Creating Volunteers for LifeA look at empowering volunteers while increasing urban and community forestry capacity.

2015 Partner’s ConferenceAndi Dierich

Dierich.a@gmail.com

Presentation Outline Social Infrastructure as a component of capacity Empowering volunteers Measuring behavior Minnesota's Community Engagement and Preparedness Program Tips to strengthen volunteer programs.

Capacity = PowerChaskin, 2001

• sense of community• level of commitment among

community members• mechanisms of problem solving • access to resources

Capacity: power “the facility or power to produce, perform, or deploy”. McGuire et al. (1994)

• Citizen Participation• Community Structure• Development Instruments

Kusel, 1996• physical capital• human capital• social capital

What creates a successful U&CF program?

Importance of VolunteersPartnerships/Volunteers

Education

Staffing

Funding

Why Volunteer?

Improving one's neighborhood was the most important reason for volunteering - J. of Arb., Still & Gerhold, 1997

Function Conceptual DefinitionValues The individual volunteers in order to express or act upon

important values that are important to them like humanitarianism

Understanding

The volunteer is seeking to learn more about the world or exercise skills that are often unused

Enhancement The volunteer can grow and develop psychologically through volunteer activities

Career The volunteer has the goal of gaining career-related experience through volunteering

Social Volunteering allows an individual to strengthen his or her social relationships

Protective The individual uses volunteering to reduce negative feelings such as guilt or to address personal problems

Volunteer Functions Inventory (Cities and the Enviro., Moskell et. al., 2010)

Additional Results 93.3% of respondents had behavioral intentions of participating in a similar tree-planting activity in the future

80% of respondents were affiliated with an organization rather than participating as a solitary individual.

Empowerment!

8 Rungs on the ladder of citizen participation.

J of Am. Institute of Planners, Arnstein, 1969

Tree Planting – Rochester, MN (1000 Trees Planting Day)

Volunteers… a Neglected Resource?Tree plantingEnvironmental/natural resource committeesClerical/office work

Inventory Tree maintenance

Measuring your assessment

Diagram of the theory of planned behavior. The psychology of attitudes. Eagly & Chasiken, 1993.

The screams are heard from miles...

Grant Cycle OneCrookstonHendricksHibbingHutchinsonMorrisRochester

Grant Cycle TwoBemidjiMoraRoyaltonStarbuck

MethodologySocial Infrastructure Grant cycle two communities received a

pre-training survey

Grant cycle one communities received a post- inventory completion survey

U&CF Capacity Survey Treatment communities were those that participated in grant cycle one (six communities)

Eight control communities

Volunteer Attitudes and Behaviors

Volunteer Surveys

Question Y2-pre Y1-post

t value

p.value

p.adjust

EAB Knowledge 3.220 2.022 -5.420 5.95E-08

<1e-04

Understanding Forester Role

2.224 1.301 -4.806 1.54E-06

<1e-04

Government Involvement

2.460 1.591 -5.435 5.48E-08

<1e-04

Valuing City Forestry 1.674 1.289 -3.026 0.002474

0.0322

Engaged in Sustaining

Community Forestry

2.064 1.667 -2.317 0.02052

0.2462

Strongly disagree

Moderately disagree

Moderately agree

Strongly agree

0.00% 10.00% 20.00% 30.00% 40.00% 50.00% 60.00%

Empowering Decision Making

As a result of participating in the EAB RR inventory, I feel more involved in making management decisions about tree care within my community.

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Community Preparedness Project (2009-2011)

•Rochester•Hibbing•Hutchinson•Crookston•Morris•Hendricks

Very Important

Important

Neither Important nor Unimportant

Unimportant

Very Unimportant

0.0% 10.0% 20.0% 30.0% 40.0% 50.0% 60.0% 70.0%

Rate the importance of community groups to the management of public trees within your community.

Non-Project Project

Community Capacity and Sustainability

Fuding is inadequate

Funding is less than adequate

Funding is adequate

0 1 2 3 4 5 6

Do you believe the level of funding received in 2011 meets your Urban and Community Forestry needs?

Future Intentions

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%

100%

Project Communities

Definitely yes Possibly Unsure Unlikely Absolutely not

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%

100%

Non-project Communities

Definitely yes Possibly Unsure Unlikely Absolutely not

Openlands – Chicago TreeKeepers 2016 will be the 25th anniversary of the TreeKeeper program Over 1,670 people of gone through the TreeKeepers training Average of 24 planting events per year 12 tree care days per year 10 pruning events per year 30-40 core TreeKeepers

Citizen ScienceExperimental plots for urban forestry restoration.

Strategies

Learn more at MNtreesource.com

Andi DierichEnvironmental Coordinator

DuPage County, ILDierich.a@gmail.com

Thank you to: Gary Johnson, University of Minnesota Mark Duntemann, Natural Path Forestry Joan Blaustein, Philadelphia Parks and Recreation Daniella Pereira, Openlands