44 forest management. GreenSkills interns Scanlan et al: A University Model for Clinical Urban Forestry Education reported developing more skills directly related to arboricul- ture, operations and logistics, and urban forest man- agement. This can be attributed in large part to the fact that the GreenSkills program has been desig- nated New Haven’s sole-source contractor for all street tree plantings (Walsh 2013). As a result, interns are exposed to the full range of urban forestry opera- tions activities with all the pressures of a professional urban forester. This type of “problem-based learning” has been touted in a variety of fields—including for- estry—as a means of promoting real-life problem- solving skills as well as technical skills (Schmidt 1983; Barrows 1994; Brown 2003). URI’s programming represents a critical stepping- stone in training future urban forestry professionals. However, this study also demonstrates that URI—as well as other educational institutions, nonprofits, and public agencies—has an opportunity to adapt and better address persistent challenges in the field, par- ticularly around issues of equity, racism, and environ- mental justice (Boone 2008; Landry and Chakraborty 2009; Boone and Fragkias 2012; Nesbitt et al. 2018; Carmichael and McDonough 2019). The environ- mental justice field provides lessons for how urban forestry institutions can improve their programs. The tactics to achieve these environmental justice goals include promoting equitable distribution of environ- mental amenities such as trees and other green infra- structure (Landry and Chakraborty 2009), emphasizing participatory decision-making processes (Nesbitt et al. 2018; Carmichael and McDonough 2019), recognizing and elevating voices from marginalized communities (Nesbitt et al. 2018; Carmichael and McDonough 2019), and achieving diverse representation among faculty, staff, and student cohorts (Taylor et al. 2018; Taylor et al. 2019). Structured to be responsive to community-identified priorities, URI has laid import- ant groundwork in each of these areas and will con- tinue to improve its internship programs by enhancing its structured curriculum, including learning materials and practices that more directly and explicitly incor- porate environmental justice training and practice. URI interns would also benefit from understand- ing existing organizational practices through an envi- ronmental justice framework. These existing practices include URI’s paid green jobs training for local youth and for adults with a history of incarceration, a request- based tree planting model that honors residents’ input, outreach activities that prioritize tree planting in ©2021 International Society of Arboriculture low- canopy, low-income neighborhoods, and long- term investment and trust-building with grassroots groups and community partners. Applying an envi- ronmental justice framework to URI’s programs would complement the underlying democratic and social forestry- based approach to natural resource management that URI practices and models for its student interns. Finally, by developing strong, long-term ties to residents, community partners, and city officials, URI not only enhances the student learning experience but also ensures that clinical training programs can con- tribute meaningfully to community development and build upon the effort of each season’s work to create lasting positive change on the ground. Urban forestry is, after all, not only about the health of trees and forests, but also—perhaps even more so—about the health and vibrancy of the neighborhoods in which they grow. LITERATURE CITED Andersen F, Konijnendijk CC, Randrup TB. 2002. Higher edu- cation on urban forestry in Europe: An overview. Forestry. 75(5):501-511. https://doi.org/10.1093/forestry/75.5.501 Andersson E, Barthel S, Borgström S, Colding J, Elmqvist T, Folke C, Gren Å. 2014. Reconnecting cities to the biosphere: Stewardship of green infrastructure and urban ecosystem ser- vices. AMBIO. 43:445-453. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280 -014-0506-y Andresen JW, Johnson C. 1982. Is urban forestry education ready for the future? Journal of Forestry. 80(10):658-659. https://doi.org/10.1093/jof/80.10.658 Andresen JW, Williams BM. 1975. Urban forestry education in North America. Journal of Forestry. 73:786-790. https://doi .org/10.1093/jof/73.12.786 Bachelard EP. 1994. Changes to forestry education. The Common- wealth Forestry Review. 73:94-96. Barrows HS. 1994. Practice-based learning: Problem-based learning applied to medical education. Springfield (IL, USA): Southern Illinois University School of Medicine. Baumeister CF. 2014. Higher education in urban forestry in North America and Europe: Profiling skills and competencies for the labor market of today and tomorrow [M.F. thesis]. Vancouver (BC, Canada): University of British Columbia. Boone CG. 2008. Environmental justice as process and new avenues for research. Environmental Justice. 1:149-154. https://doi.org/10.1089/env.2008.0530 Boone CG, Fragkias M. 2012. Urbanization and sustainability: Linking urban ecology, environmental justice and global environmental change. New York (NY, USA): Springer Science & Business Media. Bragg DC, Tappe PA. 2015. The many values of field-based education in forestry. Journal of Forestry. 113:592-594. https://doi.org/10.5849/jof.15-114 Brandt L, Derby A, Fahey R, Scott L, Darling L, Swanston C. 2016. A framework for adapting urban forests to climate
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