How Service-Learning Can Support the Practice of, and Education About, Collaborative Natural Resource Management

Many researchers agree that contemporary natural resource management requires successful collaboration between diverse stakeholder groups. However, achieving successful collaboration can be challenging. So what makes stakeholder collaborations work and what models exist for educating the next generation of natural resource professionals about successful stakeholder collaboration? The Harwood Union Forest Project, a community-based forestry initiative in Vermont, provides such a model. By forming service-learning partnerships between a public high school and natural resources students at the University of Vermont, the Harwood Union Forest Project has successfully supported community-based forestry activities at the high school’s 180 acre forest, and educated both high school and university students about collaborative natural resource management. This presentation will described the Harwood Union Forest Project and present preliminary findings from a qualitative research study about the impacts of the project’s service-learning partnerships. Service-learning offers a means for academia to support communities in making difficult decisions about complex environmental issues while also educating students about those issues and providing them with hands on experience in the field. The Harwood Union Forest Project offers one model for accomplishing those goals