Towards a pedagogy of social-ecological collaborations: engaging students and urban nonprofits for an ecology with cities

The concept of ecology with cities calls for a broader scope of participatory research and pedagogical tools for engagement with urban environmental issues. Projects that take an ecology with cities approach can provide opportunities for diverse audiences, including students, teachers, community members, and scientists, to participate in urban ecology, thus serving as potential steppingstones for further engagement. While there is increasing scholarship on the value of participatory approaches for increasing ecological literacy (e.g. citizen science), less has been written on the collaborative process of such experiences, particularly the social science aspects that can lead to successful outcomes and lessons learned. This paper describes a collaborative research project that engaged undergraduate students and community outreach staff of an urban nonprofit organization to better understand social uses and values associated with a public park located on the Harlem River in New York City. We explore the outcomes of the project for both students and staff, and provide reflections for educators interested in using a pedagogy of social-ecological collaborations in urban contexts. We argue that such an approach facilitates engagement between universities and community-based nonprofits to engage students in learning about the complexity, uncertainty, and value of urban ecosystem management. Supplementary information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11252-023-01343-x.


Introduction
As urban ecology has become mainstreamed in the broader environmental literatures, several framings have emerged to support the ways in which researchers can engage with the unique social-ecological systems that are cities. While earlier framings were mainly limited to the study of urban environments (i.e., ecology "in" and "of" cities), more recent approaches seek to emphasize relationships between researchers and diverse stakeholders (e.g. policymakers, park managers, urban planners) to facilitate both ecological and social outcomes (Childers et al. 2015;McPhearson et al. 2016). Most recently, the framework of "ecology with cities" has been proposed to suggest that a broader suite of approaches is needed to engage diverse publics in urban ecology issues (Byrne 2022a).
Understanding the ways that biophysical and social processes coproduce urban spaces, and that actionable knowledge is coproduced by environmental researchers, residents, and civic leaders in cities, are fundamental requirements to pursue ecology with the city (Pickett et al. 2022). Potential pathways to this understanding include educational and outreach projects that may be shorter term, smaller in scale, or that may not have immediate governance or policy implications. In other words, projects that take an ecology with cities approach can provide 1 3 opportunities for diverse audiences, including students, teachers, community members, and scientists, to participate in urban ecology, thus serving as a potential steppingstone for further engagement and to develop skills for collaboration and problem solving (Byrne 2022b).
Urban green and blue spaces provide many opportunities for both pedagogical and collaborative research approaches within an ecology with cities framework. These spaces typically include multiple stakeholders in their management and design and provide a variety of benefits to those who have access to them, thus enabling accessible and interesting educational and research opportunities for exploring dynamics between human and non-human organisms. There has been a recent paradigm shift toward prioritization of human interests (namely, those of city residents) in research that supports urban ecological restoration and conservation projects (Childers et al. 2015;McPhearson et al. 2016). However, failures by researchers to co-create project objectives with local stakeholders can lead to unanticipated, negative feedbacks from residents and ultimately, distrust of researchers by residents and unsuccessful restoration and conservation projects (Turo and Gardiner 2020). Further, while such transdisciplinary approaches can be beneficial to researchers and practitioners, resulting publications rarely describe the inner workings of the collaborative process, particularly the social aspects of the project that enabled the most successful outcomes and lessons learned (Hallett et al. 2017;Jellinek et al. 2021).
In this article, we describe a collaborative research project developed with faculty and students from Pace University, a primarily undergraduate institution based in lower Manhattan, and park management and community-engagement staff at Sherman Creek Park (SCP, Box 1), located along the Harlem River in New York City (NYC). We describe the outcomes of the project as well as the process of engagement and lessons learned, thus providing guidance for educators who seek to adopt a pedagogy of social-ecological collaborations in urban contexts ( Fig. 1 (Yin et al. 2011) and provide residents with a safe place to engage in physical exercise (Taylor et al. 2007).
Prior to its development into a park, SCP was a former illegal dumping site, parƟally built upon property seized from a condemned marina gas staƟon. In 1998, aŌer remediaƟon and restoraƟon, the property was transferred to the New York RestoraƟon Project (NYRP), a citywide organizaƟon that supports engagement in parks and community gardens in underresourced communiƟes of color. NYRP was invited to assist teachers and students from a nearby public elementary school in creaƟng an educaƟonal garden in the area now occupied by SCP. The property was then transferred to the NYC Department of Parks and RecreaƟon (NYCDPR), creaƟng a new public park managed by NYRP. In subsequent years the park has grown to include a floaƟng rowing facility, restored wetland areas and a "living shoreline" of restored oysters, a picnic area, and five disjunct park parcels north of the park along the river. Currently, NYRP and NYCDPR co-manage SCP to simultaneously expand public access to green and blue space and to restore the ecological health of the park.

Case study: Pace University at Sherman Creek Park
Establishing stakeholder needs In spring 2021, Pace University faculty approached staff from the New York Restoration Project (NYRP), co-managers of SCP with the NYC Parks Department, with a grant-funded proposal to carry out a collaborative research project involving undergraduate students. Following an initial visit to SCP, NYRP staff and the Pace faculty had several virtual meetings to discuss needs and concerns of the staff and surrounding community. During these conversations, NYRP staff expressed interest in learning more about the experiences and perceptions of park visitors and community members. NYRP staff were also interested in thinking about ways to create educational programming to engage K-12 teachers and educators in the park, as NYRP's education budget had been cut during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Designing methodology These conversations led to the decision to conduct a "social assessment" of the park, which integrates qualitative and quantitative methods to quickly gather information about the social meanings of a given place that can be used for public planning (Auyeung et al. 2016;Campbell et al. 2016). Social assessments typically use simple observational methods, such as photographic documentation, the tallying of activities observed in a given setting, and rapid interview protocols, which can be easily taught to students and others with minimal prior research training (see Supplementary Materials #1). We also decided to develop educational modules for K-12 educators focused on environmental concepts and issues associated with urban parks in general and SCP specifically. Pace University emphasizes the importance of experiential learning for students as a "high impact" practice, and all students are required to take a course with a civic engagement component. In addition, one of the overarching goals of the Environmental Studies program at Pace is for students to "engage with communities, non-profit organizations, and institutions for the collaborative development of fieldwork and the application of iterative, grounded approaches." The pedagogical aspects of the experience described in this paper aimed to satisfy that specific learning objective (see Supplementary Materials #2). As such, we carried out data collection in a student-led capacity through existing undergraduate coursework at Pace. The development and focus of the K-12 educational modules was also student directed so as to leave open the possibility for their ideas on further community engagement and to support student autonomy as central to the course.

Course curriculum design
The work was carried out September-December 2021 by ten undergraduate students as part of two separate courses that were part of the Environmental Studies and Environmental Science curriculum for majors. One of these courses (ENV297S: Citizen Science), which was also open to students from other majors as an elective, had a civic engagement (service learning) component and was designed to explore the different ways that human communities relate to and engage with social and environmental research. The second course was an Environmental Research Practicum, in which students were tasked with generating educational programming to better engage K-12 educators in the park. Students from both courses were introduced to SCP and the service/research elements of the curricula during the first week of class. At the start of both courses, all students were briefly introduced to concepts of ecosystem services, social-ecological systems, and environmental justice in urban green and blue spaces.
Students participated in two initial visits to SCP, plus a virtual meeting with SCP seasonal staff, to become familiar with the local context and to finalize the protocols associated with the social assessment methodology. At these meetings, students were encouraged to ask questions and pose their own ideas about how the planned methodology could be further adapted. For example, one important piece of the social assessment was a rapid interview protocol, in which students were required to approach individuals in and around SCP for a short interview. Initial site visits and associated conversations led to the addition of new questions to the protocol. A comment by one of the seasonal staff members, who lived in the neighboring community and was concerned about the lack of green space often found in urban communities of color, led to the adding a question that asked park users about the community-wide benefits they associated with SCP. A second issue of concern to NYRP staff was a plan by an external organization to build a privately-owned boathouse in place of the picnic section of SCP. This led to the addition of questions gauging public awareness and perceptions of the proposal, as well as suggestions for how the boathouse, if constructed, could engage the local community through programming and other opportunities. Throughout the process of refining our methods, the faculty explained to students the importance of obtaining regular feedback with NYRP staff for building trust and supporting transparent communication.
Data collection and reporting products Once the students became familiar with the local site and were trained in the research protocols, they began collecting data through the rapid interview protocol described above, and two additional protocols: (1) direct observation of human activities, and (2) observations of signs of human use (Fig. 2). Students worked in small groups to enhance reliability through corroboration and to provide greater richness of daily debriefs and qualitative field notes. During the semester, NYRP provided an indoor space at SCP to which students returned at the end of each data collection period (which generally took about 2 h) to briefly discuss their observations and what they had learned. Because of the small size of the park, the students were able to complete the data collection in three visits. Subsequent classes were devoted to data entry (in a shared online spreadsheet), initial analysis (after training on coding and pivot tables), and additional lectures on topics such as experiential education and the science-policy process. Under guidance from the faculty, students then collaboratively wrote the first draft of a white paper based on the findings from the social assessment methodology, which was later published on NYRP's website (Toomey et al. 2022;See Supplementary Materials #1).
In addition to the social assessment, students worked on educational and community engagement materials for incorporation into programming and signage at SCP. The open-ended nature of this process stimulated creativity and buy-in from the students, and yielded unexpected and innovative outcomes. For example, the class developed an engagement opportunity for park visitors: a map of key locations (marked by simple QR codes posted in select vantage points) paired with easily accessible online materials for park visitors to observe and learn about the ecology and environmental issues associated with the park.
In December 2021, students presented the findings of the white paper and other materials to NYRP staff via a hybrid in-person/virtual presentation (due to Covid-19 protocols). Subsequently, Pace faculty continued to work with NYRP staff to edit materials for final publication and dissemination. One student from the course obtained a paid NYRP internship in Spring of 2022 to assist with this process. All materials were approved by NYRP and translated into Spanish, and the installation of the signs is slated for March 2023 (with printing funded by the small grant that helped initiate the collaboration).

Engaging students with social-ecological communities
Data from the social assessment revealed the high importance of Sherman Creek Park to the local community as a space for active and passive recreation, alongside mixed perceptions regarding the proposed boathouse (Toomey et al. 2022). These findings were deeply important to NYRP staff, as they pointed to the importance of advocating for the space as a public, local community amenity. The information was also timely, as the design process for the new boathouse by the Public Design Commission was underway in fall of 2021, and NYRP staff requested that Pace students and faculty present these findings at a public hearing where the project would be discussed. Towards this aim and prior to the meeting, the Government Affairs Manager for NYRP met with the class to discuss concerns about the boathouse and other waterfront development issues. Unfortunately, the public hearing was canceled, and the project was approved without accepting public testimony. Because of information collected through the survey, Pace students and faculty sent an email to the Public Design Commissioner to urge reconsideration of the project after further public engagement (Supplementary Materials #3). In addition, a couple of students called the "Ask the Mayor" portion of a popular public radio program that focuses on local and national politics to raise awareness about the issue. These actions helped students feel they had a role to play in the issue, thus supporting the civic engagement aims of the course.
The interactions that students had with park staff, park users, and other residents during the social assessment also helped shape the process of developing the educational interpretive materials and citizen science modules created to provide future opportunities for community members to learn about and engage with SCP. In particular, the map produced by the students was designed around key environmental issues and ecological features in SCP and incorporated questions that park goers had for the student researchers in those locations. For example, one of the locations overlooks a wetland restoration area where plastic ribbons have been placed to discourage geese from eating Spartina grass seedlings (Fig. 3), information that was included in the signage and website (Supplementary Materials #4). Similarly, students designed two environmental science educational modules for high school educators tailored to the site, one on air quality and the other on water pollution, which integrate features related to local environmental issues and elements of NYRP restoration and management activities (e.g. living shoreline restoration).

Reflections on a pedagogy of social-ecological collaborations
The research methodology and educational tools leveraged in this project can help to characterize a pedagogy of socialecological collaborations to advance teaching of an ecology with cities approach (Byrne 2022a, b). To that end, we offer three concluding reflections to guide educators interested in this approach.
First, educators should think carefully about how to balance the challenges associated with collaborative research with academic institutional considerations, especially course schedules. For instance, course meeting times, fieldwork requirements, and the availability of nonprofit staff do not always align, which may require completing needed work on weekends and evenings. Due to such logistical challenges, we prioritized completing the field-based data collection at the beginning of the course over preparing students with foundational knowledge about civic engagement, citizen science, and environmental justice. Once we had collected most of the data by mid-semester, we switched to a more lecture-based format (in combination with data analysis sessions) on topics such as the history of the scientific method, theories of public engagement in science (e.g. risk society, models of participation), and power dynamics, but for future courses we would recommend foregrounding the fieldwork with more reading and preparation. For example, one significant omission in our preparation was a frank discussion about the fact that the Pace students and faculty were not members nor representative of the racial and ethnic identities of the Inwood community, and only one member of the research team (a faculty member) was fluent in Spanish. These demographic differences potentially limited interaction with SCP visitors and neighborhood residents; we think students would have benefitted from preparatory discussions of these limitations, such as the pitfalls of "white saviorism" before beginning community engagement (Dillon et al. 2018). Indeed, during our class discussions toward the end of the semester, students confirmed that their understanding of the context and broader importance of the project did not really emerge until the lecture portion of the class began (see Box 2). A more developed ecology-with-cities pedagogy should endeavor to integrate these essential elements earlier in a course for deeper understanding (see also Dillon et al. 2018 andPeterson 2018).
Box 2: Student reflections on the project "The Sherman Creek project influenced how I think about effecƟve collaboraƟon by showing how important understanding local governmental structures are. Even community boards are essenƟal to making decisions in a community. Before I parƟcipated in this project, I did not fully understand the importance of understanding and parƟcipaƟng in local government. Especially when the boathouse was being built, there was a discourse about transparency and I got to see how local bodies worked together to influence decisions made in the park." "This course actually involving its students in the process of ciƟzen science, taking us to the site explaining the history, community Ɵes, and encroaching enƟƟes really clearly exemplified what life in this kind of field would look like." "I felt unprepared during the project when my group and I were collecƟng data and doing interviews and we approached someone who did not speak English. Inwood has a large LaƟno populaƟon and not having those skills held my group back from speaking to several people. Language barriers may have leŌ a gap in our data, or a helpful comment may have been missed. The language barrier showed me how science can be exclusive in many situaƟons, even with no intenƟon of leaving others out. It is important to know the demographic of the area you are entering and prepare yourself to be as inclusive in your data as possible. This ensures that community members' voices are heard, as our data may be used as a reference point in the future for different projects in the Sherman Creek area." "It was exhilaraƟng to know that our findings and data collections made their way directly to decision-makers who may not have had the Ɵme to gather such informaƟon. I suppose the one thing that really hits home for me is that there is no magic formula to make a big impact, only Ɵme, effort, and public engagement." "There were a few Ɵmes I was confused as to what the aim of the data collected by the class was for, I would have appreciated it being made clearer. This was made clear by the end of class and my professor said we got a sneak peek into how these things actually work, someƟmes if you had known a piece of informaƟon a few weeks earlier it would have made all the difference." Second, incorporating findings from social science research in collaborative projects requires an openness to feedback, reflection, and adaptation among all involved (Cheng et al. 2003;Djentontin and Meadow 2018). Initially, some NYRP staff were concerned that they might not be prepared to respond to results that were potentially incompatible with the organization's current priorities. Surprisingly to some of the park staff, the research found that the contested issues around use of the park, including lack of facilities, homelessness, and fears of gentrification, did not prevent park users from valuing the role of NYRP and the greenspace offered. Findings regarding the need for greater public engagement and planning, and improved access and facilities, provided impetus for NYRP to shift priorities to address those concerns. For example, because of the student project, NYRP committed funding to engage community stakeholders prior to designing the next phase of shoreline restoration. In addition, it was important to make explicit to the students that not all of their ideas would be adopted by NYRP staff, depending on competing priorities. For example, Pace faculty stressed that all information and materials in the final student presentations to NYRP were in draft form, and subject to further development based on NYRP feedback. However, the students found the experience of learning through doing to be impactful, as they saw the potential implications of their work for improving park management and planning (Box 2).
Finally, it is important to recognize that successful collaborative research relationships are long-term and cyclical, with initial activities that may begin slowly (Mach et al. 2020). However, the sustained nature of collaborations can help build trust and pave the way for future opportunities. While the development of the materials offered concrete resources to NYRP and the public, the project additionally helped to create platforms that might serve as ongoing spaces of interaction between park stakeholders and decision makers. For example, per a request from NYRP staff to continue to collect information on community perceptions of SCP, one of the QR codes features a link to an online version of the rapid interview protocol (available in both English and Spanish), where visitors can describe how they are using SCP and any concerns or suggestions related to the park and programming. This idea, prompted by the students, will create a sustained social assessment allowing NYRP to track changes in perception in response to changes in park management and the development of new capital construction projects. In addition, Pace faculty and one of the students from the course presented an overview of the project to the Parks & Cultural Affairs division of the local Community Board in September 2022, which was very well received and perceived to support the relationships between NYRP and the communities that neighbor SCP. This is important, as NYRP is currently in the process of redeveloping part of the Sherman Creek shoreline, which will require the approval from the Community Board. Thus, it is crucial that educators and researchers think about the long-term future (beyond one semester) at the beginning of collaborative projects so that all can be prepared for decisions about future work and be available for new opportunities.

Conclusion
Our experience demonstrates that a collaborative and participatory research project carried out within the confines of an undergraduate course can achieve both pedagogical and community-based needs. Engaging students in the process of social-ecological collaborations in urban areas can provide understanding of the importance of local perspectives and how competing interests are negotiated for environmental management. Crucially, focusing on the process of collaborations can provide the next generation of environmental researchers and practitioners with foundational experience for how to navigate such partnerships in their own careers.
Considering this case study from an ecology with cities perspective highlights some of the critical challenges and opportunities of the project. Pickett et al. (2022) articulate how integrating the co-production of knowledge with the co-production of ecosystems is critical for ecology with cities. Approaching this during a one-semester undergraduate course is difficult, but as Byrne (2022a, b) proposes, modest and concrete steps are critical for engaging diverse publics in the study and practice of urban ecology. Building the relationships necessary to integrate community perspectives into research and making findings accessible to decision-makers in the context of an educational experience supports the development of a pedagogy of social-ecological collaborations in urban areas and beyond.
Funding This project was funded by the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations Periclean Faculty Leaders (PFLs) program in STEM and Social Sciences.
Data availability Relevant data and materials related to this study are provided in the Supplementary Materials.

Declarations
The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose.

Ethics approval
The research described in the study was approved by the Pace Institutional Review Board (Project # 1320846-5].
Consent to participate Informed consent to participate in this study was followed in adherence with IRB requirements.

Consent for publication
All authors consent to the submission of this work.

Competing interests
The authors declare no competing interests.