Environmental restoration in the Bronx River forest

Civic Ecology

Civic ecology practices are small-scale community-organized efforts to restore and care about local social-ecological systems such as community gardens, watersheds and urban forests. Riverbank restoration, establishing pollinator gardens and stewardship of street trees are examples of civic ecology practices in the Bronx, which are organized by environmental NGOs and residents. Civic ecology education happens along with civic ecology practices: youth, more experienced adults, and environmental educators work together to restore and build more resilient and sustainable social-ecological systems. Read more about civic ecology.

Literature:

• Krasny, ME and KG Tidball. 2009. Community gardens as contexts for science, stewardship, and advocacy learning: the Garden Mosaics example. Invited submission to: Special Issue on community gardens and pollination, Cities and the Environment.
• Krasny, ME and KG Tidball. Civic Ecology: Linking Social and Ecological Approaches in Extension. in press, Journal of Extension.