124 Plitt et al: Assessing the Potential of E-Tools for Urban Green Infrastructure Arboriculture & Urban Forestry 2022. 48(2):124–137 https://doi.org/10.48044/jauf.2022.010 URBAN FORESTRY ARBORICULTURE Scientific Journal of the International Society of Arboriculture & Assessing the Potential of E-Tools for Knowledge Sharing and Stewardship of Urban Green Infrastructure By Sophie Plitt, Erik Andersson, PhD, and Michelle Johnson, PhD Abstract. Background: People caring for urban green infrastructure, not least urban trees, play an important role in maintaining the quality of the urban environment. But what happens when information processing and knowledge generation become digitalized? This study examines digital tools developed to provide knowledge support and with ambitions of inciting stewardship. It asks what understanding they draw on, what information they broker, and how they approach uptake and use of the content they provide. Methods: We analyzed 6 different e-tools within the context of urban green infrastructure in New York City, New York, USA. We conducted semi-structured interviews with the tool cre- ators and assessed the e-tools themselves. Results: Our findings indicate that most e-tools are designed to provide access to different types of information about urban social-ecological systems and, passively or more actively, stimulate learning. In addition to rich, complex, exploratory digital learning environments, many tools combine virtual experiences with in-person training, workshops, and coaching. Conclusion: The observed hybrid approaches harness the power of digital platforms to enable diverse usership and share large amounts of data while employing more traditional on-the-ground organizing techniques and thus offer a way forward in an age of increasing dominance of digital data. Future research on e-tool usership, hybrid learning approaches, and connections to stewardship outcomes could enrich the understanding of how e-tools operate as well as their social-ecological potential and impact. Keywords. Digital Tools; E-Tools; Knowledge Exchange; Stewardship; Urban Green Infrastructure. INTRODUCTION As urban populations continue to grow, demand for urban ecosystem services (ES), or the benefits people obtain from ecosystems (Corvalán et al. 2005; Haa- land and van den Bosch 2015), increase. Green infra- structure is now used in dense urban areas as a tactic to increase critical ecosystem services, including improving quality of life for people and restoring eco- logical functions. Urban green infrastructure (UGI) emphasizes the management and production of ES, which can include producing local food and water (Gómez-Baggethun et al. 2013), reducing impacts of stormwater (Pataki et al. 2011), and regulating micro- climate and urban heat island (UHI) effect (Gill et al. 2007). Managing green infrastructure is critical for sustainable, equitable cities. Meanwhile, the capacity of the system to generate these services can be diminished if not given the critical attention and management they require (Elmqvist et al. 2004). ©2022 International Society of Arboriculture We know that managers of UGI can extend beyond government to include the civic sector (Svendsen and Campbell 2008; Campbell et al. 2021), however, lit- tle is known about how these stewards engage in knowledge collection, exchange, and application (but see Silva 2017). Emerging examples of digital com- munication platforms, or e-tools, a term coined by Møller and Olafsson (2018), could provide additional support for participatory governance and manage- ment of UGI. The functions of these e-tools can include citizen science efforts but also range from collection of geographic information to land use advocacy platforms and even digital landscape plan- ning tools (Møller and Olafsson 2018). Here, we seek to examine how e-tool platforms may contribute to stewards’ knowledge systems for UGI management. Knowledge Systems Knowledge about ecology and the societal context is critical for management of UGI (Andersson et al. 2014).
March 2022
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