Lee Halasz (MRP 2022) lead-authors a paper on the tree preferences and associated values of urban tree planting initiative leaders

Working with Associate Professor Theo Eisenman and former LARP PhD student, Alicia Coleman, Lee Halasz, MRP '22, has published a study on the tree preferences and associated values of leaders of urban Tree Planting Initiatives (TPIs) in Massachusetts. This study is timely because cities and towns are increasingly pursuing large-scale tree planting campaigns that go above and beyond the scope of more traditional municipal urban forestry, and it is important to understand how the tree preferences and associated values of TPI leaders are informing the pursuit of rapidly increasing urban tree canopy cover, towards achieving a variety of benefits. Importantly, previous studies have found that residents may prefer small statured flowering and fruiting trees, and in some cases, may even resist new tree plantings.

This LARP-led study found that the leaders of urban TPIs typically prioritize large deciduous shade trees, especially to help cool urban areas, but key differences emerged between executive leaders (managers oriented toward conceptual program goals), and operational leaders (managers oriented toward applied practice). Executive leaders tended to promote a conceptual vision of a substantial urban canopy, whereas operational leaders also considered a range of site-specific issues related to holistic urban forestry, including resident input.

Operational leaders played a critical role in mediating the executive leaders’ focus on large trees as part of a collective common, while simultaneously responding to residents’ preferences for small trees associated with their aesthetic values and broader lived experience. These operational leaders drew upon integrated reasoning to also navigate the competing demands associated with the practical realities of TPI implementation and management (see Figure 1). In short, on-the-ground operational leaders are critical stakeholders in urban TPIs, and their role should be fully considered during the planning, implementation, and management of large-scale greening campaigns, as reflected in related scholarship by Eisenman. 

Read "Leadership Preferences and Values in Urban Tree Planting Initiatives: The Integrating Role of Operational Leaders" by Halasz, Eisenman, and Coleman in the journal of Society & Natural Resources here.