Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Framing for resilience through social learning: impacts of environmental stewardship on youth in post-disturbance communities

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Sustainability Science Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Civic ecology practices, such as community gardening and citizen-led urban reforestation and wetland restoration, provide opportunities for social learning. Because social learning is an important component of community resilience, we suggest that civic ecology practices can be a strategy for responding to and mitigating environmental disturbances in an era threatened by climate change. Despite the links between civic ecology, social learning and community resilience, empirical research that systematically considers these connections is limited. This study addresses this gap by introducing ‘frames’ as an approach to considering social learning outcomes and process. More specifically, we provide a model for investigating the role civic ecology education programs play in shaping youths’ capacity to understand and respond to environmental disturbance. We used participant observation and cognitive mapping to assess social learning among three youth restoration programs working in the wake of Hurricane Sandy in New York, NY, and after the 2013 floods in Boulder, CO. In all three programs, youth demonstrated social learning and cognitive change by shifting their emphasis from the impacts of disturbance towards a solutions-based framing that focused on community, action, and mitigation. However, the depth of these changes was not uniform across all programs, suggesting that variations in program length, community context, social identity, and opportunities for self-defined action may shape overall impacts of programs and youth capacity for future action.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Adger WN, Hughes TP, Folke C, Carpenter SR, Rockström J (2005) Social–ecological resilience to coastal disasters. Science 309(5737):1036–1039

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Aldrich DP (2012) Building resilience: social capital in post-disaster recovery. University of Chicago Press, Chicago

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Armitage D, Marschke M, Plummer R (2008) Adaptive co-management and the paradox of learning. Glob Environ Change 18:86–98

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bandura A (1977) Social learning theory. Englewood Cliffs, Prentice Hall

    Google Scholar 

  • Bandura A (1986) Social foundations of thought and action. Englewood Cliffs, Prentice Hall

    Google Scholar 

  • Bardwell LV (1991) Problem-framing: a perspective on environmental problem-solving. Environ Manage 15(5):603–612

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barr S, Gilg A (2006) Sustainable lifestyles: framing environmental action in and around the home. Geoforum 37(6):906–920

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berkes F (2004) Rethinking community based conservation. Conserv Biol 18(3):621–630

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berkes F, Ross H (2013) Community resilience: toward an integrated approach. Soc Nat Resour 26:s5–s20

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berkes F, Armitage D, Doubleday N (2007) Synthesis: adapting, innovating, evolving. In: Berkes F, Armitage D, Doubleday N (eds) Adaptive co-management: collaboration, learning, and multi-level governance. University of British Columbia Press, Vancouver, pp 308–327

    Google Scholar 

  • Blackmore C (2007) What kinds of knowledge, knowing and learning are required for addressing resource dilemmas?: a theoretical overview. Environ Sci Policy 10:512–525

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blackmore C, Ison R, Jiggins J (eds) (2007) Social learning: an alternative policy instrument for managing in the context of Europe’s water. Environ Sci Policy 10(6):499–586

  • Braun V, Clarke V (2006) Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qual Res Psychol 3(2):77–101

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Buzan T (1974) Using both sides of your brain. E. P. Dutton, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Buzan T, Buzan B (2000) The mind map book. BBC Books, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Collins A, Gentner D (1987) How people construct mental models. In: Holland D, Quinn N (eds) Cultural models in language and thought. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 243–265

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Cranton P (2002) Teaching for transformation. In: Imel S (Series ed), Ross-Gordon JM (vol ed), Contemporary viewpoints on teaching adults effectively: no. 93. New directions for adult and continuing education. Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, pp 63–72

  • Cutter SL, Barnes L, Berry M, Burton C, Evans E, Tate E, Webb J (2008) A place-based model for understanding community resilience to natural disasters. Glob Environ Change 18:598–606

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Creswell JW (1998) Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five designs. Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA

  • Denzin N (1994) Introduction: entering the field of qualitative research. In: Denzin N, Lincoln Y (eds) Handbook of Qualitative Research. Sage Publications, pp 1–18

  • Eckert E, Bell AA (2005) Invisible force: farmers’ mental models and how they influence learning and actions. J Ext 43(3), Article 3FEA2. http://www.joe.org/joe/2005june/ent.shtml#a2

  • Eckert E, Bell A (2006) Continuity and change: themes of mental model development among small-scale farmers. J Ext 44(1) 1FEA2http://www.joe.org/joe/2006february/a2.php

  • Fernandez-Gimenez ME, Ballard HL, Sturtevant VE (2008) Adaptive management and social learning in collaborative and community-based monitoring: a study of five community-based forestry organizations in the western USA. Ecol Soc 13(2):4

    Google Scholar 

  • Fiske ST, Taylor SE (1991) Social cognition, 2nd edn. McGraw-Hill, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Geis DE (2000) By design: the disaster resistant and quality-of-life community. Nat Hazards Rev 1(3):151–160

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goffman E (1974) Frame analysis: an essay on the organization of experience. Harvard University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Greeno JG (1989) Situations, mental models, and generative knowledge. In: Klahr D, Kotovsky K (eds) Complex information processing. Erlbaum, Hillsdale, pp 285–318

    Google Scholar 

  • Gunderson LH (2001) South Florida: the reality of change and the prospects for sustainability: managing surprising ecosystems in southern Florida. Ecol Econ 37(3):371–378

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gunderson LH, Carpenter SR, Folke C, Olsson P, Peterson GD (2006) Water RATs (resilience, adaptability, and transformability) in lake and wetland social–ecological systems. Ecol Soc 11(1):16

    Google Scholar 

  • Habermas J (1987) The theory of communicative action, vol 2., Lifeworld and system. A critique of functionalist reasonBeacon Press, Boston

    Google Scholar 

  • Jick TD (1979) Mixing qualitative and quantitative methods: Triangulation in action. Adm Sci Q 24:602–611

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson RB, Onwuegbuzie AJ (2004) Mixed methods research: a research paradigm whose time has come. Educ Res 33(7):14–26

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson-Laird PN (1983) Mental models: towards a cognitive science of language, inference, and consciousness. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Kahan DM (2014) Climate science communication and the measurement problem. Adv Polit Psychol 36(S1):1–43

    Google Scholar 

  • Kahan DM, Peters E, Wittlin M, Slovic P, Ouellette LL, Braman D, Mandel G (2012) The polarizing impact of science literacy and numeracy on perceived climate change risks. Nat Clim Change 2(10):732–735

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Keen M, Brown VA, Dyball R (2005) Social learning in environmental management: towards a sustainable future. Earthscan, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Krasny ME, Tidball KG (2012) Civic ecology: a pathway for Earth Stewardship in cities. Front Ecol Environ 10(5):267–273

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Krasny ME, Tidball KG (2015) Civic ecology: adaptation and transformation from the ground up. MIT Press, Cambridge

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Krasny ME, Tidball KG, Sriskandarajah N (2009) Education and resilience: social and situated learning among university and secondary students. Ecol Soc 14(2):38. http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol14/iss2/art38/

  • Krasny ME, Lundholm C, Plummer R (2010) Resilience, learning and environmental education. Environ Educ Res (special issue) 15(5–6):463–672

    Google Scholar 

  • Lakoff G (2009) The neural theory of metaphor. January 2. SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1437794 or doi:10.2139/ssrn.1437794

  • Lakoff G, Johnson M (2008) Metaphors we live by. University of Chicago Press, Chicago

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee E, Krasny ME (2015) The role of social learning for social–ecological systems in Korean village groves restoration. Ecol Soc 20:42

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marschke M, Sinclair AJ (2009) Learning for sustainability: participatory resource management in Cambodian fishing villages. J Environ Manage 90(1):206–216

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mileti DS (1999) Disasters by design: a reassessment of natural hazards in the United States. Joseph Henry Press, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Norris FH, Stevens SP, Pfefferbaum B, Wyche KF, Pfefferbaum RL (2008) Community resilience as a metaphor, theory, set of capacities, and strategy for disaster readiness. Am J Community Psychol 41(1–2):127–150

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Orom H, Cline RJ, Hernandez T, Berry-Bobovski L, Schwartz AG, Ruckdeschel JC (2012) A typology of communication dynamics in families living a slow-motion technological disaster. J Fam Issues 33(10):1299–1323

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pahl-Worstl C, Tabara D, Bouwen R, Craps M, Dewulf A, Mostert E, Ridder M, Taillieu T (2008) The importance of social learning and culture for sustainable water management. Ecol Econ 64:484–495

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pahl-Wostl C, Craps M, DeWulf A, Mostert E, Tabara D, Taillieu T (2007) Social learning and water resources management. Ecol Soc 12(2):5

    Google Scholar 

  • Parry ML, Canziani OF, Palutikof JP, van der Linden PJ, Hanson CE (2007) IPCC, 2007: climate change 2007: impacts, adaptation and vulnerability. In: Contribution of working group II to the fourth assessment report of the intergovernmental panel on climate change

  • Plummer R, FitzGibbon J (2008) Connecting adaptive co-management, social learning, and social capital through theory and practice. In: Berkes F, Armitage D, Doubleday N (eds) Adaptive co-management: collaboration, learning, and multi-level governance. University of British Columbia Press, Vancouver, pp 38–61

    Google Scholar 

  • Preece J (2004) Etiquette, empathy and trust in communities of practice: stepping-stones to social capital. J UCS 10(3):294–302

    Google Scholar 

  • Reed MS, Evely AC, Cundill G, Fazey I, Glass J, Laing A, Newig J, Parrish B, Prell C, Raymond C, Stringer LC (2010) What is social learning? Ecol Soc 15(4). http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol15/iss4/resp1/

  • Saldaña J (2009) Popular film as an instructional strategy in qualitative research methods courses. Qual Inq 15 (1):247–261

    Google Scholar 

  • Schusler TM, Krasny ME (2010) Environmental action as context for youth development. J Environ Educ 41:208–223

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schusler TM, Decker DJ, Pfeffer MJ (2003) Social learning for collaborative natural resource management. Soc Nat Resour 15:309–326

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schusler TM, Krasny ME, Peters SP, Decker DJ (2009) Developing citizens and communities through environmental action. Environ Educ Res 15:111–127

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sirianni C, Friedland L (2001) Civic innovation in America: community empowerment, public policy, and the movement for civic renewal. University of California Press, Oakland

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith AE, Humphreys MS (2006) Evaluation of unsupervised semantic mapping of natural language with Leximancer concept mapping. Behav Res Methods 38(2):262–279

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Snow DA, Benford RD (1988) Ideology, frame resonance, and participant mobilization. In: Klandermans B, Kriesi H, Tarrow S (eds) International social movement research, vol 1., From structure on action: comparing social movement research across culturesJAI Press, Greenwich, pp 197–217

    Google Scholar 

  • Tarrow S, Tollefson J (1994) Power in movement: social movements, collective action and politics. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 3–4

    Google Scholar 

  • Tidball KG, Krasny ME (2007) From risk to resilience: what role for community greening and civic ecology in cities. Soc Learn Towards More Sustain World 149–164

  • Tidball KG, Krasny ME (2010) Urban environmental education from a social–ecological perspective: conceptual framework. Cities Environ 3:11

    Google Scholar 

  • Tidball KG, Krasny ME (2011) Toward an ecology of environmental education and learning. Ecosphere 2:21

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tidball KG, Krasny ME (eds) (2014) Greening in the red zone. Springer, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Tompkins EL, Adger W (2004) Does adaptive management of natural resources enhance resilience to climate change?. Ecol Soc 9(2):10

    Google Scholar 

  • Walker B, Salt D (2012) Resilience thinking: sustaining ecosystems and people in a changing world. Island Press, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Wals AEJ, Geerlin-Eijiff F, Hubeek F, van der Kroon S, Vader J (2008) All mixed up? instrumental and emancipatory learning toward a more sustainable world: considerations for environmental education policymakers. Appl Environ Educ Commun 7:55–65

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wasserman S, Faust K (1994) Social networks analysis: methods and applications. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Yin RK (2013) Case study research: design and methods. Sage Publications, Beverley Hills

    Google Scholar 

  • Zaksek M, Arvai JL (2004) toward improved communication about wildland fire: mental models research to identify information needs for natural resource management. Risk Anal 24(6):1503–1514

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. WSU Extension – Mason County, Community and Economic Development Unit, Washington State University, 303 N 4th Street, Shelton, WA, 98584, USA

    Justin G. Smith

  2. The Graduate Center, CUNY, Civic Ecology Lab, Department of Natural Resources, Cornell University, 111 Fernow Hall, Ithaca, NY, 14853, USA

    Bryce DuBois

  3. Civic Ecology Lab, Department of Natural Resources, Cornell University, 221 Fernow Hall, Ithaca, NY, 14853, USA

    Marianne E. Krasny

Authors
  1. Justin G. Smith
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Bryce DuBois
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Marianne E. Krasny
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Justin G. Smith.

Additional information

Handled by Kei Otsuki, Utrecht University, The Netherlands.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Smith, J.G., DuBois, B. & Krasny, M.E. Framing for resilience through social learning: impacts of environmental stewardship on youth in post-disturbance communities. Sustain Sci 11, 441–453 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-015-0348-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-015-0348-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation