Drawing on the wisdom of indigenous (Spiller, 2021) understandings of the relationship between humans and nature, this workshop explores notions of ‘stewardship’ (Davis et al, 1997) in different contexts to evaluate its potential to replace the debased currency of leadership across a range of stakeholders. Building on an integrative literature review across six research domains, from arts and humanities to the physical and social sciences, the workshop will explore what is at the core of human understandings of stewardship and how these are currently utilised in sustainability-related activity. It will posit a return to the relational ontologies of indigenous cultures, with their profound connections between humans and nature and the consequent obligation of stewardship - in contrast to Enlightenment beliefs in the domination of nature for our own purposes (Banerjee and Arjaliès 2021) – as fundamental to addressing the current ecological crises and other Sustainable Development Goals.

All welcome - registration required.

Please register below - registrations close 24 hours before the event.

Image at top of page: Mikhail Nilov, Pexels

Marian Iszatt-White is a Senior Lecturer in Leadership at Lancaster University Management School (LUMS) and a member of the Pentland Centre for Sustainability in Business. Her research interests revolve around the practice turn in leadership and its implications for ‘aspirational’ forms of leadership (Authentic, Responsible, Sustainable, Ethical) and leadership development. Her most recent work centres on ideas of stewardship across various research domains and as a potential successor to our hopes and aspirations for the leadership construct. She has published in journals such as Leadership, Management Learning, Organization Studies and Journal of Business Ethics, and has published four books, including a post-graduate leadership textbook (now in its third edition) and an edited volume on leadership as emotional labour. She is on a number of editorial boards and is Co-Editor in Chief for the International Journal of Management Reviews.

Health & Safety and access information

* In order to safeguard everyone's health, if you test positive for Covid-19 before the event, or are feeling unwell in any way, please don't attend (and please let us know).

* You are encouraged to wear face coverings during the event, unless eating and drinking.

* Please maintain good hand hygiene, washing your hands regularly/before eating or drinking, and making use of hand sanitiser.

* The room is wheelchair accessible and has an induction loop

Find out more about the Pentland Centre on our website