Bringing People Back In: Civic Ecology in Urban Social-Ecological Systems Keith G. Tidball Civic Ecology Initiative Dept. Of Natural Resources, Cornell University 2008 Summer Joint Session of the Northeast Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Directors, and the Council for Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching. Washington, DC

Introduction- Urban Challenges Foundations- Theory and Key Concepts Civic Ecology Initiative- What is it? Examples of Civic Ecology Programs Examples of Civic Ecology Research Examples of Civic Ecology Teaching Conclusions

An Urban challenge? Urbanization & Sustainability are two important and overlapping “systems” that require study urgently and have both societal and ecological implications. United Nations World Urbanization. “[Urban] people cannot care about what they have not experienced. Neither will they have much interest in paying the taxes or providing the political support which is necessary to maintain [natural areas like] national parks.” — JUDY LING WONG

Humans: In or Out? James Watt, US Secretary of the Interior during the Reagan administration, expressed a popular belief when he wrote that the earth is “merely a temporary way station on the road to eternal life … The earth was put here by the Lord for His people to subdue and use for profitable purposes on their way to the hereafter.” “...humans are part of the landscape, have always been so, and...if managed, do not have to be viewed as destructive agents” Aldo Leopold “Scientists (and extensionists) are key participants in the struggle to maintain the world’s biodiversity and manage its natural resources... (we) cannot effectively contribute without models that incorporate the activities of our own species.” Collins et al

The Urban Environment Is Complex! See: 8/06/25/a-new-map/

System Dynamics entails making three fundamental shifts of mind relative to our traditional way of thinking. 1.From linear, laundry list thinking to a circular, closed-loop view of causality. 2. A shift from an external to an internal focus on performance, how we, not others, are responsible for most of the results we get. 3. A focus on an operational view of how things actually work. This is in contrast to traditional analysis methods based on statistical correlation of trends from the past.

Resilience Resilience theory is an expanding body of ideas that attempts to provide explanations for the source and role of change in adaptive systems, particularly the kinds of change that are transforming. Panarchy diagram courtesy of The Sustainable Scale Project. Resilience is the capacity of a system to absorb disturbance and reorganize while undergoing change so as to still retain essentially the same function, structure, identity, and feedbacks Walker, B., C. S. Holling, S. R. Carpenter, and A. Kinzig Resilience, adaptability and transformability in social–ecological systems. Ecology and Society 9(2): 5. [online] URL:

We combine these notions in our urban Civic Ecology Initiative...which asks: “How might we better understand civic environmentalism, so that we can help foster its positive ecological and social outcomes in cities?”...a Philosophy...a Practice...a Science

...a Philosophy...a Science...a Practice Values Ethics Human Dimensions Land Ethic Urban Ecology Resilience Theory Biophilia Benefits of nature exposure Ecological/Environmental & Conservation Anthropology Community Gardening Community Forestry Watershed restoration Civic Agriculture Other Urban Restoration Civic Ecology is... a Philosophy, a Science, a Practice...

Civic Ecology Education...a Philosophy...a Practice...a Science For civic ecology practices to endure, they must continue to integrate new participants, including young people. Civic ecology education refers to the learning and social and ecological outcomes that occur when young people and other novices become engaged in civic ecology practices.

Program Examples

Research Examples- Resilient Green "Resilient Green" / Civic Ecology Publications Civic Ecology Education: A Systems Approach to Resilience and Learning In Cities- Krasny & Tidball, Civic Ecology InitiativeCivic Ecology Education: A Systems Approach to Resilience and Learning In Cities- Krasny & Tidball, Civic Ecology Initiative From Risk to Resilience: A Role for Community Greening and Civic Ecology in Cities- Tidball & Krasny, in Wals, Arjen (editor) (2007), Social Learning Towards a more Sustainable World, Wageningen Academic Publishers, Wageningen, The Netherlands.From Risk to Resilience: A Role for Community Greening and Civic Ecology in Cities- Tidball & Krasny, in Wals, Arjen (editor) (2007), Social Learning Towards a more Sustainable World, Wageningen Academic Publishers, Wageningen, The Netherlands. Environment-shaping: An Alternative Approach to Applying Foreign Development Assistance- Weinstein & Tidball, Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding, March 2007.Environment-shaping: An Alternative Approach to Applying Foreign Development Assistance- Weinstein & Tidball, Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding, March "Resilient Green" Presentations 2008 Resilience Alliance Conference: "Raising" Urban Resilience: Urban Community Forestry in Post-disaster and Post-Conflict Contexts2008 Resilience Alliance Conference: "Raising" Urban Resilience: Urban Community Forestry in Post-disaster and Post-Conflict Contexts 2007 World Environmental Education Congress: Civic Ecology Education 2006 Science Education for Civic Participation Seminar: Adaptive Learning To Enhance Community Resilience Toward a Natural Resource Intervention: Community Greening as a First Response Tool for Post-Crisis In Urban ContextsToward a Natural Resource Intervention: Community Greening as a First Response Tool for Post-Crisis In Urban Contexts Urban Community Greening and Community Resilience "Resilient Green" funded research proposalsUrban Community Greening and Community Resilience Survey of Urban Community Greening Efforts to Reduce Violence and Conflict in Cape Town, South Africa Townships. Survey of Urban Community Greening Efforts to Reduce Violence and Conflict in Cape Town, South Africa Townships Role of Community Forestry in NOLA, 9th Ward Disaster Recovery. Role of Community Forestry in NOLA, 9th Ward Disaster Recovery Urban Community Greening: Exploring a Comprehensive Strategy for Building Sustainable CitieUrban Community Greening: Exploring a Comprehensive Strategy for Building Sustainable Cities 2006

Research Examples- Civic Ecology Education

Teaching examples Urban Environments Course Cornell, Natural Resources 494/694 “Urban Environments/Alternative Spring Break NYC.” Spring Green Cities Course Cornell, City and Regional Planning 384/584 “Green Cities.” With Elan Shapiro, Fall Cayuga Lake Watershed Course Cornell, Natural Resources 694 “Transdisciplinary Approaches to Environmental Challenges: Towards a Report Card for Cayuga Lake. Spring 2008

In Conclusion... “Conservationists will be a lot more effective if they take cities and the people who live in them much more seriously. Cities have a bad name in many quarters of the conservation community... Conversely, the conservation movement has a bad name among many who work on urban problems... The truth is that protecting nature and improving city life are interdependent goals. Conservation and urban leaders are natural allies. The challenge is in making the right connections.” — TED TRZYNA

"...the weeds in a city lot convey the same lesson as the redwoods." “A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise.” -- Aldo Leopold Thank you!

References Collins, J. et al A New Urban Ecology. American Scientist. Vol. 88, No. 5. Flader, S. L. & Callicott, J. B., eds. (1991). The River of the Mother God and other essays by Aldo Leopold. Madison WI: Univ. WI Press. United Nations World Urbanization. Walker, B., C. S. Holling, S. R. Carpenter, and A. Kinzig Resilience, adaptability and transformability in social– ecological systems. Ecology and Society 9(2): 5. [online] URL: Watt,J. “Ours is the Earth,” Saturday Evening Post, January/February 1982, pp. 74‐75.