Urban Environmental Education:



Urban Environmental Education:

Nurturing Future Environmental Stewards

Midterm Report

(See also: )

Alex Kudryavtsev, PhD student, Cornell University

Advisors: Dr. Marianne Krasny (committee chair), Dr. Scott Peters, Dr. Richard Stedman, Dr. Mark Bain

Community partners: Damian Griffin, Anne-Marie Runfola (Bronx River Alliance), Adam Liebowitz (A.C.T.I.O.N. at the Point), Annette Williams (Sustainable South Bronx), Jennifer Plewka (Phipps CDC), Stephen Oliveira (Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice), Anthony Archino (Rocking the Boat)

NYC Mentor: Gretchen Ferenz, Cornell Cooperative Extension-NYC

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Abstract

The NYC government used to be a primary caretaker of urban forests and other natural ecosystems in the Bronx, but high pollution levels, health problems, and limited access to natural areas for residents suggest that this management was not always satisfactory. Now a growing number of community-based groups and organizations advocate for and manage green urban spaces in collaboration with governmental agencies. These efforts have already resulted in the creation of new parks and the restoration of some ecosystems in the Bronx. Evidence of positive contributions of communities in solving environmental issues in the city suggests the need for involving more residents in decision making and participation in environmental restoration programs. One possible way to increase community participation is through youth environmental education (EE) that would nurture future environmental stewards and advocates for nature in the city.

There is a tension between EE programs that often focus primarily changing individual environmental behavior and the need to bring up future citizens who would engage in community-based environmental stewardship. Therefore, the traditional logic model of EE, which includes certain educational activities, learning outputs, outcomes, and long-term impacts, should be revised. The goal of this research project is to construct a logic model of youth EE, which can be used by non-formal education programs to plan, implement, and evaluate EE activities that lead to environmental stewardship in urban communities. Community partners are environmental educators from five community-based organizations that focus on environmental restoration and education along the eight-mile section of the Bronx River within the city limits, which flows through some of the most diverse and low-income communities in the U.S (see the project map: ).

During the pre-dissertation phase of this research (Summer 2008), I worked with the partner organizations to define the research goal. I also developed descriptions of environmental organizations and their activities with youth, and collected preliminary data about desired short-term and ultimate outcomes of their programs. These data will serve as a foundation for the dissertation phase of this research in 2009. Interviews with the Bronx environmental educators and observations of various EE activities will be analyzed in fall 2008. Preliminary observations suggest that most youth participants in EE programs are the first generation in their families to help manage ecosystems in the Bronx, and EE educators sometimes do not have an explicit understanding of how these youth would engage in community-based natural resources management when they become adults. Without understanding of a long-term impact by EE programs and educators, EE activities may not always be well focused on nurturing environmental stewardship, which will be analyzed next year. Currently, EE programs in the Bronx engage youth in a blend of restoration and conservation activities in urban forests and other ecosystems. Other inquiry activities focus on quality of the environment and various topics related to environment advocacy, justice and policy. Sometimes young people, however, participate only in some of these activities and only for short-term periods. Educators agree that not all youth in EE programs will follow environmental careers, but in the future they should gain the ability and willingness to organize community-based management of natural resources in the Bronx or elsewhere. To build the logic model of urban EE, next year concept mapping or another research methodology will be used, which will involve working with environmental educators to identify types of EE activities and desired educational outcomes that potentially lead to community-based environmental management in parks, urban forests, and other natural ecosystems in the city.

Midterm report

“Nurturing good environmental stewardship requires understanding the myriad cultural, political, economic, and environmental influences that shape the interaction between people and the environment.” (Ross and Long, 2007)

Although pre-dissertation fellows are not required to submit a midterm report, I decided to write it, and use it as a chance to reflect on my experiences. Also, this report will help me to connect my research questions to broader cultural, environmental, and other issues that shape EE programs in the Bronx and influence this research project. Because I have not finished organizing and analyzing the data that I collected in Summer 2008, this research contains little substantial information from the interviews and observations; this information will follow in the final report in late 2008.

Researcher’s background and philosophy

It is acknowledged that the choice of research projects is “associated with personal interests, social problems, ideologies and political interests” (Sarantakos, 2005). Therefore, although researchers try to be objective, and to produce valid conclusions, it is important to remember their background and understand how it influences the research project. This is why I feel that I need to tell about my own background and philosophy, and see how they affect this research project.

I grew up in Russia, mostly in urban environments, but traveled extensively in the countryside and often stayed in forested rural areas and forests hardly impacted by human activities. Because environmental conservation was an exclusive prerogative of the government when I was growing up, and participation of residents in the management of local natural resources was very limited, both in cities and villages, I used to put all my faith in the governmental regulations as the key solution to environmental problems. I should admit that even when I worked for an environmental NGO, I was questioning its legitimacy in the environmental arena.

Later in 2003 when I first visited the U.S., mostly rural communities and small towns in Vermont, I was surprised about the level of participation of community members and NGOs in environmental conservation and partnership with governmental organizations (Kudryavtsev, 2004). Now I do consider non-formal environmental initiatives as an important part of the solutions to environmental problems, but I also remember that community-based conservation is not enough. Various community players have heterogeneous interests (Agrawal and Gibson, 1999), and leadership in communities and available funding may significantly change over time, which may lead to overall instability of community-based environmental projects. The government, on the other hand, may secure significant funding in annual budgets and develop regulations to support natural areas, parks and urban forests over long period of time. Therefore, these environmental projects may be resilient to changes of the leadership, funding, and interests within communities.

The downside of governmental regulation, though, is that it does not respond well to the richness of local environmental and social contexts, trying to implement one-size-fits-all solutions, which is well documented in Seeing Like A State (Scott, 1998). The U.S. government was dramatically successful in improving overall environmental quality since the 1960s and 1970s (Dryzek, 2005), but it is not able to recognize specific needs of all communities. A combination of governmental regulations and strong community-based initiatives and leadership occurs to me as an optimal way for environmental restoration and conservation.

Also, because of my Russian ‘biased’ experience, where people even in large cities are familiar with nature at least through popular suburban gardening, it was and still is hard for me to imagine that the majority of residents in such cities as the Bronx have never traveled to forests and that many of them are not aware of remaining urban forests in their neighborhoods. It is also difficult for me to understand what all this implies in terms of residents’ attachment to nature and their willingness to protect urban forests and other ecosystems. So, for me this research project is a meaningful endeavor because I am learning valuable lessons about community participation in management of natural resources, and also want to contribute to the reconnection of youth and other residents to nature in underserved urban communities in the US.

Theoretical Framework

This research rests on the assumption that one of the most effective ways to engage urban communities in management of forests and other natural ecosystems in cities is through EE of youth, who will become adult community members and initiate environmental restoration and conservation in their communities. Traditional EE programs focus on development of certain knowledge, skills, and attitudes in youth, which presumably lead to environmentally responsible behavior of individuals (UNESCO, 1977, p. 25; Hungerford and Ben Peyton, 1989, p. vi; Hungerford, 1990, p. 8; UNESCO, 1991, p. 60; Knapp et al., 1995, p. 5; Simmons et al., 2004, p. 1). There are, however, tensions between these outcomes of EE and what is required for active engagement of communities in solving local environmental issues. For example:

• Collective actions. EE focuses on development of individual environmental responsibility whereas community-based conservation is a collective action by definition. So, EE in cities might have to develop different learning outcomes in youth, including such transferable skills as ability to work in a team, communication skills, critical thinking, and leadership.

• Social capital and place attachment. Social capital and place attachment are not mentioned as desired outcomes of EE, but they have been mentioned as important prerequisites for people to participate in environmental restoration and conservation activities (Vaske and Kobrin, 2001; Williams and Vaske, 2003; Walker and Salt, 2006, pp. 138, 147; Wakerfield et al., 2007).

• Urban settings. Different educational activities might be required to educate urban youth about and connect with the environment. A one-size-fits-all logic model of EE might not work equally well for rural and urban settings.

In summary, the overall goal of this research is to revise the logic model of urban EE, which includes describing appropriate education activities and learning outputs that are best suited to eventually lead to community-based management of urban forests, parks, and other natural areas in cities.

Research Question

The research question for this project is: “What is the desired logic model of urban environmental education, as described by urban environmental educators?” A simplified form (Figure 1) shows the contents for the generic logic model of traditional EE.

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In 2009 I will use concept mapping (Trochim, 1989; Trochim, 1999) or another methodology to build the logic model for urban EE. I am using the 2008 pre-dissertation project to prepare for the 2009 project. More specifically, tasks for the pre-dissertation phase of these research projects are:

• Build relationships with community-based environmental organizations that conduct EE programs for urban youth. Environmental educators from these organizations will be part of the dissertation phase of this research.

• Collect preliminary data about EE programs in these organizations, and preliminary data on opinions of environmental educators regarding short-term and ultimate goals of urban EE.

A preliminary overview of EE programs will help to select the appropriate methodology for building the logic model of urban EE next year.

Research Settings

This research project takes place in the Bronx along the Bronx River.

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According to 2000 census data, the median household income in the Bronx ($28,000) is significantly lower than the national median household income ($42,000). Among 1,330,000 residents of the Bronx, the majority are Latino (48%), Black (36%) and White (30%). A mix of groups with different ancestry makes the Bronx one of the most culturally diverse American neighborhoods. Spanish is widely spoken in the Bronx because many people are immigrants from Latin America.

Except for the Bronx Zoo and the Bronx Botanical Garden, there are very few natural areas in the Bronx. For example, until recently the Hunts Point neighborhood with its 47,000 residents did not have any public green space; and even now two new parks in this neighborhood are located rather far from residential areas (statistics on green areas to be found).

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In the meantime, nearly all environmental educators along the Bronx River that I met with this summer, said that green areas in the Bronx produce not only social benefits (e.g., one of educators mentioned Louv’s Last Child in the Woods (2006)), but also ecosystem services. For example, because of its limited capacity and old design, a combined sewage overflow system in the Bronx carries storm water drainage and sanitary water into the harbor in events of heavy rain instead of carrying it into the water treatment plant. River pollution can be mitigated if the amount of storm water could be lowered. This can be done by restoration of native terrestrial ecosystems, which effectively retain storm water. Another important ecosystem service of urban forests, in the opinion of environmental organizations, is providing habitat along the Bronx River environmental corridor for local and migrating animals. This vision agrees with recent international environmental efforts, such as UNESCO’s Urban Biosphere Network, which claim that urban ecosystem services are significant.

At the same time, various types of green spaces provide different levels of possible community participation in their management. For example, Crotona Park (see image above on the left) is a typical public park, where well-maintained lawns provide aesthetic benefits and basketball courts provide recreation opportunities. However, according to a Crotona Park ranger, to appreciate green spaces and to change their environmental behavior, youth need to engage in activities related to the restoration of nature, rather than just spend some time in parks: “If kids only play and participate in sports activities in park – they take little of the park, do not understand what focus is put on city trees – breath, garbage… – will not take responsibility. They would not realize they are in the park, but just a basketball court. It is important to make these kids understand that they own this park, so they would not litter.” I think that this ranger mean that to become environmental stewards, youth need to actively engage in learning and caring about their park, and spending time in a park without active interaction with nature is not enough.

In my opinion, there is also a huge disconnection between youth (and other residents in the Bronx) and nature. One environmental educator who I interviewed this summer, for example, noted that youth who come to her/his program for the first time, are “afraid” of trees, and have negative feelings towards urban forests or parks, possibly because of association of forests and parks with illegal activities, including drug dealing and prostitution.

Community Partners

To build the model of urban EE programs that describe how EE leads to increasing community participation in management of their environment, I collaborate with seven environmental educators from six organizations that deal with environmental restoration and EE along the eight-mile long section of the Bronx River in the city (Figure 2). The organizations include:

• Bronx River Alliance (BxRA),

• Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice (YMPJ),

• A.C.T.I.O.N. at the Point CDC,

• Rocking the Boat,

• Phipps CDC, programs.html#growing

• Sustainable South Bronx,

The primary community collaborators in summer 2008 were two environmental educators from the Bronx River Alliance, who reviewed the preliminary proposal for this research and helped to identify other partner organizations for this project along the Bronx River. Next year we will make efforts to involve all seven environmental educators in different aspects of this research project.

The Bronx River Alliance (“BxRA”) is a non-profit organization that works “to protect, improve and restore the Bronx River corridor and greenway so that they can be healthy ecological, recreational, educational, and economic resources for communities through which the River flows.” Together with public and private partners, and community members, BxRA organizes ecological restoration and management in open spaces on and near the Bronx River, and provides recreation opportunities. BxRA is uniquely positioned to be part of this research because it engages the Bronx’s local activists, school programs, and informal community groups in variety of programs related to the environment. BxRA information brochures says that nurturing environmental stewardship is a priority for BxRA: “We work with over 40 local schools, youth and community organizations to engage residents in the development of the Bronx River Greenway and in the river’s restoration. In doing so, we develop stewards who will protect the river and open spaces for the long term” (Bronx River Alliance, 2008).

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Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice (“YMPJ”) is a prominent non-profit organization in the South Bronx that develops leadership in youth who will be capable of leading change, inspiring them for civic participation in multiple community development, including environmental justice issues. Together with partner organizations, YMPJ plays a key role in development of the Concrete Plant Park and in the decommission of Sheridan expressway to develop more green spaces and affordable housing along the Bronx River.

A.C.T.I.O.N. at the Point CDC is a teen community leadership after-school education program in the Hunts Point neighborhood. “The program engages young people who work to identify social and environmental justice issues facing the Hunts Point section of the South Bronx with the goal of creating and implementing ongoing youth-led solutions.” Youth who participate in this program take park in a variety of environmental projects to re-envision Hunts Point and to “implement grassroots techniques in community planning and policy, and disseminate such information to the community.”

Rocking the Boat involves high-school age youth in education programs to help young people become empowered and responsible adults. Youth in Rocking the Boat participate in wooden boatbuilding and on-water programs (mostly on the Bronx River). The on-water youth program includes restoration of natural ecosystems, such as oyster reefs and native vegetation on riverbanks, which combines science and action learning approaches.

Environmental and Nutrition Education Program at Phipps CDC coordinates maintenance of open green spaces in the South Bronx. Phipps CDC creates community gardens, and restores natural ecosystems, such as urban forests and riverbanks, through community organizing and education programs. Phipps CDC is supporting Drew Gardens, a fascinating example of community gardens and urban forests on the banks of the Bronx River.

Sustainable South Bronx (“SSBx”) promotes environmental justice through innovative, economically sustainable projects informed by community needs. SSBx is dedicated to restocking of urban forests and green areas in Hunts Point, along the Bronx River greenway, and neighborhoods. SSBx works primarily with adult residents, but next year it is planning to start collaboration in middle schools to engage young people in EE and restoration projects.

Research Methods

To fulfill tasks of the pre-dissertation phase of this research project – including building a relationship with EE organizations and collecting preliminary data about learning activities, outcomes, and long-terms impacts of their education programs – I used open-ended interviews with seven environmental educators from organizations listed above. Interview questions included:

1. In your opinion, what should be the outcome and long-term impact of EE?

2. What are desired learning outcomes that your organization/education program tries to achieve in youth?

3. Please describe EE activities/educational approaches in your organization/education program?

Responses to these questions will be used to inform the choice of research methodology that I will use next year to build the logic model of urban EE. I will be transcribing and analyzing educator interviews in Fall 2008, so the final outcomes of the pre-dissertation research project will be available later this year.

This research project will involve a participatory approach (Friedman, 2001; Heron and Reason, 2001; Pereda et al., 2003; Greenwood and Levin, 2006). Educators from environmental organizations will participate in most stages of this research.

Research Progress

The field part of this research was conducted from mid May till end of July. First, I connected with the Bronx River Alliance’s environmental educators, and together with them we identified other organizations that need to be part of this research project. Before receiving an approval (Protocol ID#08-07-008) of this research from the Cornell University Institutional Review Board for Human Subjects, I used this time to do observations of some of educational activities organized by these organizations, ranging from tree planting in the Bronx River Forest, to Car-Free Day in Crotona Park, to Fish Parade in Hunts Point, to Student Assembly in the Hunts Point Riverside Park. These observations and occasional volunteering in some of the events gave me a better understanding of ongoing community involvement in the management of natural ecosystems in the Bronx, and a better understanding of EE programs available for youth.

In July 2008, I conducted interviews with seven environmental educators from six organizations described above to collect data about EE programs, which will help to build a preliminary logic model for urban EE, and which will be helpful for choosing appropriate methodology for building the logic model of urban EE next year,. I will be transcribing educator interviews in September, and after that will work on the final report of the pre-dissertation project, where I will describe outcomes of this research.

Random Lessons and Ideas

Blog. This summer I published information on a blog related to this research and my experiences in the Bronx. Although I cannot publish any substantive information from interviews to protect human subjects, I found it useful to document my related experiences, which help me to connect this research with broader issues. See the blog here:

Website. If my dissertation research project will be funded next year, it might be useful to create a website about this research, which would accumulate information about environmental stewardship, urban forests, and EE programs along the Bronx River. It would be useful to document different information for this research project. Possibly, it would also make sense to organize some pages on that website where other people could leave their comments about this project in order to make it even more participatory.

Living in the community, and speaking the local language. This summer I rented a room in a house with a Spanish-speaking family in Mott Haven, one of the most low-income and polluted communities, but incredibly rich in terms of culture. I found it a very useful experience to live in the Bronx during the research project because it helped me to understand better the local educational, environmental, and cultural settings. The majority of residents in certain communities in the Bronx speak Spanish and I found it very useful to speak with them in Spanish because it helped to build trust more quickly.

Rich information. Sometimes when I visited natural areas in the Bronx and/or talked with environmental educators, I felt that the information around me is so rich, and it is hard to capture this information even if I used a voice recorder, photo camera, video camera, and notebook at the same time. I still see the value in documenting and collecting the data through different means, so next year, I will possibly use at least a video camera in addition to voice recorder to collect data.

Next steps

In the fall I will be transcribing educator interviews, analyzing the data, and writing the final report for the pre-dissertation research project. In September 2009 I am planning to present preliminary results of this project at the workshop for the Community Forestry and Environmental Research Partnership program. Then in winter I am planning to submit an application for the dissertation fellowship to the CFERP program. In the meantime, during the 2008/2009 academic year I need to develop skills and read literature on program evaluation, logic models, and community-based natural resources management. In May 2009 I am planning to present results of this preliminary research project at the World Environmental Education Congress in Toronto.

Acknowledgement

I want to extend my sincere thanks to my advisor, Dr. Marianne Krasny, and committee members Dr. Scott Peters, Dr. Richard Stedman, and Dr. Mark Bain, and NYC mentor Gretchen Ferenz for their great help in all aspects of this project. I greatly appreciate the input of dedicated environmental educators in this research; Damian Griffin, Anne-Marie Runfola, Adam Liebowitz, Annette Williams, Jennifer Plewka, Stephen Oliveira, Anthony Archino – they all enthusiastically participated in planning of this research and/or interviews despite being so busy serving the Bronx communities. Finally, I acknowledge support of the Community Forestry and Environmental Research Fellowship program, which connects me with a vibrant and intellectual community of fellows throughout the country.

Literature Cited

Agrawal, A. and Gibson, C. C. (1999). Enchantment and disenchantment: the role of community in natural resource conservation. World development 27 (4): 629-649.

Bronx River Alliance (2008). Information brochure: history, greenway, ecology, education, outreach. New York: The Bronx River Alliance. pp. 10

Dryzek, J. S. (2005). The politics of the Earth: environmental discourses. 2nd edn. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 276.

Friedman, V. J. (2001). Action science: creating communities of inquiry in communities of practice. In: The handbook of action research. Edited by P. Reason & H. Bradbury. London: Sage. pp. 159-170.

Greenwood, D. and Levin, M. (2006). Introduction to action research: social research for social change. 2nd edn. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications, Inc. pp. 320.

Heron, J. and Reason, P. (2001). The practice of co-operative inquiry: research 'with' rather than 'on' people. In: Handbook of action research. Edited by P. Reason & H. Bradbury. London: Sage. pp. 180-188.

Hungerford, H. R. (1990). Changing learner behavior through environmental education. Journal of environmental education 21 (3): 8-21.

Hungerford, H. R. and Ben Peyton, R. (1989). Procedures for developing an environmental education curriculum: a discussion guide for UNECO training seminars on environmental education. Paris: UNESCO. pp. 100.

Knapp, D. H., Volk, T. L. and Hungerford, H. R. (1995). Global change: environmental education module: UNESCO-UNEP. pp. 149.

Kudryavtsev, A. (2004). Environmental protection: dialogue between citizens and government. Open World Alumni Bulletin (Spring 2004): 3.

Louv, R. (2006). Last child in the woods: saving our children from nature-deficit disorder: Algonquin Book of Chapel Hill. pp. 334.

Pereda, C., Ángel de Prada, M. and Actis, W. (2003). Investigación acción participative: Propuesta para un ejercicio activo de la ciudadanía. Madrid. pp. 26

Ross, J. and Long, J. (2007). Message from the steering co-chairs. In: Community forestry & environmental research partnerships. Annual report 2007. Berkeley, California. pp. 3.

Sarantakos, S. (2005). Social Research. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 384.

Scott, J. C. (1998). Seeing like a state: how certain schemes to improve the human condition have failed. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. pp. 445.

Simmons, B., McCrea, E., Shotkin, A., Burmett, D., McGlaufin, K., Osorio, R., Prussia, C., Spencer, A. and Weiser, B. (2004). Nonformal environmental education programs: guidlines for excellence. Washington, D.C.: North American Association for Evnironmental Education. pp. 36.

Trochim, W. (1989). An introduction to concept mapping for planning and evaluation. A special issue of Evaluation and Program Planning 12: 1-16.

Trochim, W. M. K. (1999). The evaluator as cartographer: technology for mapping where we're going and where we've been. In Conference of the Oregon Program Evaluators Network, "Evaluation and Technology: Tools for the 21st Century". Portland, Oregon. pp. 49

UNESCO (1977). Final report. Intergovernmental conference on environmental education. Organized by UNESCO in cooperation with UNEP, Tbilisi, USSR, 14-26 October 1977. Paris: UNESCO. pp. 101

UNESCO (1991). Le changement des mentalités : un impératif pour la Terre. Choix d’articles, 1976-1991, extrait de Connexion, Bulletin de l’éducation relative à l’environnement UNESCO-PNUE. pp. 72.

Vaske, J. J. and Kobrin, K. C. (2001). Place attachment and environmentally responsible behavior. The journal of environmental education 32 (4): 16-21.

Wakerfield, S. E. L., Elliott, S. J. and Cole, D. C. (2007). Social capital, environmental health and collective action: a Hamilton, Ontario case study. The Canadian geographer 51 (4): 428-443.

Walker, B. and Salt, D. (2006). Resilience thinking: sustaining ecosystems and people in a changing world. Washington, D.C.: Island Press. pp. 174.

Williams, D. R. and Vaske, J. J. (2003). The measurement of place attachment: validity and generalizability of a psychometric approach. Forest science 49 (6): 830-840.

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Photo: Alex Kudryavtsev

On the left: Crotona Park, a public park. On the right: urban forest in Drew Gardens. Both green spaces are in the South Bronx.

Environmental and community impacts

Sustainable South Bronx

Figure 1: Logic model of environmental education

Photo: Alex Kudryavtsev

Most youth who participate in environmental education programs, including the restoration and conservation of urban forests in the Bronx as in this photograph, are the first generation in their family to care about nature in the city. Environmental educators need to find out what types of education activities are most useful in bringing up future environmental stewards in the city.

Phipps CDC

A.C.T.I.O.N. at the Point

Behavioral outcomes

Learning activities

Learning outputs

Photo: Alex Kudryavtsev

On the left: A typical view of a residential area in the Hunts Point neighborhood in the South Bronx with the Bruckner expressway and apartment buildings in the background. On the right: the Bronx River and a greenway, which crosses the Bronx from north to south. This greenway provides a place for the last remnants of native and restored urban forests; many residents of the Bronx are not even aware of the Bronx River and the environment of its watershed.

Youth Ministries for Peace & Justice

Bronx River Alliance

Figure 2. Community partner organizations along the Bronx River in the Bronx, which organize environmental conservation and environmental education programs.

Rocking the Boat

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