Learn | Teach | Grow
The Center for Sustainable Stewardship (CSS) is a 501(c)3 non-profit dedicated to cultivating the next generation of stewards. Located within a protected watershed just minutes from Franklin and Nashville, Tennessee, we provide education and fellowship for those learning, practicing, and teaching the preservation of our natural and agricultural heritage. We understand that a strengthened connection with nature increases wellness of mind and body even as it creates community. Visitors and members are invited to learn from our community so that they may contribute to our shared communities.
Community Open House Hours: Saturday, Sunday, Monday: 10am to 2 pm
Members and their guests may visit at additional times by appointment.
The Center for Sustainable Stewardship is growing our membership and educating stewards. CSS provides hiking trails, loaner bicycles, educational experiences, regenerative farming opportunities, research opportunities and access to a beautiful watershed just minutes from Franklin and Nashville, TN. We encourage our members to disconnect from screens, listen to the rustle of the trees, get their feet wet, their hands dirty, and experience the great outdoors. By protecting land and water and supporting biological, horticultural, and cultural diversity, we leave a legacy for future generations. Through our artist- and scholar-in-residence programs we support future thought leaders. Our world is changing, the human population is expanding and natural places are becoming rarer. We treasure our watershed and hope to inspire others to regenerate natural environments wherever they may live. Come join us!
The Center for Sustainable Stewardship is a 501(c)3 non-profit 501(c)3 dedicated to cultivating the next generation of stewards. We recognize that sustainability requires the preservation of our natural heritage. We CONSERVE watersheds with their native plants and animals, CONNECT people to nature, and PROVIDE support for research, local regenerative farmers, retreat participants, and artists/scholars within a 2000-acre nature preserve.
Through our Sustainable University (SUSTAINABLE U). we plan to educate more stewards to help conserve natural areas and educate regenerative farmers for future generations.
Our Vision is that by connecting folks to natural experiences, we are bonding a new generation to increasingly compromised land. We provide experiences that foster creativity, stimulate critical thinking, and strengthen connection to our natural world. We appreciate the traditions of the past, and encourage experiential learning to students of all ages, thereby transferring perennial wisdom to future generations.
We promote sustainable stewardship of land and water and personal well-being through education and experiences with nature. We disconnect from our screens, listen to the rustle of the trees, and are inspired by nature. Our planet is changing, the human population is expanding and pristine watersheds are becoming rarer. We treasure the Big East Fork Valley and seek to protect it and other watersheds like it. Come join us!
We are honored to protect the land for the future. That protection is our blessing to those Stewards of the future.
Value Statement:
We will serve as Stewards of our precious natural environment and be active in both conservation and regenerative efforts. We believe biodiversity has intrinsic worth. We will protect the land, water, plants and animals of the watersheds and natural spaces everywhere. We will encourage others to experience, explore, and appreciate the nature seen here through the seasons. We understand that stewardship of our relationship to 1) nature, 2) others, and 3) ourselves. We will inspire visitors to identify and protect watersheds and natural spaces in their own communities.
Land/Biodiversity Stewardship:
Forest and watershed protection, nature study and appreciation, environmental education, regenerative/organic farming. We host the annual Conservative Stewardship Symposium in the Big East Fork Valley.
Our Mission:
1) demonstrate sustainable stewardship of the land and water by providing support for diverse plants, animals, and regenerative agriculture
2) build community that fosters well-being through education and connection with our natural world.
3) provide education and experiences in the forests, creeks, farm, outdoor studios and classroom.
4) inspire visitors and supporters to be sustainable stewards in our shared communities.
We are a member-supported 501(c)3 non-profit nestled within the valley created by Big East Fork Creek, a tributary of the South Harpeth River. The 713 acre campus of Center for Sustainable Stewardship is located in a conservation easement which, with your help, we seek to enlarge and build structures for meeting and education. CSS operates a small farm on several acres shared with our menagerie of friendly animals and a community garden. It gives grants to and incubates entreprenneurial farmers using regenerative and sustainable technologies. The CSS Adventure Center lends bicycles and watercraft to its members and supporters. CSS offers grants to entreprenneural farmers who offer tours and agritourism experiences.