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founding phase live public work · governance, funding, and field infrastructure are still forming · pages may evolve · published with care.
Level 2 · orientation

Planetary Guardians Governance and Protocol Architecture

A forming flow architecture for co-creation, local authority, situated observation, support, correction and accountability without standardising living places.

Institutional and governance architecture
Governance and protocol architecture
Planetary Guardians logo

A forming flow architecture for co-creation: moving from ethical and governance principles into place-based relationship, observation, support, correction and stewardship — and allowing field learning to return. Public knowledge materials are held with explicit status; publication does not establish field activation, universal validity or authority.

What this is

Planetary Guardians is a governance and protocol architecture for place-based ecological stewardship, developed since 2019 and drawing on more than two decades of prior governance research. Spiralweb Stewardship Association is its present Danish organisational home. The earlier website at planetaryguardians.global is retained as historical documentation and is no longer maintained as a current account; current work connected to Planetary Guardians is developed through Spiralweb Stewardship Association. Planetary Guardians is not a single protocol, certification scheme, investment product, universal field method or claim of authority over local stewards.

The architecture asks how ethical orientation, local relationship, situated observation, support, correction and accountability can be held together without turning living places into standardised programmes. Its public components are intentionally separated by function and status.

The Green Papers carry the theoretical, constitutional and methodological arguments. The field pages describe real relationships and preparation. The methods and PG Ledger pages describe how inquiry, consent, observation and correction may be organised. None of these elements alone constitutes an activated protocol.

From principles to place — and back

A sequence of responsibilities, not a universal programme
The architecture is intended to help people move carefully from orientation into place-based practice while preserving local authority and the right to pause.
Ethical and constitutional orientationPublic papers articulate moral, governance and stewardship horizons. They orient inquiry but do not activate a field or confer authority.Public papers
Relationship before programmeEntry begins with a real steward, a lived place, time, trust and permission—not with an imposed package or application form.Working principle
Situated observationLocal knowledge, direct observation, measurement, research and institutional records should be named for what they are and allowed to question one another.Method
Correction and accountabilityClaims, models and proposed interpretations remain correctable. AI may assist functionally, but final responsibility remains with a named human decision-maker.Accountability
Local autonomy and pauseA field may adapt, slow, refuse, withdraw or stop. Climate pressure, safety, consent and stewardship continuity are foundations, not exceptions.Field authority

Different documents, different responsibilities

No single document contains the whole architecture
Each public text should be read according to its own version, scope and stated status.
Report 05 · The Steward's JourneyA light public guide to observation, relationship, support and pause. It is not a fixed scale ladder or complete governance stack.Public guide
PG LedgerThe place-bound memory, provenance and traceability architecture: observations, decisions, uncertainty, dissent, flows, consequences and correction remain connected to their source.Working architecture
Knowing From the GroundThe epistemic argument: how situated, embodied, scientific and institutional forms of knowing can meet without collapsing into one another.Public paper
Sophia Lumen ProtocolThe current explicit, revisable candidate protocol for human–AI co-inquiry. Sophia Lumen names the living relation; publication activates nothing.Candidate protocol
The Correction LoopThe dedicated accountability mechanism for consequential AI-assisted work, including correction rights, stop rights and named human responsibility.Public paper
Penguin DashboardReport 04 v05 candidate defines a small shared reading surface: Land / Life, Steward Viability and Governance / Commons remain non-compensatory, with Green, Yellow, Red or Unknown readings and no aggregate score.Candidate · Public
Regenerative ReciprocityReport 06 holds the value-flow and non-capture architecture for support, steward viability, governance and possible later reciprocity.Public report

Field relationships and preparation

Relationships and preparation before protocol activation
Field status and protocol status are different. A real field relationship does not by itself mean that a protocol, indicator set or evidence cadence is active.
KitgumAn active steward relationship in drought-response and readiness work. The first Applied Format has been completed; this is one documented use, not validation. No regular evidence cadence is presented as active.Active relationship
DoukkalaA locally held pre-pilot inquiry. A bounded first area, baseline, observation categories and cadence remain to be agreed through the place and its steward.Preparing
Other relationshipsHad Soualem and Mexico City are preparing in different ways; Casablanca is a coordination relation rather than an operational field; Karachi is an established relation with no active field process; Iquitos is Not yet opened.See field status

Protocol materials and status

Public protocol and machine-readable materials are published only when their purpose, scope, consent basis, stewardship, claim boundary, review state and practical status can be stated clearly. No protocol file is presented here as an active universal field kernel.

The Protocol Habitat holds public architecture, papers and tools with document-specific status. A wider maintained protocol library and field-application record remain in formation. Publication alone does not mean that a protocol is active in any field.

We publish only what we can hold with care.

How this connects

  • MethodsThe methods layer separates bounded-place entry, situated observation, epistemic responsibility, AI limits and field autonomy.
  • FieldsThe field index carries the current operational grammar for each named place or relationship — including Active, Preparing, Not active, coordination-only and future / not-yet-opened states. These are public relationship and operational-status descriptions, not protocol certifications.
  • AnchorPointsThe relational and place-based threshold where local partners, stewardship continuity and access to a lived place are held. AnchorPoints are not identical to fields or protocols.
  • PG LedgerThe memory, provenance and traceability layer through which situated records can remain connected to source, uncertainty, decisions, flows and later correction. Categories and rhythms remain place-bound, consensual and correctable.
  • Penguin DashboardThe shared human reading surface that can use selected evidence to support bounded judgment and next actions. It is distinct from the Ledger, and neither governs.
  • Green PapersThe versioned public knowledge commons holds papers, protocols, tools and field documents with explicit type, version, publication status and operational status.

The invitation

Planetary Guardians is open to people and institutions able to enter responsible relationship with a place, stewardship practice, inquiry or shared challenge. No one needs to adopt Spiralweb vocabulary, surrender local authority or join a central programme in order to contribute. We do not demand agreement.

Entry begins through place, careful inquiry or dialogue. An open document creates no automatic organisational relationship, entitlement to representation, funding, review or support.

A note on the name

Planetary Guardians began in 2019 as an independent initiative.

In January 2023, Johan Rockström contacted Lars Engberg about a separate initiative that was also preparing to use the name Planetary Guardians. Engberg confirmed that they were welcome to do so. The separate initiative can be found at planetaryguardians.org.

The two initiatives have distinct origins and governance. The shared name reflects permission to coexist, not organisational continuity, representation or affiliation.

← Back to Spiralweb Methods PG Ledger Fields index Green Papers