Environment, Resources and Sustainability
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/9917
2024-03-19T02:45:58ZVolunteer Participation in Ecological Restoration: Motivations, Organizations, and Conviviality
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/20371
Volunteer Participation in Ecological Restoration: Motivations, Organizations, and Conviviality
Alamenciak, Tim
The state of ecosystems worldwide are increasingly dire. Ecological restoration is a practice that has the potential to remedy ecosystem degradation. Engaging people in ecological restoration can help ensure project success, increase community acceptance and spread the practice of restoration beyond professionals. Research that focuses on volunteer engagement has revealed varying motivations for volunteering and a preference for well-organized projects. That research has seldom examined community-led ecological restoration (i.e. voluntary activities not organized by a non-profit). Despite extensive research into volunteer motivation, there remains little consensus on what motivates people to participate in ecological restoration and, accordingly, no clear guidance for practitioners who seek to appeal to motivations. Similarly, while project organization has been identified as an important characteristic, it is not clear what constitutes a well-organized project. By filling knowledge gaps around community participation in ecological restoration, the science and practice can have a cultural impact as well as an ecological one. The UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2030) has a stated goal of creating a culture of restoration. A better understanding of participation can help meet that goal.
This dissertation consists of three studies conducted in order to expand knowledge of volunteer participation. First, a systematic map of the literature on volunteer motivation resulted in a typology of the 15 most commonly studied motivations. Second, a survey of volunteers for nature-based non-profits clarifies project organization and its connection to volunteer engagement. Third, a qualitative case study of a community project operationalizes grassroots ecological restoration, specifically exploring the concept of a convivial community tool. Together they reveal the importance of relationships between volunteers and the ability of interconnected groups to overcome barriers to engagement in ecological restoration.
Engagement is a core principle of ecological restoration, and volunteering is a central means by which communities become engaged in ecological restoration projects. This chapter addressed the question: What are the motivations to participate in ecological restoration projects? The systematic literature map method was used to answer these questions. The research resulted in a typology of motivations examined by the studies that consists of 15 categories. A network analysis of those categories revealed five core and ten additional motivations that co-occur most in the literature: having a positive environmental impact, acquiring and sharing knowledge, caring for the environment, social interactions and community, and human health and wellbeing. Barriers to volunteering and the demographics of volunteers were also mapped in the literature as they appeared frequently alongside motivations. The five core motivations should be taken as a set of widely studied and well-understood motivations which can inform program design. The systematic map also highlights three major areas for future research: extrinsic motivations, demographics of volunteers who participate in ecological restoration and project organization as a motivation.
Project organization is an under-studied but important aspect of motivation to participate in ecological restoration that contributes to long-term engagement in restoration. Early studies on volunteer commitment recognized people are more engaged in well-organized projects, but there is a lack of understanding around what aspects of project organization are tied to volunteer engagement. One framework links performance of community-based initiatives to three aspects: social capital, transformational leadership and organizational capacity. We tested and extended that framework using a survey of volunteers for ecological restoration and conservation projects in Ontario, Canada. Volunteer engagement is a primary goal of many nature organizations. Social capital was most strongly correlated with volunteer engagement. A path analysis of four latent variables resulted in a model that shows transformational leadership (β = 0.37; P < 0.001) and organizational capacity (β = 0.297; P < 0.01) are strongly correlated with social capital, which in turn is correlated with volunteer engagement (β = 0.653; P < 0.01). Practitioners seeking to improve the engagement of their volunteers should emphasize building social capital to enhance volunteer engagement in community-based initiatives.
The majority of restoration research focuses on professional practices rather than community-led initiatives. As a result, there is little understanding of how laypeople engage in ecological restoration. Native plant gardening is growing in popularity as a means of addressing the degradation in urban landscapes, but it remains in opposition to the norms of wider society, and particularly the horticultural industry. The Ottawa Wildflower Seed Library is an organization that is trying to change the norm by supporting native plant gardeners with free seeds, advice and a supportive community. We expand and adapt Illich’s ‘convivial community tool’ to ecological restoration through a case study of the seed library. A convivial community tool is an approach to providing a tool (e.g. native seeds) that emphasizes accessibility rather than restricting who can access the tool. Through semi-structured interviews, participants discussed themes including accessibility, community and emergence. By focusing on accessibility, the seed library distinguishes itself from other non-profits with similar missions.
This dissertation contributed knowledge on community engagement in ecological restoration, adding to the field’s understanding of volunteer motivations, project organization and grassroots action. Taken together, these papers reveal the importance of relationships to restoration outcome and outline a convivial approach to restoration practice. This research will help practitioners engage more people in ecological restoration, which will ultimately result in increased project success.
2024-02-28T00:00:00ZMeasuring urban edge effects and its impact on restoration potential in Rouge National Urban Park
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/20352
Measuring urban edge effects and its impact on restoration potential in Rouge National Urban Park
Naval, Redmond
Urban development is a driving force behind habitat fragmentation and biodiversity loss in major metropolitan areas. While greenspaces and naturalized areas can provide resources for wildlife, urban areas are organized in such a way that the transition from forest to suburban neighbourhood is abrupt and heavily maintained. This arrangement in conjunction with the intensity of urban activities leaves a limited area to buffer any anthropogenic impacts, negatively affecting species that are unable to adapt. To examine the extent to which urban activities are affecting naturalized areas, a one-sided edge effect study was conducted in Rouge National Urban Park (RNUP) in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The purpose of this study was to frame what kinds of restoration plans might be possible given the amount of least impacted area, i.e., interior conditions. Data were collected in the largest accessible forest fragment, with one primary edge being sampled. 13 transects of 500 m length were used, with samples taken at the following distances d from the edge: 0 m, 50 m, 125 m, 250 m, and 500 m. Reference conditions were categorized as those found at d = 500 m. The Shannon Diversity Index and Pielou Evenness Index were used to compare plant species composition and analyzed using a randomized test of edge influence without blocking. The distance of edge influence was not observable, with no distance found to be significantly different from reference conditions. The results may be due to data noise from other nearby edges, primarily a large informal trail network whose presence was not known prior to data collection. Had these additional sources of fragmentation been observed, it would have resulted in smaller sampling fragments with inherently less potential interior habitat. It may also be the result of non-typical urban edge conditions at d = 0 m as it ran parallel to metal fencing and lay beneath a mature canopy. The edge had a sheltered side-canopy in contrast to an expected open forest edge that is exposed to disturbances such as increased light exposure and heavy anthropogenic activity. Additional observations may indicate limited interior conditions in the studied area of RNUP. Though not examined specifically, evidence of anthropogenic impacts was not contained to the defined fragment edges and permeated every area of the park. Given how impacted RNUP appears to be, improvements to ecological integrity seem unlikely unless accompanied by a broader landscape approach. Restoration activities may help reduce further biodiversity loss and bolster other ecosystem services provided by the park. Due to the complexity of potential influencing factors, this research is the beginnings of a foundational framework that sought to better understand priorities and best practices for ecological restoration in major urban areas. Subsequent research is expected to develop a deeper understanding of the drivers behind observed edge conditions.
2024-02-21T00:00:00ZUnderstanding island-wide intersectional disaster risk governance: the place of social networks in the Commonwealth of Dominica.
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/20301
Understanding island-wide intersectional disaster risk governance: the place of social networks in the Commonwealth of Dominica.
Hill, Lowine
The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction promotes deliberative, inclusive and bottom-up processes to disaster risk reduction. Further, the growing focus on stakeholder engagement within disaster risk governance approaches provides greater voice to the “governed” within disaster risk policy making process. However, the “governed” are often grouped in generic categories such as “women”, “youth” and “persons with disabilities”, without taking in consideration the intersecting identities and related vulnerabilities of these groups. Further, current policy and practice within disaster risk reduction provides limited situational specificity to governance processes, and specifically the diversity of the actors involved, beyond their essentialized identities. This research sought to generate an intersectional, place-based disaster risk governance framework, develop insights on intersectional governance opportunities (or barriers) through the understanding of trust and social networks, and to foster transferable lessons for similar small islands. Intersectionality theory provides a comprehensive way of understanding and analysing social-ecological characteristics, inequalities and power dynamics within disaster risk governance settings beyond the emphasis on gender and entitlements.
This thesis proposes a pivot in disaster risk governance research and practice and aims to understand how social networks influence the development and effectiveness of island-wide, intersectional disaster risk governance in Dominica and Caribbean small islands. The research was framed through three interdependent specific objectives:
1. To develop an integrated framework for the consideration of intersectionality in place-based disaster risk governance in islands (theoretical objective).
2. To reposition disaster risk governance within an island-wide, intersectional approach through the analysis of actor identities within their social networks (empirical objective).
3. To identify intersectional opportunities to strengthen existing governance processes and achieve better disaster risk reduction outcomes (applied objective).
Using a mixed methods approach, a number of key insights emerged. First, this research expanded the Disaster Risk Governance theory to highlight the place- and context-based nature of human identities by incorporating elements of intersectionality and place-based thinking (chapter 2). This framework proposed six (6) key principles support inclusive and contextualised actions. These principles were based upon a synthesis of the literature and examples from small islands. This manuscript examined how an intersectional perspective can generate pathways to address the root causes of vulnerabilities to disasters beyond the “one size fits all” approaches promoted globally. Second, using an in-depth case study situated on the island of Dominica and focusing on the experience of gender and sexual minorities, this research presented some insights on intersectional disaster governance opportunities (or barriers) through the understanding of trust and marginalisation within social networks (chapter 3). This manuscript undertook a practical reflection formulated through four main themes: (i) navigating identities (ii) victimisation and vulnerability; (iii) the importance of place and scale and (iv) how power defines access and agency. Finally, this research had a wider look at the governance networks and actors, as well as their formal and informal characteristics occurring in Dominica (chapter 4). This manuscript explored the structural and functional elements of disaster risk governance (DRG) networks in Dominica and examined the impact of actors’ identities on information sharing dynamics. Through this analysis, this research reflected on the value of identities in enabling and/or hindering intersectional risk reduction opportunities on the island. The insights emerging from this research have the potential to highlight information sharing patterns, network structural gaps, clusters and key information brokers present within DRG networks. This research marks an initial step toward comprehending how actors’ identities involved in networks can shape social relationships across scales and can further support the examination of disparities within these DRG networks. Here, intersectionality can help in uncovering structural barriers, identifying information bottlenecks, and highlighting disparities in information access, all of which can impact individuals with specific combinations of identities, but more widely whose values and knowledge are represented and shared as well as the scope and scale of their power and agency in supporting risk reduction outcomes.
2024-01-26T00:00:00ZPrivate Carbon Credit Initiatives in the Agricultural Sector: Investigating Motivations and Understanding Their Effects
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/20169
Private Carbon Credit Initiatives in the Agricultural Sector: Investigating Motivations and Understanding Their Effects
Hannay, James A.L.
This thesis project examines the emergence of privately led soil carbon sequestration (SCS) credit programs, specifically for traditional cropping systems, in the agriculture sector in North America. Carbon credits have received renewed attention and legitimacy as a policy response to climate change in the wake of corporate net-zero and sustainability goals, as well as the Paris Climate Agreement’s establishment of a new carbon trading system. The climate-food nexus has become the focus of many international organizations and climate change mitigation initiatives. One proposed mitigation solution is the creation of carbon credit programs in the agricultural sector, particularly for the implementation of new cropping practices for soil carbon sequestration. While some of these carbon credit programs are government-run, most agricultural carbon credit programs are run by private agri-business firms in voluntary carbon markets. Employing a critical political economic theoretical framework, this study examines some of the motivating factors for agribusinesses to engage with private SCS credit initiatives, as well as the consequences that these initiatives have for agricultural practices, the economics of agriculture, and farmers in North America.
Utilizing scholarly literature, document analysis, and interviews, this study demonstrates that agribusinesses have three main motivations for engaging with SCS credit initiatives: pre-emptive action and reactive responses to changing regulations; bolstering corporate reputations; and avenues for new profit through SCS initiatives, especially the use of farmer data collected through new digital monitoring technologies. These motivations demonstrate the desire of agribusinesses to shape responses to climate change in their favour, sustaining “business as usual” business practices, thereby maintaining and expanding opportunities for profit.
The thesis also shows that private SCS credit initiatives encourage a lock-in of agriculture into industrial farming methods while precluding discussion on substantive change in the agriculture sector. SCS credit initiatives also continue the trend of the economization process that have been prevalent under neoliberal capitalism. By taking a market-based instrument approach to climate change, agribusinesses create new spaces for profit and control of agriculture supply chains. These initiatives also pose justice issues, with farmers likely bearing the cost of pursuing these private carbon credit programs. Lock-in of ecologically harmful farming practices, economization, and subsequent justice issues generated through private SCS credit initiatives create adverse effects for both farmers and the environment.
2023-12-15T00:00:00Z