Journal of Arboriculture 31(3): May 2005 147 diseases as being adequately provided and in equipment operations and public relations as not adequately provided. There was weak agreement that safety was adequately provided. The comparison of these two studies provides evidence that there is fairly consistent agreement about important arboricultural topics and their provision, or lack of, over the past 19 years. It demonstrates some amount of cohesiveness within attitudes about arboriculture education. In McPherson’s 1984 study, the top five important skills in urban forestry were insect and disease control, general botany, tree selection, plant materials, and planting tech- niques. In this 2003 study, the top five urban forestry topics were urban forest management, benefits and values of trees, street tree ordinances, landscape design, and tree inventory. The top five urban forestry skills identified as most fre- quently lacking in education in McPherson’s study were public relations, budgeting, public speaking, writing, and public administration. The 2003 study identified land use planning, zoning and subdivision ordinances, urban fire ecology, urban wildlife, and tree commissions as most frequently lacking. Although there is ambiguity because of the two survey instruments being compared, these results may provide some insight into the dynamic and changing nature of urban forestry education and the profession. This study provides evidence that educators perceive good relationships between the green industry and arboriculture and urban forestry educators in terms of teaching assistance and practical training. It also demon- strates that more funding of teaching and research opportu- nities is desired from both the green industry and universities by educators. It is very apparent in the opinions of respondents that there continue to be problems with the management of public street and park trees, in providing quality informa- tion to municipalities about tree care, and with the improve- ment of utility forestry. As in past studies, there is strong agreement that the benefits of trees and other vegetation are not understood by the general public. The chi-square tests of independence showed very consistent attitudes across respondents. There were no significant differences for the variables arboricultural practices and tree preservation. Living in a city and teaching at a university were significant indicators for the land use planning. The positive attitudes about land use planning are most likely conditioned by the growth and change that is occurring both in many suburban areas and in the desirable places where universities are located. Experience was an important indicator for safety and tree structure (worked as an arborist) and for urban forest management (worked as urban forester). There was strong agreement with respon- dents that the ISA Certified Arborist test was meaningful and relevant, and being a Certified Arborist was a significant positive indicator for the safety variable. The importance of work experience and of the ISA certification program in shaping proper attitudes is supported at some level by these results. Although the importance of gaining supervised field experience continues to be desired by both industry and municipal organizations, the use of internships was ranked fifth in importance by participants in educational methods. We agree with McPherson (1984) that the importance of students gaining practical and expert experience as part of their educational experience must not be overlooked. In both the descriptive statistics and in the constructed variables of land use planning and urban forestry manage- ment, the educational topics involved in urban forestry were much less important to respondents than the more tradi- tional educational components of arboriculture. The topic “urban forestry management” was the most important urban forestry topic, ranking 14th in importance in arboriculture and urban forestry topics. It is interesting to note that this finding is in agreement with the conclusions of the 2001 Review of Higher Education on Urban Forestry in Europe (Randrup et al. 2001). The following conclusions were made in that study of 70 educational institutions in 24 European countries: (1) urban forestry is based on a broad spectrum of disciplines, without any of these being domi- nant; (2) biology, forestry, horticulture, landscape architec- ture, and landscape ecology are central disciplines; and (3) despite the multidisciplinary character, emphasis on social science and aesthetics has been low. The lessons and opportunities of arboriculture and urban forestry education in Europe should be considered, especially with the success of groups such as ISA and the Society of American Foresters in coordinating educational opportunities in this United States (Konijnendijk et al. 2000). Arboriculture is closely related and integral, but not identical, to urban forestry. Although there are problems with providing and funding educational topics and student recruitment in arboriculture, there seems to be consistent and cohesive agreement with what educational topics are important for this profession. A concept of urban forestry that has gained acceptance in the United States and in Europe is of a profession encompassing the planning, design, establishment, and management of trees and forest stands (Nilsson and Randrup 1997). Within this concept, public policy processes are complex, and there are a large number of public and private sector actors, substantial public involvement, and higher system dynamics (Konijnendijk 1997). Hildebrandt (1993) discussed the multidisciplinary character of urban forestry, and Deneke (1978), Andresen and Johnson (1982), and Rodbell (1993) discussed the need for an interdisciplinary curriculum incorporating courses from associated professions. A multidisciplinary character for urban forestry education is one of the primary strengths of the discipline, but this study ©2005 International Society of Arboriculture
May 2005
| Title Name |
Pages |
Delete |
Url |
| Empty |
Ai generated response may be inaccurate.
Search Text Block
Page #page_num
#doc_title
Hi $receivername|$receiveremail,
$sendername|$senderemail wrote these comments for you:
$message
$sendername|$senderemail would like for you to view the following digital edition.
Please click on the page below to be directed to the digital edition:
$thumbnail$pagenum
$link$pagenum
Your form submission was a success.
Downloading PDF
Generating your PDF, please wait...
This process might take longer please wait
