Lara A. Roman

Knowledge co-production at the research-practice interface: embedded case studies from urban forestry.

Cities are increasingly engaging in sustainability efforts and investment in green infrastructure, including large-scale urban tree planting campaigns. In this context, researchers and practitioners are working jointly to develop applicable knowledge for planning and managing the urban forest. This paper presents three case studies of knowledge co-production in the field of urban forestry in the United States. These cases were selected to span a range of geographic scales and topical scopes; all three are examples of urban researcher-practitioner networks in which the authors are situated to comment on reflexively. The three cases resemble institutional structures described in the knowledge co-production literature, including participatory research, a hybrid organization of scientists and managers, and a community of practice. We find that trust, embeddedness, new approaches by both practitioners and researchers, and blending of roles all serve to recognize multiple forms of capability, expertise, and ways of knowing. We discuss the impacts of knowledge co-production and the ways in which hybrid institutional forms can enable its occurrence.

Growing Canopy on a College Campus: Understanding Urban Forest Change through Archival Records and Aerial Photography

Many municipalities are setting ambitious tree canopy cover goals to increase the extent of their urban forests. A historical perspective on urban forest development can help cities strategize how to establish and achieve appropriate tree cover targets. To understand how long-term urban forest change occurs, we examined the history of trees on an urban college campus: the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, PA. Using a mixed methods approach, including qualitative assessments of archival records (1870–2017), complemented by quantitative analysis of tree cover from aerial imagery (1970–2012), our analysis revealed drastic canopy cover increase in the late 20th and early 21st centuries along with the principle mechanisms of that change. We organized the historical narrative into periods reflecting campus planting actions and management approaches; these periods are also connected to broader urban greening and city planning movements, such as City Beautiful and urban sustainability. University faculty in botany, landscape architecture, and urban design contributed to the design of campus green spaces, developed comprehensive landscape plans, and advocated for campus trees. A 1977 Landscape Development Plan was particularly influential, setting forth design principles and planting recommendations that enabled the dramatic canopy cover gains we observed, and continue to guide landscape management today. Our results indicate that increasing urban tree cover requires generational time scales and systematic management coupled with a clear urban design vision and long-term commitments. With the campus as a microcosm of broader trends in urban forest development, we conclude with a discussion of implications for municipal tree cover planning.