Ethical Dimensions of Restoration – what does ethical community engagement look like in your particular context?

Overview: 

Throughout this semester, we have touched on the challenges and limitations of ecological restoration. From deciding on a historical “baseline” to designing goals that are realistic to aligning a restoration project with the objectives of funders and regulatory structures, there are many decisions to make throughout the restoration process.

We often speak about community engagement as a positive, or maybe even critical, element of the restoration process. For this assignment, we will take a closer look at the challenges of stakeholder engagement, particularly when there are competing or conflicting values, ideas, and goals, some of which may or may not align with the funding restrictions.

Begin by reading four perspectives on community engagement:

Start with Almassi’s 2021 paper about Value Disputes in the Chicago Wilderness Project Download Almassi’s 2021 paper about Value Disputes in the Chicago Wilderness Project. (Imagine what happens when you tell wealthy property owners that you want to chop down the neighborhood forest to restore a prairie). Then read three short papers published in the journal Ecological Restoration, a journal for restoration practitioners that I highly recommend you scan for relevant articles for your Story Map. The first is about an urban coastal reserve in NYC Download first is about an urban coastal reserve in NYC. The second surfaces issues related to a feminist political ecology  Download second surfaces issues related to a feminist political ecologyapproach to restoration (written for a lay audience), and the third looks at conflicting power relations in forest restoration Download third looks at conflicting power relations in forest restoration.

Hopefully, you will finish reading these pieces and have more questions. This assignment is designed to help you reflect on them.

Assignment Specifics: Part 1+Part 2

Part 1 due Monday Night:

The paper will be a 750 word essay (excluding references) addressing the question: 

what does ethical community engagement look like in your particular context? 

Please choose a place or context to frame your essay – it can be one of your case studies from your ecosystem project this semester or a place you are familiar with outside of class (not necessarily aligned with the theme of the team that you are in). For example, I would write about the challenges of community engagement on Kaua’i, where there are tensions between tourists, local residents, and native Hawaiians. I might write instead about Duke Forest, a privately held location with much use by residents. Identify a place/context that you know enough about, or can learn enough about, to answer this question thoroughly. Please give a brief background on this place and include a citation so that a reader could learn more, if interested.

Please draw on the ideas from at least 2 of these 4 papers, using APA citation format, when shaping your response. Your short paper can be written in 1st person; this is a reflection after all. Focus on the phrase “ethical community engagement” – you aren’t arguing for/against community engagement but, rather, identifying the challenges in this element of the restoration process.

IMPORTANT NOTE: At the top of your paper, please include:

• A compelling title
• Your name 

You will also write a short “cover letter”  with a short list of concerns you have about your paper for peer-review.

Part 2 due April 2nd:

Your revised paper is due by class time on April 2. You will submit the paper and a brief cover letter (no more than 300 words) addressing how you incorporated the peer feedback into your final draft, the feedback will be provided after our peer-review session on Tuesday. 

We will use the following rubric to evaluate your paper: