the intertwine alliance - recpro.org · the intertwine alliance uses 對a collective impact...
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The Intertwine AllianceWhere Leaders Find Common Ground
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Creating A Movement for Parks, Trails and Natural Areas A few years ago, we realized that all of our greatest achievements had one thing in common. Whether launching a natural area acquisition initiative, completing a new trail, or opening a major new park, behind every major success stood a coalition of public, private and nonprofit organizations and leaders. So, we thought, rather than put this coalition together each time we want to do something big, why not put it together and keep it together and keep doing big things? The Intertwine Alliance uses a "collective impact" approach, a model that is emerging worldwide as best practice when addressing large-scale social and environmental challenges. So that’s what we’ve done. The Intertwine Alliance is a coalition of private firms, public agencies and nonprofit organizations working together to tap new sources of funding, better leverage existing investments, and more fully engage residents with the outdoors and nature. The Intertwine Alliance uses a collective impact approach to its work. Collective impact is the commitment of a coalition of organizations from different sectors to a common agenda for addressing a complex social or environmental challenge. The Alliance was built over many years, but was formally launched as a nonprofit in July 2011 with 28 partners. Today, we have more than 100 formal partners.
The Basics
• Launched in 2007
• Incorporated as 501(c)3 in 2011
• 4 FTE ~ $300,000 annual budget
• 111 partners
• Primarily funded by the partners
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Our mission is twofold: History /background: In the late 1980’s, the Portland Audubon Society and their partners put together a proposal to create a "Metropolitan Wildlife Refuge System" throughout the four-county, bi-state Portland, Oregon/Vancouver, Washington region to help sustain the area’s natural heritage and connect people with nature. As a result of their efforts, Congress and the President allocated funding in 1991 for a partnership known as the Metropolitan Greenspaces Program (Program) to be administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Metro. The Program focused on environmental education, habitat restoration, public outreach, and regional planning throughout the Portland, Oregon/Vancouver, Washington area. This partnership served as one of only two demonstration programs like it in the nation, involving the USFWS as a partner in local natural resource conservation efforts in urban environments. No longer funded as of 2005, but with fourteen years of history, the Program serves as a model for meaningful conservation strategies in and around urbanizing areas. �Program Accomplishments The Metropolitan Greenspaces Program supported natural area inventories and mapping used to develop a strategic conservation plan for the region. In 1995, citizens voted in favor of a $135.6 million bond measure to implement the plan by publicly acquiring an extensive network of trails and greenspaces. Continued funding of $300,000 annually, from 1991 through 2004, supported grants that contributed to over 300 projects and enabled the USFWS to participate in Metro's regional planning to protect greenspaces, water quality, floodplains, and fish and wildlife habitat. This partnership allowed for the pooling of resources and expertise to implement a multi-faceted program aimed at conserving sensitive species through environmental education, habitat restoration, stewardship, conservation planning and collaboration with other stakeholders. �The Role of Urban Areas in Natural Resource Conservation The Portland/Vancouver area supports habitat and migration corridors for a number of at-risk species, including native salmonids, migratory birds, amphibians, mammals and plants. The key to urban conservation is to find the balance between the seemingly conflicting goals of allowing development density and protecting natural resources. Confining growth to reduce urban sprawl will protect fish and wildlife habitat outside of urban growth boundaries (UGBs). Maintaining healthy streams, natural areas and movement corridors within UGBs will help to ensure that urban land uses contribute towards conservation within the larger landscape. Although this is a challenging equilibrium to define and reach, it goes hand-in-hand with maintaining the high quality of life experienced in this region due to clean air, healthy waterways, the presence of fish and wildlife, access to nature and scenic surroundings within city limits. A Model for Urban Communities The Greenspaces Program served as a model that can be applied to protect fish and wildlife and their habitats in other urban areas. However, the Program ended and the need to create an on-going entity to continue the synergy of a collaborative partnership was recognized. Under the initial umbrella support of Metro and supporting park & rec agencies, the Intertwine was incorporated as a soon-to-be independent non-profit. Focus on investment and engagement We found that there are two things that our partners universally agree on: 1) We need to attract new investment in nature and better leverage existing investment, and 2) We need to more deeply engage the region’s residents and civic leaders. We focus on the big things, investment and engagement, where the power of a coalition is truly needed, rather than the smaller issues that are more easily addressed by individual organizations and where there is less universal agreement. Examples of Key Partners Metro Regional Government, Audubon Society of Portland, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and numerous agencies, 30 cities, 4 counties, soil and water conservation districts, schools, non-profit organizations, watershed councils, businesses, citizens and others.
Making the pie bigger
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We are working with our partners to create new sources of funding for natural areas, urban forestry, trails and conservation education and to better leverage existing investment. We are looking to traditional sources, such as property tax, as well as non traditional, such as the health sector.
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We look at how investments in nature can yield multiple benefits for the community. There are many overlapping goals within the same mission. Ecosystem Services: what nature provides for free.
Directives
• “Create a movement”
• “Color outside the lines”
• “Collaborate more than legislate”
• “Make the pie bigger”
• “Create the love”
• “Do big things”
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These are the directives we got from our founding partners “Create a movement” = Engage a large and diverse group, including those that aren’t traditionally considered parks or environmental organizations. “Color outside the lines” = Find ways to connect across jurisdictional boundaries and professional disciplines “Collaborate more than legislate” = lasting solutions aren’t legislated by government. Legislation can play a role but should not be primary focus. “Make the pie bigger” = attract investment and better leverage existing investment “Create the love” = More deeply connect residents with nature near where they live “Do big things” = Take on projects and issues that are bigger than any one organization could do on their own.
Doing big things
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For years we missed out on state and federal conservation investment because we lacked a clear set of regional conservation priorities. Conservation planning took place at the state and multi-state level and when you look at the state from that altitude, the Portland region looks like a white splotch on what is otherwise a very green state. Our habitat is more fragmented than wild lands. Yet the metropolitan region does, indeed have many natural habitats that deserve protection. We just needed a conservation strategy that took a finer grained look at natural habitat. We are facilitating some large multi-partner projects that leverage new funding and accomplish conservation and trails projects on a much larger scale than has been accomplished before. Collective impact & Intertwine Alliance - shared vision acceleration - support interaction - across public, private, non profit - track & celebrate success Collective impact = diverse organizations coming together to solve complex problems Commitment, policy, trust, common agenda, shared goals, shared measurement, continuous communication, mutually reinforcing activities Thru collective impact, there is a global networks of peers. Intertwine Alliance approach is validated. Now there is a name and language for what TIA does and is.... Advantages of TIA (what we're doing well): Decades of social capital Strong leadership Visions and plans Track record of success A backbone organization Steve Whitney , the Bullitt Foundation "Increasing Impact, Collectively“ - If we work together we can dramatically increase our results.
Creating a Movement
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The Alliance grew from 28 partners when it launched as a 501c3 2.5 years ago, to 111 today. It is a diverse group of public, private and nonprofit organizations.
www.theintertwine.org
Collaborating more than legislating
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Presentation Notes
For years we missed out on state and federal conservation investment because we lacked a clear set of regional conservation priorities. Conservation planning took place at the state and multi-state level and when you look at the state from that altitude, the Portland region looks like a white splotch on what is otherwise a very green state. Our habitat is more fragmented than wild lands. Yet the metropolitan region does, indeed have many natural habitats that deserve protection. We just needed a conservation strategy that took a finer grained look at natural habitat. The way that this type of project would have been done in the past is that a government agency would have done the project and the typical template is that it takes about five years and costs about $4 million. Rather than take that approach we convened the professionals in the region that had been working on the front lines of conservation for years and we collaboratively developed a regional conservation strategy. All told, there were 161 contributors from 75 organizations. We completed a Regional Conservation Strategy and Biodiversity Atlas in just over two years and for about $100,000 in cash (plus a lot of sweat equity).
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Early collaborative efforts recognizing the value of the Intertwine Alliance and gave credit to the larger mission by recognizing the Intertwine as an entity, incorporating the log and advocating for a collective effort towards n integrated park, trail and open space system for the metropolitan area. The Bi-State Regional Trails Systems Plan combined all the different agencies’ adopted trail (bike and ped) plans, elevating each individual system’s status by recognizing its part of the whole region. Ideally, this ranks projects more highly when seeking outdoor funding support. Wild in the City shares stories of places to visit nature thru a variety of modes for different experiences close to home. Adventures from the book have been added to the website.
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One of The Intertwine Alliance’s primary objectives is to more deeply engage residents with nature and the outdoors near where they live, as part of their everyday lives, and to cultivate an ethic of stewardship. If we accomplish this, we achieve health, transportation, stewardship, recreation, education, equity and other goals. Increasingly, it is being recognized in national policy debates that if people—particularly those with little means—don’t connect with nature near where they live, they are unlikely to ever learn to understand or appreciate the natural world. This has far-reaching implications for our society. We have spent two years working with a creative agency to develop the “Our Common Ground” campaign as a means for Alliance partners to coordinate our messaging. Our Common Ground is themed on diversity. It says that while we are all different and like to do different things in the outdoors, we share a common love of our region’s open spaces. The campaign was developed primarily with corporate funds.
OCG DIALOGUES
“Our Common Ground Dialogues”
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We work to create a coalition that reflects the diversity of our community. This image is from an Intertwine forum on race and the environment. Through the Our Common Ground campaign, The Intertwine Alliance helps residents discover that they can be active in the outdoors close to home and as part of their everyday lives. The Alliance also supports elected and civic leaders in being more effective leaders on parks, trails and natural areas issues. A number of projects, programs and initiatives support this goal. The Intertwine Alliance convenes two major summits every year, where Alliance partners and stakeholders gather to share success stories, network, and work together on important regional initiatives.
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Through the Our Common Ground campaign, The Intertwine Alliance helps residents discover that they can be active in the outdoors close to home and as part of their everyday lives. The Alliance also supports elected and civic leaders in being more effective leaders on parks, trails and natural areas issues. A number of projects, programs and initiatives support this goal. We are working with a group of animators in Los Angeles that work on the big films such as Avatar to do an Our Common Ground video series. The films would be one minute in length and would educate residents about how nature improves life in the metropolitan region. We’ve created a set of prepackaged itineraries for residents to explore nature in the region. One could say that the Intertwine Alliance creates jobs and strengthens tourism in the region - by packaging and promoting adventures in the outdoors. The Alliance produces print materials and maintains this site to provide information to residents and visitors of the region.
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The Alliance manages a website that is a central portal to nature in the region. The website is a clearinghouse for nature-oriented events and for the first time information from the more than two dozen agencies managing parks and trails is available through a searchable map interface. For the first time, information from all 28 parks agencies in the region is integrated on a single online map. Soon you will be able to plan trips using TriMet and Clark County’s trip planner right on the site.
Identity and
direction
• Parks directors• Summits• Collaborative projects
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We’ve created a region-wide sign standard. There are 28 different organizations that manage parks and trails in the region. We will never have a unified parks agency, so we work together to create a seamless regional system for the user.
Chicago Wilderness
Lake Erie Allegheny
Partnership
PortlandIntertwine
HoustonWilderness
Milwaukee Sweetwater
Amigos de los Rios
Bay Area Open Space Council
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We work with other conservation coalitions in the US as the Metropolitan Greenspaces Alliance. Our mission is to establish this collaborative approach as best practice in metropolitan regions nationwide and ultimately, to help the residents of this nation more deeply connect to nature in their own backyards. It’s our job to help connect people with nature near where they live, because if they don’t do it there they are probably not going to do it anywhere. The Intertwine Alliance is working with similar coalitions in Chicago, Houston, Cleveland, Los Angeles, the Bay Area, Kansas City, and Milwaukee to develop a national agenda for conservation in urban regions, establish conservation coalitions as national best practice, and help attract and coordinate federal investment.
The Intertwine Alliance
www.TheIntertwine.org
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The now more than 110 Alliance partners include the Bullitt Foundation, Clean Water Services, KEEN Footwear, Metro, Moda, TriMet, 40 Mile Loop Land Trust, Audubon Society of Portland, Portland Bureau of Environmental Services, Columbia Land Trust, Columbia Riverkeeper, Columbia Slough Watershed Council, Depave, East Multnomah Soil and Water Conservation District, GreenWorks PC, Gresham Area Chamber of Commerce & Visitor Center, Jackson Bottom Wetlands Preserve, Johnson Creek Watershed Council, Kaiser Permanente, Mayer/Reed, National Park Service, Parks Foundation of Clark County, Portland General Electric, Port of Portland, Portland Parks and Recreation, The Trust for Public Land, Tualatin Hills Park & Recreation District, Tualatin Riverkeepers, Urban Greenspaces Institute, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Washington State Department of Natural Resources, West Multnomah Soil and Water Conservation District, Westside Economic Alliance, Willamette Riverkeeper, Climate Solutions, and the Vancouver Watersheds Alliance.