Start Date
2-11-2019 10:00 AM
End Date
2-11-2019 10:10 AM
Abstract
In 2017, The Intertwine Alliance, Clean Water Services, and the Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge (TRNWR) embarked on a project with PSU’s Institute for Sustainable Solutions to assess the benefits of collaborative partnerships and identify the factors contributing or hindering their success. The project focused primarily on the Tree for All (TFA) program in the Tualatin River Watershed. Over the course of six months, our team examined three restoration projects in depth, including the Rural Landowners Incentives Program and restoration efforts in the Jackson Bottom Wetlands Preserve and the Fanno Creek Greenway area. Mini case studies of restoration efforts by the TRNWR, the City of Tualatin, and the Tualatin River Watershed Council rounded out the study. These collaborative projects provided multiple benefits that encompassed improved ecological conditions over much of the Tualatin River Watershed, mental health benefits associated with connecting community volunteers with nature, educational opportunities for schools and their students, and lower green space maintenance costs. Our results suggest that these partnerships enabled the participating organizations to more effectively achieve their goals. Although some restoration would have occurred in the Tualatin River watershed without the presence of a collaborative partnership network, it would have happened more slowly and at a smaller scale. Training materials that draw on the lessons learned and which are aimed at helping conservation organizations develop or strengthen collaborative partnerships in the Portland-Vancouver Metro area are under development.
Subjects
Environmental social sciences, Habitat restoration, Land/watershed management
Persistent Identifier
https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/33809
Exploring the relationship between collaborative partnerships and outcomes: An in-depth look at the Tree for All Program
In 2017, The Intertwine Alliance, Clean Water Services, and the Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge (TRNWR) embarked on a project with PSU’s Institute for Sustainable Solutions to assess the benefits of collaborative partnerships and identify the factors contributing or hindering their success. The project focused primarily on the Tree for All (TFA) program in the Tualatin River Watershed. Over the course of six months, our team examined three restoration projects in depth, including the Rural Landowners Incentives Program and restoration efforts in the Jackson Bottom Wetlands Preserve and the Fanno Creek Greenway area. Mini case studies of restoration efforts by the TRNWR, the City of Tualatin, and the Tualatin River Watershed Council rounded out the study. These collaborative projects provided multiple benefits that encompassed improved ecological conditions over much of the Tualatin River Watershed, mental health benefits associated with connecting community volunteers with nature, educational opportunities for schools and their students, and lower green space maintenance costs. Our results suggest that these partnerships enabled the participating organizations to more effectively achieve their goals. Although some restoration would have occurred in the Tualatin River watershed without the presence of a collaborative partnership network, it would have happened more slowly and at a smaller scale. Training materials that draw on the lessons learned and which are aimed at helping conservation organizations develop or strengthen collaborative partnerships in the Portland-Vancouver Metro area are under development.