Tree programs put community at the center

The first Teen Urban Forester Community Day

Along with tree planting and tree care work, each cohort of Canopy Teen Urban Foresters designs and implements their own project based on community needs or opportunities that they identify.

In summer 2021, the TUF team identified a need for Canopy to connect more deeply with residents in East Palo Alto, especially after a year in which COVID prevented so many in-person community gatherings. The TUFs especially wanted to know how residents feel about trees—whether they wanted more trees in their neighborhood, and why or why not. They also wanted to know whether residents had heard about Canopy, or were aware of the "green gap"— the disparity in canopy cover between some neighborhoods and others.

The TUFs created a bilingual survey (English/Spanish) and hosted a "Community Day" to connect with residents and gather survey responses. The TUFs gathered over 100 responses, and created a powerpoint to share the results. They highlighted one finding in particular: when asked whether EPA needs more trees, 86% of respondents said yes.

Building on success

The TUFs Community Day and survey were such a success that Education Director Vanessa Wyns and Youth Program Coordinator Juanita Ibarra decided to build it into future TUF cohort curriculum as a permanent fixture.

“The TUF Community Engagement Day really stands out to me as a great example of how to craft a fun tabling that also serves as a way to listen to the community," shares Vanessa. "I saw the TUFs grow in their confidence throughout the course of the day as they approached and spoke with community members, asking their input and sharing about the green gap and Canopy’s work.”

Incorporating learnings

Everyone at Canopy was eager to see and learn from the TUF's survey results. Now, staff are discussing how to incorporate insights from the survey into outreach efforts, and also what types of questions on future surveys would help us better serve residents.

Canopy’s ambitious project to survey Palo Alto’s venerable oak trees made great headway in 2021 and 2022. In spring of 2021, Indira Selvakumaraswamy, Canopy’s Volunteer Engagement Manager, assembled 21 two-person survey teams to cover routes across the city. They began in May, once the trees’ leaves had grown enough to identify the species, and continued through early November.

One of her favorite things about the survey, Indira says, is the diversity of the Great Oak Count volunteers, who range in age from six to mid-80s with all genders and backgrounds, including high schoolers, working professionals, and parents with their kids.

Read more on the Canopy blog.