Collaborating with Strangers*: What Can Social Science Research Tell Us about the Adoption of

Florida Friendly Landscapes?Paul Monaghan, Maria Morera, Karissa Raymond

(Michelle Atkinson, Wendy Wilber, Lynn Barber, Emily Ott, Stacie Greco, Charlie Nealis, Rob Northrop, and many others).

*Apologies to Bess de Farber

The Change LabStudies include the following:1. Homeowner perspectives on how their landscapes

impact the springs2. Residential attitudes and landscaping practices for

improving stormwater pond function3. Knowledge, attitudes and behaviors related to

installing smart irrigation sensors in high water use households

4. Fostering tree stewardship by engaging target audiences to understand their barriers to success

5. Comparing Florida Friendly Landscaped homes to their neighbors

6. Understanding how rain barrels identify water conscious (and water saving) households.

We place our research in a social marketing framework

• Looked at the different audiences and described them

• Documented their barriers to change• Determined what specific behaviors would

need to be adopted• Tried to understand what is in it for the

customer- what are the benefits we can promise them

One of the more difficult issues is landscaping and maintenance of

stormwater ponds

The Issue as seen closer to home:fertilizer, buffer zones and nuisance algae

Opportunity to foster behavior change

What behaviors need to change?

1. Follow the summer fertilizer blackout to reduce runoff

2. Control grass clippings (in street and ponds)

3. Install buffer zone around ponds4. Increase aquatic plants to uptake

nutrients

Homeowners recognize that grass clippings contribute to the problem

A social marketing approach to reduce grass clippings in stormwater systems

Audience: HOA leadership that hires contractorsEngage homeowners to help monitor behaviorsLandscape contractors & employees must comply

Behaviors (product): Control grass clippings and debris and keep them out of curbs, drains and ponds (change maintenance practices)

Benefits: Clean ponds, less algae

Barriers: Requires change in established practices, more involvement by HOA and homeowners & surveillance

Can we change landscape preferences?

0.5

23.1

20.1

18.8

22.4

15.2

0 5 10 15 20 25

No valid response

Very Unlikely

Unlikely

Undecided

Likely

Very Likely

Percent of Respondents On Ponds

Shoreline Plants

How likely are you to accept or request…

Benefits of planted buffer around ponds

• Absorb nutrients• Prevents fertilizer from

directly entering the pond

• Littoral plants pump oxygen into water and create habitats

• Control nuisance vegetation

• Provide shoreline habitat

Solutions must use a combination of approaches

1. Government mandates that target behavior2. Education about stormwater and landscape

connection3. Technological solutions4. Improving performance of ponds through

landscaping (buffer planting, littoral and aquatic)

5. Controlling nutrients at the source6. Recognizing that the relationship between turf

grass, irrigation and fertilizer presents the largest barrier to behavior change

Some of the ways we know to create behavioral and social change

• Science (vaccinations, predictive models)• Technology (smart phone apps, re-use water)• Laws, policy, codes and enforcement (sticks)• Improved infrastructure and built environment

(improved design)• Changes in corporate policies and business practices

(social responsibility, boycotts)• Influence of schools, churches, families and other

social groups• Educational approaches (promises)• Media• Doing nothing

My advice for promoting FFL practices:1. Stop Raising Awareness

“Too many organizations concentrate on raising awareness about an issue-such as the danger of eating disorders or the loss of natural habitat- without knowing how to translate that awareness into action, by getting people to change their behavior or act on their beliefs.”

Christiano and Neimand 2017, Stanford Social Innovation Review

These groups already have high awareness (and knowledge about solutions) of our landscape water issues

• Landscape companies• Builders and developers and property managers• HOA leadership and active citizens• Elected officials and agency employees• Graduates of IFAS Extension programs• Master Gardeners• The 10-15% of innovators and early adopters of

Florida Friendly practices (the rain barrel people)

2.Focus on those who are ready to adopt change (educate for behavior change)

Who are the ones ready to change?

2. Establish Collaborations

3. SET GOALS(Best practices for fertilizing recommend not

applying before heavy rain)

Results from CG research: what can we learn about behavior change?

• The lifecycle of a CG consists of the following phases:– Initiation– Planning– Implementation– Maintenance

• Participants viewed ‘togetherness’ as the foundation of community

• Social dynamics influenced participant’s motivation to join a CG (i.e. seeking friendship; desire to help others; social learning)

• The mission statements of the majority of CGs examined were focused on improving community wellbeing

Results: • Factors of Support for CG development and

longevity:– Politics, partnerships & funding– Education & expertise

• Factors of Organization– Community engagement & sustained

participation– Leadership & governance

Conclusion

1. Stop raising awareness (or stop measuring it) But keep educating for behavior change

2. Establish partnerships3. Set goals4. Collect data and

evaluate for outcomes (work with specialists)

AcknowledgementsThanks to the residents that have participated in research, discussions and educating us.

Since 2010, funding for this research has been provided by the following:• Southwest Florida Water Management District• Florida Nursery, Growers and Landscape Association• UF/IFAS Center for Landscape Conservation and

Ecology• National Fish and Wildlife Fund• Tampa Bay Estuary Fund• UF/IFAS Florida Agricultural Experiment Station• Gainesville Regional Utilities• Orange County Utilities