In a world where for many, sustainability means densifying, lightening our impact on the land, and creating walkable neighborhoods that are not car dependent, where does ecology come into play? In Austin, creeks are iconic to the city – the city was founded between Waller Creek and Shoal Creek along the Colorado River. Creeks run through backyards, behind office complexes, through preserves, along dog parks – they are a system along which many different urban activities occur. How do planners, designers, managers, educators, community members, and other stakeholders promote the ecology of these creeks while also supporting a creek’s cultural, social, economic, and historical values? This study uses mixed-methods to analyze how managers/practitioners, creek users/stewards, and advocates understand the many values of urban creeks in Austin. The study evaluates: 1. What practitioners and creek managers understand about intersecting values of creeks, and how they articulate that understanding in their practice; 2. Data from creek users to better understand a variety of values and creek experiences; and, 3. How creek advocates and educators engage with users and managers to create better connections.
Results/Conclusions
Managers conceptualize creeks within an ecological resilience framework. Most recognized the importance of integrating social concerns into ecological management but fewer implemented consideration of them into their work. A majority of creek users surveyed perceived creeks to have lower health than measured ecological scores; supporting the idea that perceptions are influenced by aesthetics and functioning ecosystems are not always the most aesthetically pleasing to the public. Comparing the values of users and managers revealed three different dynamics: fully aligned values and motivations; partially aligned - values aligned, motivations misaligned; and, conflicted values. A resilient and integrated socio-ecological management system is one that understands concepts of ecology and integrates social and cultural contexts into the process and metrics. Applying a gradient approach allows for an understanding of the dynamic intersection of ecological, social, cultural, economic, and historical values of creeks in Austin and promotes resiliency across and between social and ecological systems. This type of understanding will allow more residents to connect with these systems and become stewards; and, will encourage managers and advocates to incorporate socio-ecological functioning metrics into a system that currently only measures ecological performance.