“Parknerships” for Sustainable Relevance: Perspectives from the San Francisco Bay Area

Elizabeth E. Perry, Lydia A. Kiewra, Meghan E. Brooks, Xiao Xiao and Robert E. Manning
Additional contact information
Elizabeth E. Perry: Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05405, USA
Lydia A. Kiewra: Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05405, USA
Meghan E. Brooks: College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05405, USA
Xiao Xiao: Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05405, USA
Robert E. Manning: Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05405, USA

Sustainability, 2018, vol. 10, issue 5, 1-17

Abstract: “Parknerships” (park partnerships) are an innovative means of enhancing people’s connections with conserved spaces and stories, drawing on the combined strengths of multiple organizations. As a specific type of collaboration, a parknership is focused among parks-related organizations sharing common goals of building positive experiences for individuals, the community, and the environment. The need for parknerships is heightened in complex settings like urban areas, and with national organizations concerned with local relevance, such as the National Park Service (NPS). Although parknerships have emerged as a crucial mode of local connection and are increasingly highlighted in park guidance, scant information exists on what mechanisms contribute to their long-term, multi-effort success. We seek to address this by investigating what elements contribute to a sustainable and successful parknership. To frame this inquiry, we drew from the concept of relevance and framework of collective impact. Using semi-structured interviews ( n = 14) with NPS and partners in the San Francisco Bay Area (an urban area with rich cultural diversity and long environmental history), we elicited understanding of sustainable parknerships. Participants emphasized the importance of the parknerships’ context, process, and goal. Consideration of these intersectional themes may be critical to sustainable, relevance-related collaborations among parknerships.

Keywords: relevance; urban; collaboration; qualitative; sustainability; collective impact; adaptation; partnership; National Park Service (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/5/1577/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/5/1577/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:5:p:1577-:d:146426

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().