Stewardship may be actions guided by recommendation of ecologists or planners
and may include formal processes of environment-based collaboration and partnership. Yet land care activity is often initiated by personal connections to a natural
resource or system that is in decline, neglected, or is threatened. Individuals or small
groups of people often come together around a common, often urgent environmental
cause (Wondolleck and Yaffee 2000; Svendsen and Campbell 2008). Some ES
participants are motivated to address environmental recovery and health, others
work to improve the social conditions of their communities and households
(Romolini et al. 2012), and some respond to need or risk in one’s neighborhood or
a valued place.
“Ecosystem service” is a term that describes the full scope of nature’s contributions to human health and welfare. It represents international efforts to define and
describe the complex, essential human dependencies on nature and ecology. As
people and organizations come to recognize the many benefits provided by metro
nature, there may be greater interest in personally reconnecting with nature’s systems. With new commitments to sustainability and social–ecological systems, there
is increasing opportunity for resident involvement in the development and nurturing
of their nearby spaces and places.
Political and fiscal realities of local governments provide opportunity, and in
some instances necessity, for civic engagement in green infrastructure and sustainability systems. Organized action for lands management, ecological restoration, and
biodiversity reconnects people with their regional landscapes. The sacred city is one
in which environmental wellness, ecological function, and stewardship engagement
become integrated within the lives of people.
8.6.1 Nature and Meaning
As described earlier, sacred places within the city either provide meaning or emerge
as people embed meaning into place through their activities, gatherings, and interactions. Committed and sustained stewardship activity is one way that meaning is
infused into place within the sacred city. What are some other nature-based sources
of meaning?
Place attachment is the composite of a person’s emotional connection to physical
and social environments. Early attachment studies assessed tourism or recreation
activity (such as hiking or cycling) in distant places, acknowledging the role of
activity to build meaning. More recent studies have focused on the bonds to local
settings. Length of residency, shared social processes, and home and community
garden participation are associated with neighborhood attachment (Comstock et al.
2010). A study of multinational immigrants now living in California (Mazumdar and
Mazumdar 2012) found that immigrant gardens can be: (a) religious spaces enabling
everyday practice of religion as well as meditation and socialization; (b) culture
spaces through access to plants, fruits, and flowers that enable cultural cuisine,
ethnomedicine, and identity continuity; (c) ecological spaces that assist with
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K. L. Wolf
and may include formal processes of environment-based collaboration and partnership. Yet land care activity is often initiated by personal connections to a natural
resource or system that is in decline, neglected, or is threatened. Individuals or small
groups of people often come together around a common, often urgent environmental
cause (Wondolleck and Yaffee 2000; Svendsen and Campbell 2008). Some ES
participants are motivated to address environmental recovery and health, others
work to improve the social conditions of their communities and households
(Romolini et al. 2012), and some respond to need or risk in one’s neighborhood or
a valued place.
“Ecosystem service” is a term that describes the full scope of nature’s contributions to human health and welfare. It represents international efforts to define and
describe the complex, essential human dependencies on nature and ecology. As
people and organizations come to recognize the many benefits provided by metro
nature, there may be greater interest in personally reconnecting with nature’s systems. With new commitments to sustainability and social–ecological systems, there
is increasing opportunity for resident involvement in the development and nurturing
of their nearby spaces and places.
Political and fiscal realities of local governments provide opportunity, and in
some instances necessity, for civic engagement in green infrastructure and sustainability systems. Organized action for lands management, ecological restoration, and
biodiversity reconnects people with their regional landscapes. The sacred city is one
in which environmental wellness, ecological function, and stewardship engagement
become integrated within the lives of people.
8.6.1 Nature and Meaning
As described earlier, sacred places within the city either provide meaning or emerge
as people embed meaning into place through their activities, gatherings, and interactions. Committed and sustained stewardship activity is one way that meaning is
infused into place within the sacred city. What are some other nature-based sources
of meaning?
Place attachment is the composite of a person’s emotional connection to physical
and social environments. Early attachment studies assessed tourism or recreation
activity (such as hiking or cycling) in distant places, acknowledging the role of
activity to build meaning. More recent studies have focused on the bonds to local
settings. Length of residency, shared social processes, and home and community
garden participation are associated with neighborhood attachment (Comstock et al.
2010). A study of multinational immigrants now living in California (Mazumdar and
Mazumdar 2012) found that immigrant gardens can be: (a) religious spaces enabling
everyday practice of religion as well as meditation and socialization; (b) culture
spaces through access to plants, fruits, and flowers that enable cultural cuisine,
ethnomedicine, and identity continuity; (c) ecological spaces that assist with
150
K. L. Wolf