Grassroots Stewardship: Sustainability Within Our Reach

by F. Stuart Chapin III

In a society more concerned with how to cope with existential dread than how to make actionable changes to save the planet, a surprisingly large number of Americans identify as environmentalists. What can individual people do to lessen human impacts on the planet? This is not an easy question. Most research is focused on large-scale changes that go beyond anything an individual can accomplish, and people are left feeling defeated rather than inspired to make changes in their everyday lives. Change starts at home, and F Stuart Chapin, III has assembled a book for people who want to learn more about global changes and, more importantly, what they can do about them, starting today.

Grassroots Stewardship approaches our current situation with an educated sense of hope and positivity. This book emphasizes actions by individuals, rather than governmental or corporate institutions, to trigger transformational change. Readers will learn what they can do to most significantly transform their communities and the planet with more sustainable pathways.

236 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 3, 2020

About the author

F. Stuart Chapin III, known to his friends as “Terry,” is an Alaskan ecologist who has written leading textbooks in ecosystem stewardship, ecosystem ecology, and plant physiological ecology. Based on his stewardship work, for which he was awarded the 2019 Volvo Environment Prize, he wrote “Grassroots Stewardship: Sustainability Within Our Reach” to explore stewardship with a general audience. This book presents a positive and pragmatic strategy by which individual citizens can shape a more sustainable future for nature and society.

Chapin’s research addresses the effects of changes in climate and wildfire on Alaskan ecology and rural communities. He explores ways that communities and agencies can increase sustainability of ecosystems and human communities over the long term despite rapid climatic and social changes. In this way, society can proactively shape changes toward a more sustainable future. He pursues this internationally through the Resilience Alliance, nationally through the Ecological Society of America, and in Alaska through partnerships with rural indigenous communities.