented the project to the class, and
- Added the stewardship activity, project title and description, location information and first 8 hours of volunteer time to the Volunteer Portal
Participants are requested to add documents and/or websites associated with their stewardship projects to the portal.
The UC Environmental Stewards Volunteer Portal is the hub for California Naturalists, Climate Stewards, their instructors, and UC Environmental Stewards staff. UC Environmental Stewards uses the data collected to demonstrate the collective impact of California Naturalists and Climate Stewards.
Helpful resources:
Volunteer Portal Help Webpage with video links
Step-by-step PDF slideshow for entering Stewardship Project hours and information in the Volunteer Portal
UC Environmental Stewards encourages certificate holders to maintain a practice of logging their volunteer hours on the Volunteer Portal beyond completion of a course. As an incentive, UC Environmental Stewards offers annual service pins to certified California Naturalists and Climate Stewards who record 40 or more volunteer hours on the Volunteer Portal within each calendar year. Each annual service pin features a design of a California native organism created by a member of the UC Environmental Stewards community. The eight or more Stewardship Project hours that course participants log on the Volunteer Portal count towards the annual service pin hours.
Annual Service Pins
As the name indicates, the Stewardship Project is intended to be the spark and initial time investment for an ongoing practice of stewardship in local communities and beyond. California Naturalists and Climate Stewards use it as a jumping off point to support climate resilience in varied ways. UC Environmental Stewards is happy to connect participants who are interested in local research related to their projects to UC ANR Cooperative Extension offices and other researchers in our network to advance the impact of Stewardship Projects and expand partnerships in communities.
For instructors: Visit the California Naturalist and Climate Stewards Instructor Communities on Canvas to learn more about course administrative tasks and to find more examples of Stewardship Projects.
