Stewardship of Public Lands Compendium

Explore work being implemented on AASCU campuses.

AASCU’s Stewardship of Public Lands (SOPL) program, an initiative of the American Democracy Project (ADP), fostered innovative civic collaborations, responsible stewardship practices, and equity-focused experiential learning through a yearlong cohort experience. Critical to our work was a weeklong experience at Glacier National Park, which inspired multiple avenues for implementing environmental sustainability and constructive discourse into public colleges and universities across the United States. The 2024 SOPL compendium highlights how this cohort’s work is being implemented on AASCU’s ADP campuses through course plans, syllabi, engagement plans, research, and reflections. Through our work, we built a robust community of practice, eager to share our work and reflections with the broader higher education community. SOPL demonstrates AASCU’s commitment to enhancing accessibility to national parks and sparking new avenues of opportunity for AASCU students to connect to the outdoors. Because SOPL placed participants in the heart of a community and fostered social connections, our fundamental work promotes how we can think critically and compassionately about society. In our deeply divided and polarized world, AASCU’s SOPL provides a way to inspire a whole generation of learners to be thoughtful stewards of place through collaboration, empathy, and respect.

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