Arboriculture & Urban Forestry 47(1): January 2021 diverse perspectives, priorities, and values (Flint et al. 2008). This diversity sharpens interns’ problem-solving skills as they manage the expectations of people with different interests and perspectives, especially in the case of Community Greenspace interns who must work closely with local residents and government officials to restore shared spaces. This two-way learning expe- rience is only possible through close communication between the interns and community members. Effective communication is critical in managing rural forestry projects (Bachelard 1994; Farley et al. 2009) and argu- ably even more important in urban areas (Konijnendijk 2000), but is cited as a common deficiency among job applicants for urban forestry positions (Day 2018). Thus, by routinely engaging in two-way learning, interns have the opportunity to develop effective communi- cation skills before entering the workforce. Theoretical papers have made a strong case for the application of social forestry in urban settings (Johnston 1985; Coles and Bussey 2000). However, relatively few urban forestry programs actually make this link. One of the reasons that URI is so well-suited to address this gap is because of its long-standing involvement in the city of New Haven. Unlike other programs that rely on internships across organizations and geogra- phies (Southern University A & M 2019; University of Wisconsin 2019; Virginia Tech 2019), URI has built credibility and trust with its partners in New Haven. This local investment allows interns to work closely with neighborhood leaders and government officials to whom they otherwise might not have access. It’s through this type of “place-based” learn- ing that interns also become more adept at thinking within a system perspective that recognizes humans as nested within ecosystems (Andresen and Williams 1975; Coles and Bussey 2000; Tidball and Krasny 2010). This idea is embedded in what Tidball and Krasny have dubbed “civic ecology education,” a framework that recognizes the role that sense of place, social capital, and adaptive capacity can play in overcoming challenging environmental issues (Krasny et al. 2009; Krasny and Tidball 2012). This framework has particular applications for university students, who are transient, typically only living in a location for 2 to 4 years. By providing the institu- tional investment in a specific location, URI benefits interns by offering them the opportunity to work within an established framework for the mutual ben- efit of both their own education and community goals (Burch and Grove 1993). This framework also allows 43 URI and the university at large to reap the benefits of sustained student involvement in the establishing, restoring, maintaining, and monitoring of New Haven’s green spaces, while continuing to advance URI’s program. While community engagement is the cornerstone of both GreenSkills and Greenspace internships, these two internships are distinct from one another in ways that develop and address different competencies for interns. These differences were identified in alumni responses, with interns identifying a different set of key skills depending on whether they participated in the GreenSkills or Greenspace program. Community Greenspace interns are trained to be facilitators and community organizers, and past interns emphasized becoming more proficient in project management, community engagement, and general professional skills. Learning community-organization skills at the university level has been empirically linked to profes- sional developmental outcomes in forestry and other related environmental fields (Kuh 2009; Bragg and Tappe 2015). As a nod to these benefits, curriculums in architecture, urban planning, and rural forestry have built such training and learning experiences into their programs (Forsyth et al. 2000; Farley et al. 2009). By way of running community-oriented field experi- ences for their students, higher education institutions have cultivated long-standing university-community partnerships (Cherry and Shefner 2004). The Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY, for example, houses the Pratt Center for Community Development. Founded in 1963, the Pratt Center for Community Develop- ment started as a way to connect graduate students in urban planning with local community organizations to help them navigate planning processes impacting their communities. The Center continues to help stu- dents bridge a critical gap between theory and practice as they work closely with local grassroots organiza- tions to provide mapping, architecture, and planning resources (Pratt Center for Community Development 2019). The link between theory and practice is just as critical to effective urban forest management, yet we find few urban forestry programs that offer the same breadth and depth of experience as the Community Greenspace program at URI. In contrast to Community Greenspace, URI’s GreenSkills serves as a job-skills training program rather than a community volunteer initiative. As such, there is a stronger focus on job-site efficiency and the development of best practices for citywide urban ©2021 International Society of Arboriculture
January 2021
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