Connecting Environmentalism to Democracy through Environmental Stewardship

Abstract

Who participates in volunteer stewardship in urban areas? Are these types of activities related to other kinds of environmental and civic participation? Moreover, how does the structure of stewardship organizations influence volunteer engagement? This paper looks at volunteers at tree planting initiatives in three American cities—New York City, Philadelphia, and Washington, DC—to understand who participates in these efforts and how volunteer stewardship is related to other environmental activities, as well as broader trends in civic participation. Our findings show that the organizational structure of these types of stewardship programs plays a significant role in volunteer engagement. We connect our findings to broader issues regarding the relationship between environmentalism and democracy and discuss the implications of these results.