Stewardship means tending to the systems that support us. It's maintaining access tracks before they're needed, testing backup communication systems, servicing equipment while it still works, documenting local knowledge about fire behaviour or flood patterns. It's the practice of looking after soil, water, infrastructure, community capacity, and trust.
Stewardship looks after long-term wellbeing. It balances getting things done with keeping things healthy. It asks: what are we maintaining or improving for others including those who come after us?
Good stewards recognise that systems cannot be owned, only cared for. They pay attention to the quiet foundations that keep everything working: healthy soil, clear processes, reliable relationships.
Resilient communities rely on stewards who see themselves as part of something larger. By caring for the foundations that sustain life and connection, they keep renewal possible. Stewardship is the steady work that lets everything else continue
Something to chew on:
What part of your community are you looking after today that others will depend on tomorrow?
Resilience Bites offers weekly insights from the Australian Resilience Centre, drawn from decades of work alongside communities across Australia and internationally. Each Bite explores an aspect of resilience and closes with a reflective question to chew on.
Across the series we'll explore themes that shape resilience in practice, including place, patterns, networks, leadership, learning, feedbacks, thresholds and the deeper work of change.
This series is for people working in communities, landscapes, systems and change. It will help you learn key resilience concepts, apply them in practice and build our collective capacity to create resilient futures.
To learn more about the Australian Resilience Centre and explore our work and services, please visit https://www.ausresilience.com.au/
To read published Bites, please visit https://resiliencebites.ausresilience.com.au/
