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Civic ecology: A pathway for Earth Stewardship in cities

Article  in  Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment · June 2012

DOI: 10.2307/41811811

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CONCEPTS AND QUESTIONS

Civic ecology: a pathway for Earth 267

Stewardship in cities
Marianne E Krasny* and Keith G Tidball

In an increasingly urban society, city residents are finding innovative ways of stewarding nature that inte-
grate environmental, community, and individual outcomes. These urban civic ecology practices – including
community gardening, shellfish reintroductions, tree planting and care, and “friends of parks” initiatives to
remove invasive and restore native species – generally begin as small, self-organized efforts after a prolonged
period of economic and environmental decline or more sudden major disruptions, such as earthquakes, hur-
ricanes, and conflict. Those practices that are sustained expand to encompass partnerships with non-profit
organizations; local-, state-, and federal-level government agencies; and universities. Civic ecology practices
reflect local cultures and environments as well as the practical knowledge of city residents, and thus vary
widely across different cities. When viewed as local assets in some of the most densely populated urban
neighborhoods, civic ecology practices offer opportunities for scientific and policy partnerships that address
the Ecological Society of America’s important Earth Stewardship initiative.
Front Ecol Environ 2012; 10(5): 267–273, doi:10.1890/110230 (published online 26 Apr 2012)

R ecognizing that scientists alone will not change the

risky trajectory that the Earth’s systems are currently
on, the Ecological Society of America’s (ESA’s) Earth
and partnerships with existing stewardship activities.
Identifying local activities that reflect Earth Stewardship
and Action Ecology principles and offer opportunities for
Stewardship initiative has called for research that partnerships with practitioners is increasingly important,
includes “partnerships among experts and practitioners of particularly in cities. Through research- and outreach-
many disciplines and professions and draws on local related experiences in urban community gardening, commu-
knowledge of people who observe and seek ways to miti- nity-based watershed restoration, community forestry, and
gate and adapt to social–ecological changes” (Chapin et similar initiatives, we have come to recognize a suite of
al. 2011). Marshall et al.’s (2011) related “Action “civic ecology” practices that integrate social and ecosystem
Ecology” agenda focused more specifically on considera- outcomes as well as local and scientific knowledge and that
tions for scientists working in a diverse society, and called may be sources of social–ecological resilience (Figure 1).
for the incorporation of culturally based forms of knowl- Here, we draw from a community of scholars who use the
edge; opportunities for young people to spend time in term “social–ecological systems” to emphasize the complex
nature; collaborations in the realms of policy, environ- interconnectedness among social and ecological processes,
mental justice, education, and community participation; and the term “resilience” to focus attention on the ability of
such systems to adapt and transform in response to ongoing
small disturbances as well as to earthquakes, hurricanes, oil
In a nutshell: spills, conflict, and other major disasters (Folke et al. 2002).
• Civic ecology practices are self-organized stewardship initia- We have deliberately chosen the term civic ecology to
tives, often taking place in cities suggest social and environmental outcomes and also to
• These initiatives have positive outcomes for individuals, indicate that such initiatives are part of a larger “ecol-
communities, and local ecosystems, and thus represent a ogy” of processes, interacting at multiple scales (Krasny
change in thinking – from humans as apart from and destruc-
tive of the environment to humans as part of and stewards of and Tidball 2009a). Because civic ecology practices
the environment often emerge in urban neighborhoods, they reflect how
• Because civic ecology practices reflect local cultures and envi- “the demographic shift to cities provide[s] unprece-
ronments, they vary across space – for example, from oyster dented stewardship challenges and opportunities”
seeding efforts in the New York City harbor to Laotian refugee (Chapin et al. 2011).
community gardens in Sacramento, California
• Those civic ecology groups that are successful often form part- In this article, we present civic ecology as an area of
nerships with government agencies, non-profit organizations, inquiry and practice, and present ten principles that
universities, and the private sector, thereby expanding their have emerged from our participation in and study of
overall impacts such practices. We then provide examples of how uni-
versities and federal, state, and city governments have
partnered in the implementation of these practices in
Civic Ecology Lab, Department of Natural Resources, Cornell ways that contribute to the Earth Stewardship and
University, Ithaca, NY *([email protected]) Action Ecology agendas.

© The Ecological Society of America www.frontiersinecology.org

 Earth Stewardship in cities ME Krasny and KG Tidball

268 Figure 1. Civic ecology projects draw on “social–ecological

memories”. Cultivation practices transported to cities by
migrants from rural areas are referred to as “social memories”,
whereas the seeds and other propagules that are similarly
transported are referred to as “ecological memories”.

10 was built, the trees that lined Clairborne Avenue pro-

vided sites for gathering and socializing. After Hurricane
Katrina, residents replanted trees in an effort to recreate a
sense of community remembered from earlier times
(Figure 2; Tidball et al. 2010). Because they involve con-
tact with nature, civic ecology practices can also promote
emotional and psychological well-being (Okvat and
Zautra in press). Finally, these restoration and stewardship
activities enhance local biodiversity and provide ecosys-
tem services. However, because these activities vary
M Whitmore

widely and because most of our understanding about their

outcomes is based on observations, we need to develop a
set of defining principles and testable hypotheses that set
 Civic ecology
the stage for a civic ecology research agenda. Below, we
The term civic ecology has been used by landscape archi- present ten principles of civic ecology.
tects (Poole 1998), community planners (Smith 2008),
and social scientists (Wolf 2008), in addition to ourselves (1) Civic ecology practices emerge when threats cause
(Tidball and Krasny 2007). Here, we define civic ecology a system to reach a tipping point
as a field of interdisciplinary study concerned with indi-
vidual, community, and environmental outcomes of com- Holling and Gunderson’s (2002) “adaptive cycle” pro-
munity-based environmental stewardship practices, and vided a useful metaphor for how social–ecological systems
the interactions of such practices with people and other change over time, with a period of rapid growth followed
organisms, communities, governance institutions, and by a conservation phase, eventually leading to rigidity or
the ecosystems in which these practices take place. Civic inability to absorb shocks or disturbance. Tipping points
ecology practices refer to local environmental steward- are reached when disturbance forces the system into a
ship actions taken to enhance the green infrastructure new state, characterized by different processes. Although
and community well-being of urban and other human- initially chaotic, such drastic change and “energy release”
dominated systems (Tidball and Krasny 2007). These also provide opportunities for reorganization and rebuild-
practices often emerge after a period of sustained envi- ing. It is during this phase, whether following war, earth-
ronmental and social deterioration, and are “self-orga- quakes, or other disasters, that civic ecology practices –
nized” by community members. Examples include com- such as community gardening in post-conflict Bosnia,
munity gardens planted on degraded vacant properties by renewed interest in the Martissant Park project in Port-
neighborhood activists in New York City during the au-Prince, Haiti, following the 2010 earthquake, or the
high-crime era of the 1970s, and similar efforts today in greening of the Berlin Wall Trail – emerge and contribute
Detroit and Cleveland. People sometimes turn to civic to the subsequent reorganization phase (Tidball and
ecology projects as a source of individual and community Krasny in press).
resilience after crises (Tidball and Krasny in press), as
when community gardens became sites for spontaneous (2) Encompassing social–ecological memories in civic
“living memorials” following the terrorist attacks of ecology practices fosters individual and community
September 11, 2001 (Svendsen and Campbell in press). resilience
Although often initiated by community activists, longer-
term civic ecology projects generally involve partnerships Some African Americans grow okra and other southern
with non-profit organizations, government agencies, uni- vegetables in New York City’s Harlem neighborhood, and
versities, and the private sector. a group of Hmong refugees cultivate a colorful panoply of
Even though their activities involve environmental Southeast Asian eggplants, foot-long beans, and hot pep-
stewardship, civic ecology practitioners invariably speak pers in community gardens in Sacramento. These are
about the outcomes of these initiatives for their commu- examples of how urban gardeners bring with them both
nities. For instance, in interviews conducted by the sec- seeds and practical horticultural knowledge from historic
ond author (KGT) shortly after the landfall of Hurricane and rural cultural traditions, which may be used to re-
Katrina, citizens in New Orleans’ Tremé district create green spaces similar to those in their ancestral or
recounted stories of how, before the elevated Interstate- home land. Such green spaces serve as “pockets” of

www.frontiersinecology.org © The Ecological Society of America

 ME Krasny and KG Tidball Earth Stewardship in cities

(a) (b) 269

J Fahr

Figure 2. (a) Painted columns below Interstate-10 in the Tremé neighborhood of New Orleans, Louisiana, recall a past in which trees
along Clairborne Avenue provided sites for residents to congregate and share stories, while offering protection from intense sunlight and
heat. (b) After Hurricane Katrina, residents of Tremé demonstrated their resolve to recover from storm-related damage in their
neighborhood by planting trees.

social–ecological memories that store and pass on experi- (Thuja plicata) canopies that are emblematic of the Pacific
ential knowledge and practices to the next generation Northwest. Similarly, community forestry initiatives in
(Figure 3; Barthel et al. 2010). Sometimes, those who New Orleans focus on stewarding the southern live oaks
hold the practical memories of how to cultivate particular (Quercus virginiana) that are symbolic of nature and
species, such as oysters in the New York City harbor, have “place” in southern US cities (Tidball in press). Some-
passed away. Yet the current oyster restoration projects in times the built environment becomes a prominent part of
New York’s waterways suggest that these memories may a restoration effort. For instance, Toronto’s Evergreen
somehow resurface and be acted upon. Brickworks is a civic ecology initiative located in quarries
that once supplied the clay for the bricks used to build
(3) By engaging people in working with nature, civic houses in Toronto; activities today include tree planting,
ecology practices foster psychological and physical wetland restoration, children’s gardens, and conversion of
well-being the historic kiln-lined brick factory into a civic meeting
space. Similarly, High Line Park in Manhattan incorpo-
In addition to social–ecological memories of horticultural rates patches of native woodland and prairie species along
practices, less tangible, evolutionary memories of human- an elevated railroad that once served the Meatpacking
ity’s relationship to nature may come into play (Tidball District (Figure 3), and the Berlin Wall Trail has inte-
2012). Kellert and Wilson’s (1993) notion of biophilia (ie grated historic guard towers that are symbolic of the ten-
“the connections that human beings subconsciously seek sions that characterized the Cold War (Cramer in press).
with the rest of life”) is useful in understanding our need
for and the benefits derived from being in and safeguarding (5) Civic ecology practices that are sustainable expand
nature. Louv’s (2006) book synthesized several decades of from small-scale, self-organized efforts to
research on the emotional, psychological, and cognitive encompass multiple partnerships
outcomes of time spent in nature; a much smaller body of
research has addressed the benefits of active stewardship of A community gardening movement emerged in the 1970s
nature (eg Austin and Kaplan 2003). in New York City as local activists, tired of government
neglect of their neighborhoods, self-organized to clean up
(4) By reflecting local history, cultures, and aspects of vacant lots and degraded parks. Eventually, a quasi-govern-
the built and natural environment, civic ecology mental agency, Green Thumb, was launched to provide
practices foster a sense of place compost, fences, technical advice, and other support, and
the non-profit Green Guerillas emerged as an advocacy
Civic ecology practices reflect local cultures and ecosys- organization. In the late 1990s, dramatic protests against
tems, and participants in such practices may learn to then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s push to convert community
attribute ecological meaning to highly urbanized envi- gardens to commercial properties spurred then-Lieutenant
ronments (Kudryavtsev et al. 2012). Members of Friends Governor Eliot Spitzer to grant official park status to com-
of Parks in Seattle remove invasive ground cover and munity gardens that fulfilled certain criteria. Recognizing
replant trees in an attempt to recreate the majestic the value of these civic ecology initiatives, actress Bette
Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) and western red cedar Midler created the non-profit New York Restoration

© The Ecological Society of America www.frontiersinecology.org

 Earth Stewardship in cities ME Krasny and KG Tidball

270 learning about controlled burns and seed stratification

(Stevens 1995). In New York City, trained “scientific
divers” and watershed stewards check fish traps and
photo-monitor estuary health during cruises con-
ducted by the Urban Divers Estuary Conservancy, and
students from the non-profit Rocking the Boat moni-
tor the outcomes of oyster seeding efforts on the
Bronx River (Figure 4). Such monitoring represents a
type of information feedback that enables participants
to change their practices based on data they collect in
an adaptive co-management process (cf Armitage et
A Kudryavtsev

al. 2007).

(7) Civic ecology practices provide opportunities for

Figure 3. Manhattan’s High Line Park incorporates patches of culturally embedded learning about
native prairie species along a former elevated railroad. social–ecological systems
Project, which joined forces with the Trust for Public Land Young people in cities across the US who participate in the
to buy gardens to ensure their permanent tenure. Today, Garden Mosaics science education program learn alongside
community gardeners in New York City partner with older, more experienced community gardeners about the
numerous governmental agencies and non-profits, includ- relationship between planting practices and cultural tradi-
ing urban land trusts and community and youth develop- tions. In addition to being exposed to the practical knowl-
ment organizations, as well as with university researchers edge of experienced gardeners, young people learn about
(NYC Department of Parks & Recreation 2011). Such an the science of plants, soils, and ecosystems using curriculum
array of partnerships is consistent with studies showing materials produced at Cornell University (Figure 5; Krasny
that government institutions and civil society organiza- and Tidball 2009b). Schools and non-profit groups often
tions acting together create governance systems that are join in ongoing civic ecology practices to enhance learning
flexible and resilient (Ostrom 2010). Furthermore, by forg- opportunities for students, such as the Harbor School on
ing ties with government agencies and non-profit organiza- New York’s Governor’s Island and the previously described
tions, civic ecology practices “scale up” their impacts from Bronx non-profit Rocking the Boat. Sociocultural learning
the very local to state, regional, and even national levels. theories, which emphasize the interactions between learn-
ers and their social and physical environments (Alexander
(6) Citizen engagement in monitoring of civic ecology et al. 2009), are useful in understanding how younger gener-
practices enables ongoing adaptation based on ations gain knowledge in civic ecology contexts.
information about outcomes Furthermore, social learning explains how a group of stake-
holders monitors the outcomes of civic ecology or other
In some cases, civic ecology participants monitor the out- environmental stewardship practices and adapts their prac-
comes of their projects. For example, the Chicago tices based on monitoring results (Blackmore et al. 2007).
Wilderness prairie restoration initiative has adapted
management strategies based on experimentation and (8) Civic ecology practices may contribute to
transforming vicious cycles of crime and unhealthy
behaviors to virtuous cycles of greening and
community well-being
Many are familiar with the notion of vicious cycles of
poverty leading to crime, abandoned neighborhoods and
vacant lots, and unhealthy behaviors. Branas et al. (2011)
demonstrated that Philadelphia neighborhoods with
greened vacant lots had lower incidences of gun assaults and
in some cases vandalism, as well as residents who reported
feeling less stress and exercising more, as compared to neigh-
borhoods with vacant lots that were not greened. This work
A Kudryavtsev

suggests that green spaces in poor urban neighborhoods

could play a role in converting vicious cycles associated with
poverty, crime, and unhealthy lifestyles to more virtuous
Figure 4. Students from Rocking the Boat monitor the results of cycles of healthy behaviors (Tidball et al. in press).
their oyster seeding efforts on the Bronx River in New York City. Moreover, the positive individual, community, and environ-

www.frontiersinecology.org © The Ecological Society of America

ME Krasny and KG Tidball Earth Stewardship in cities

mental outcomes that result from actual engagement in civic 271

ecology practices may motivate participants to become more
involved in such efforts, thus reinforcing virtuous cycles.

(9) Civic ecology practices represent nested processes

that interact across individual, community, and
ecosystem scales
In his book Nested Ecology, Wimberley (2009) described
how a personal ecology – that is, an individual’s relation-
ships with material goods, people, and other forms of life – is
nested in a social ecology encompassing family and commu-

A Kudryavtsev
nity, which in turn is nested in an ecosystem ecology. The
notion of nested ecologies helps to explain how civic ecol-
ogy processes at different scales lead to multiple outcomes.
As an example, in a stream restoration project, individuals Figure 5. Community gardening in the Bronx neighborhood of
actively cut branches and place them in a stream, which has New York City provides youth with opportunities to learn from
positive outcomes for their physical and psychological well- the practical knowledge of elders with agricultural backgrounds.
being. By forging connections with others, participants also
contribute to social well-being, and both individual and Earth Stewardship. The challenge is to recognize and
collective actions enhance local ecosystems. leverage these practices as existing assets, or “pockets of
social–ecological innovations” (Galaz 2012), whereas
(10) Civic ecology practices can be sources of academics and policy makers often think of themselves as
social–ecological resilience having the knowledge needed to design interventions. For
example, even in collaborative efforts such as community-
Civic ecology projects emerge when local people, acting based natural resources management, the process is often
on social–ecological memories and biophilia, steward a initiated by government resource managers and scientists,
neglected resource. Such practices integrate learning who invite stakeholders to comment on draft plans.
through small-scale experimentation and observations Asset-based approaches to community development,
(adaptive management) and collaborative or participatory which seek to identify and build on the capacities, skills,
processes (co-management), and thus can be considered as and assets of local people and neighborhoods (McKnight
an emergent form of adaptive co-management (cf and Kretzman 1996), provide guidance when considering
Ruitenbeek and Cartier 2001). Social learning occurs how scientists and policy makers might support civic
when participants experiment with and assess the results of ecology practices. Such an approach is reflected in a
different restoration practices and ways of engaging their Bloomberg Businessweek article, which claimed: “The last
broader community; the information garnered from such 50 years have shown that Detroit won’t benefit from
experiments and assessments provides feedback that large-scale actions by the municipal or federal govern-
enables practices to be refined. Although the local knowl- ment. Residents have discovered that real recovery comes
edge of and initiative shown by community members are from community initiatives, entrepreneurial creativity
critical, linkages are often made with universities, govern- and citizen involvement” (Long 2011). This is not to sug-
ments, and non-profit organizations. These linkages create gest that scientist- and policy-maker-driven initiatives
opportunities for integrating multiple forms of knowledge have no place in such efforts; indeed, many – including
and for scaling up outcomes. In short, civic ecology embod- mayoral sustainability plans in US cities – have been suc-
ies several attributes that may foster social–ecological sys- cessful in improving local environments and in paving
tem resilience, including local and scientific forms of the way for national-level discussions on sustainability.
knowledge; self-organized or bottom-up stewardship initia- Rather, we suggest that homegrown solutions are also
tives; partnerships among community groups, non-profits, important to communities, including poor communities,
and government agencies; social learning that provides and that recognizing, respecting, and partnering with
information to adapt practices; and the provisioning of these groups may contribute to Earth Stewardship.
ecosystem services (Figure 6; Walker and Salt 2006). Scientists are already involved in several civic ecology
initiatives. For instance, Cornell University agro-ecolo-
 Civic ecology, scientists, and policy makers gists Laurie Drinkwater and Megan Gregory are engaging
community gardeners in collaborative inquiry to learn
Several aspects of civic ecology practices, including the about the use of cover crops to enhance soil quality. Soil
fact that they are self-organized and often take place in chemist Murray McBride applies information gained from
urban communities, present both a challenge and an testing for toxic metals in urban soils to design gardening
opportunity for scientists and policy makers engaged in practices that minimize exposure to these metals. Alex

© The Ecological Society of America www.frontiersinecology.org

 Earth Stewardship in cities ME Krasny and KG Tidball

272 Civic ecology practice Agency (EPA), can support civic ecology prac-
tices come from writings about the civic envi-
Origins, outcomes, and feedbacks ronmental movement, which is characterized by
collaboration among communities, interest
Origins groups, and government agencies, and which
Social–ecological and Threats to social– offers an alternative to more adversarial forms of
biophilic memories ecological systems
environmental activism. Save the Bay and simi-
lar environmental stewardship organizations, for
example, form partnerships with the EPA and
with other government agencies to foster “ongo-
Civic ecology practices ing civic education and the public work of
Working in nature restoration without losing the capacity to
Reflect local place
Self-organized
engage in conflict” (Sirianni and Friedland
Monitoring
Feedbacks
2001). Often, an initial period of conflict is
Opportunities for learning
replaced by attempts to identify common inter-
ests, which may lead to a civic ecology project in
which citizens restore and monitor local
Outcomes social–ecological systems (Figure 1). Impor-
(Virtuous cycles, sources of resilience)
Civic Ecological tantly for policy considerations, this provides an
Community and individual health Ecosystem services opportunity for government to catalyze local
Governance and policy Biodiversity
stewardship initiatives using voluntary agree-
ments and other non-regulatory tools.

 Civic ecology and the Earth Stewardship

Figure 6. Conceptual model for civic ecology practice. Civic ecology agenda
projects emerge in response to threats and draw on social–ecological
memories. They entail active nature stewardship, reflect local place, are Marshall et al. (2011) called for attention to
self-organized, and provide opportunities for learning. Both civic and community needs and ongoing efforts in imple-
ecological outcomes lead to positive feedbacks, encouraging more people to menting Earth Stewardship. Civic ecology
become engaged. Different aspects of civic ecology practice can become encompasses a suite of existing efforts, or assets,
sources of social–ecological systems resilience. that vary according to local contexts and that
integrate individual, social, and environmental
Kudryavtsev, a PhD candidate in Cornell University’s outcomes. Researchers are already partnering with these
Civic Ecology Lab, spent 2 years in the Bronx, helping community-organized efforts to promote Earth
with youth community gardening, oyster restoration, tree Stewardship, and policy makers are working collabora-
stewardship, and invasive species removal projects, while tively with civic ecology practitioners to enhance envi-
conducting research on sense of place among young peo- ronmental quality.
ple and educators engaged in these efforts. Drawing from the social–ecological systems resilience
Policy makers interested in supporting civic ecology framework (Folke et al. 2002), Chapin et al. (2011)
practices walk a fine line as they try to “grow” an existing described an “adapting mosaic” paradigm for Earth
asset without destroying the very spirit that led to its cre- Stewardship that “recognizes the uncertainty of future
ation. Perhaps the first step for municipal governments, changes and social–ecological responses and seeks to
in particular with regard to the growing number of urban maintain a diversity of future options rather than target-
sustainability and civic renewal initiatives, is to recog- ing specific outcomes”. A diversity of species, landscapes,
nize the value of civic ecology practices, not only in indi- cultures, and social processes and institutions maximize
vidual neighborhoods and cities but also collectively the potential for flexible outcomes – or resilience – in the
across North America. Furthermore, city, state, and fed- face of uncertainty. Civic ecology practices, particularly
eral government policies should avoid introducing con- in cities, may become part of such an adapting mosaic of
flicting policies. For example, the New York City options (Tidball and Krasny 2007). Currently, however,
Department of Parks and Recreation and the US Army the outcomes of such practices are mainly restricted to
Corps of Engineers have partnered with New York City local communities, and research on how different types of
harbor oyster restoration efforts, yet the neighboring practices contribute to various sources of resilience is
state of New Jersey issued an order to halt oyster seeding, lacking. A challenge for civic ecology practitioners, sci-
fearing that contaminated oysters would interfere with entists, and policy makers will be to create partnerships
the commercial seafood industry (Sullivan 2010). that enable them to share their perspectives, and to scale
Further insights into how government, including regu- up positive local impacts to address larger-scale threats,
latory agencies like the US Environmental Protection while maintaining the local memories, knowledge, and

www.frontiersinecology.org © The Ecological Society of America

ME Krasny and KG Tidball Earth Stewardship in cities

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