McGreavy, B., L. Lindenfeld, K. Hutchins, L. Silka, J. Leahy, and B. Zoellick. 2015. Communication and sustainability science teams as complex systems. Ecology and Society 20(1): 2.http://dx.doi.org/10.5751/ES-06644-200102

We present findings from an interpretive study of social capital in a natural resource management setting within the Kaskaskia River Watershed in Illinois. Forty-one semi-structured interviews with U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) personnel and local community members were completed and analyzed. Findings emerged from the analysis related to the connected network of natural resource management players. This article explores the intertwined reliance among these players, the development of common community goals, and the role of the Corps in creating social capital and other benefits in the Kaskaskia River Watershed. A conceptual model provides insight into how social capital is linked between multiple entities within this context. The study findings expand on the current understanding of social capital and suggest ways researchers might approach future studies of social capital in similar settings. The findings have natural resource management implications, including ways of focusing management, increasing public involvement, and facilitating communication approaches.

Economic transitions have a wide variety of impacts on rural forest-located communities. Uncertain employment prospects and a lack of local higher education institutions may increase out-migration, while individual connections to the local natural environment and community itself may bind youth to their community of origin. We analyzed over 2,000 survey responses from middle and high school youth from traditionally forest-dependent communities in greater Piscataquis County, Maine, and Coos County, Oregon (USA). We explored the role of school and community perceptions, place attachment, and educational aspirations in students’ desired future residential location (rural or non-rural). Community perceptions and place attachment were positively related to desired future rural residence, while educational aspirations were negatively related. We conclude that rural forest-located communities may better retain or attract rural youth by focusing on community attributes and connections to the outdoors for continued community sustainability.

Building successful, enduring research partnerships is essential for improving links between knowledge and action to address sustainability challenges. Communication research can play a critical role in fostering more effective research partnerships, especially those concerned with knowledge co-production processes. This article focuses on community-university research partnerships and factors that influence participation in the co-production process. We identify specific pathways for improving partnership development through a prospective analytical approach that examines community officials’ interest in partnering with university researchers. Using survey responses from a statewide sample of Maine municipal officials, we conduct a statistical analysis of community-university partnership potential to test a conceptual model of partnership interest grounded in natural resource management theory and environmental communication. Our findings both support and advance prior research on collaborations. Results reveal that belief in the helpfulness of the collaborator to solve problems, institutional proximity, familiarity, perceived problem severity and problem type and trust influence interest in developing community-university partnerships. These findings underscore the benefits of proactively assessing partnership potential prior to forming partnerships and the important roles for communication research within sustainability science, especially with regard to strengthening partnership formation and knowledge co-production processes.