Understanding Impacts of Environmental Stewardship Programs through Community Geography: Pro-environment Behaviors Cultivated and Reinforced

Christina W Lopez,Russell C Weaver

doi:10.5070/g314548511

Abstract

Author(s): Lopez, Christina W; Weaver, Russell C | Abstract: Environmental Stewardship (ES) is voluntary action on behalf of the environment. ES is typically practiced at environmental nonprofit organizations that offer stewardship programs. Because these programs are managed by individual organizations, relatively little external research exists on their impacts, e.g., diffusing norms and behaviors of ES more broadly across society. Responding to that research gap, this paper studies change in the environmental outlooks and behaviors of participants at two partner nonprofits in Texas using surveys (n=407) and interviews (n=5). Three categories of changes in environmental behavior are assessed: Natural Areas, Environmental Activism, and Water Awareness. Findings demonstrate that participation was linked to pro-environmental changes in all categories for the survey respondents. Follow-up interviews allowed us to capture additional aspects of ES not addressed in the survey. In all, ES can lead to greater uptake in selected pro-environment actions, higher awareness of environmental issues, and greater appreciation for natural amenities.

Highlights

Environmental stewardship (ES) involves voluntary individual or collective action on behalf of the environment, largely due to a moral concern, that results in positive environmental impacts (Krasny 2020; Cockburn, Cundill, Shackleton, & Rouget, 2018; Raymond et al, 2013; Welchman, 2012; Worrell & Appleby, 2000)
Because the option to participate in the study further indicated in-person interviews, only those accessible to the researchers, i.e., in San Marcos, Texas, were able to schedule interviews during the allotted time frame
The authors found that participation in Environmental Stewardship (ES) was linked to various types of increases in pro-environmental behaviors for respondents from both partner organizations

Summary

Introduction

Environmental stewardship (ES) involves voluntary individual or collective action on behalf of the environment, largely due to a moral concern, that results in positive environmental impacts (Krasny 2020; Cockburn, Cundill, Shackleton, & Rouget, 2018; Raymond et al, 2013; Welchman, 2012; Worrell & Appleby, 2000). There is a need for more unified empirical scholarship on ES Toward those ends, this paper draws on an integrative framework proposed by Bennett and colleagues (2018) to assess the outcomes and impacts of ES programs at two partner nonprofit organizations. Spreading pro-environmental norms, increasing environmental behaviors, and building the capacities of stewardship programs and their parent organizations require more than knowledge on what motivates stewards. Accomplishing these goals requires evidence on the impacts and efficacy of ES programs—topics to which the literature has paid relatively less attention (Bennett et al, 2018). To push the ES literature toward a richer understanding of the relationships between social systems and the natural environment (Marzluff & Ewing, 2008; Wolf & Kruger, 2010), ES scholars must focus more attention on the collective “impact these [ES] practices have on urban biodiversity, ecosystem services provision, individual health and well-being, or community cohesion” (Silva & Krasny, 2016, p. 158)

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