Connecting brawn, brains, and people: an exploration of non-traditional outcomes of youth stewardship programs

Abstract

Programs in which youth work collectively on an environmental stewardship project may provide social learning opportunities that support social-ecological system resilience and the development of social ties. However, few empirical investigations document the social learning processes that actually occur in these programs. This paper presents a multi-case study ethnography of six summer youth civic ecology education programs. Methods included participant observation, interviews, and group mind-mapping. The results suggest that programs offered moderate social learning contexts, with participants having little say over the direction and design of the program’s environmental stewardship goals. Nevertheless, participants worked together and collaborated on projects led by program leaders, with whom they developed strong ties. In programs focused on a single issue in one place, participants shifted their conceptual frames to include locally relevant concepts. While participants did not form strong ties with other program participants or with individuals from outside programs, they valued experiences where they led volunteers or were observed by others doing stewardship work. These results suggest that environmental stewardship programs can be designed to enhance social learning opportunities, which could incorporate strategies to increase youth developing ties with each other and with outside organizations.