This project is exploring residents’ knowledge, attitudes and actions related to managing urban vegetation as green infrastructure (GI), often referred to as ‘living GI’, as well as examining municipal and NGO strategies that can facilitate residents’ long-term stewardship of living GI. The project will address the following questions:
(1) How do municipal policy documents define GI and what is the expected role of residents in supporting GI goals?
(2) What are residents’ knowledge, attitudes and actions related to GI, with an emphasis on trees, rain gardens and other living GI that can potentially be located on residential property? What GI features are currently on residents’ property?
(3) What challenges do residents face with stewardship of living GI on their property given that managing vegetation as GI requires a long-term commitment to ongoing care?
(4) What policies and programmes are needed to support the long-term stewardship of privately-owned living GI in the context of a changing physical climate and residents’ potentially dynamic life circumstances that may impact their stewardship activities? What policies, outreach, or other actions do practitioners identify as necessary to ensure long-term performance of GI? What can be learned from residents’ attitudes and identified challenges?
We are currently exploring municipalities policy documents definition of GI in the Greater Toronto Area (Objective 1). Initial results were presented at the AAG in 2018.
Research on Objective 2 began in Spring 2018. This summer we will be launching a survey in Toronto and Philadelphia, exploring residents’ knowledge, attitudes and actions related to GI.
Project Collaborators
Lara Roman (US Forest Service, Northern Research Station); Jess Vogt (DePaul University); Sarah Hughes (University of Toronto); Darren Bos (University of Melbourne); Janet McKay (LEAF); Michelle Sawka (Green Infrastructure Ontario Coalition); Namrata Shrestha (Toronto and Region Conservation Authority)
Philadelphia Collaborators: Lara Roman (US Forest Service, Northern Research Station); Hamil Pearsall (Temple University); Megan Heckert (West Chester University); Christina Rosan (Temple University).