Paul Ries,

1. Building Capacity for Collaborative Action:
Can Collective Impact
Help Advance Urban Forestry?
Paul D. Ries
Oregon Department of Forestry
Oregon State University

2. Presentation Outline
• Explore the concept of capacity building in urban
forestry
• Introduce Collective Impact as a framework that
can advance your urban forestry effort
• Explain how Collective Impact was applied to the
Portland/Vancouver Regional Urban Forestry
Strategy Project

3. What keeps us from making
BETTER
FASTER
LARGER
MORE EFFECTIVE
progress in Urban Forestry?

4. What works against us?
LACK OF TIME
LACK OF MONEY
IGNORANCE
APATHY

5. The Need to Focus on
Capacity Building
• We must acknowledge
that we compete for
people’s attention
• We need to build our
capacity to make a
difference

6. Capacity Building
• The process of developing and strengthening the
skills, abilities, processes and resources
organizations and communities need to survive,
adapt, and thrive
• The methods of enhancing an organization’s
effectiveness at accomplishing its mission

7. Capacity Building in Urban Forestry
• Leadership
• Strategic Thinking
• Evaluation and
Assessment
• New Approaches

8. COLLECTIVE
IMPACT

9. Origins of Collective Impact
• First described in Winter 2011
• Large scale social change
• Attracts attention from:
– Foundations
– Researchers/Think Tanks
– Federal Government
• Proliferation of related work

10. Collective Impact
• Multiple players working together to solve complex
issues
• All working toward the same goal and measuring
the same things
• Cross-sector alignment with government, non-
profit, philanthropic and businesses as partners
• Organizations actively coordinating their action
and sharing lessons learned

11. The nature of Impact
• Isolated Impact
• Collaborative
Impact
• Collective Impact

12. Characteristics of Collective Impact
• All players bring their unique skills to work toward
same goal
• Organizations actively coordinate their actions,
measure same things, and share lessons learned
• Cross-sector alignment occurs with government
and corporate sectors as essential partners

13. Common
Agenda
Shared
Measurement
Mutually
Reinforcing
Activities
Continuous
Communication
Backbone
Organization
Five Conditions of Collective Impact

14. Five Conditions of Collective Impact
Common Agenda All participants have a shared vision for change including a
common understanding of the problem and a joint approach to
solving it through agreed upon actions
Shared Measurement Collect data and measure results consistently across all
participants ensuring efforts remain aligned and participants hold
each other accountable
Mutually Reinforcing
Activities
Participant activities must be differentiated while still being
coordinated through a mutually reinforcing plan of action
Continuous
Communication
Consistent and open communication is needed across the many
players to build trust, assure mutual objectives, and appreciate
common motivation
Backbone
Organization
Requires a separate organization(s) with staff and a specific set of
skills to serve as the backbone for the entire initiative and
coordinate participating organizations and agencies

15. Phases of a Collective Impact
Approach
1. Assess Readiness
2. Initiate Action
3. Organize for Impact
4. Begin Implementation
5. Sustain Action and Impact

16. Can it work in Urban Forestry?

17. Portland/Vancouver Regional
Urban Forestry Strategy
• Funded by a USDA Forest Service
Western Competitive Grant
awarded to OR & WA
• Builds on the Vibrant Cities and
Urban Forests Recommendation #6
• July 2012 – December 2015

18. Portland, Oregon/Vancouver,
Washington, USA region
• Includes 2 states, 4 counties,
30 cities
• 776,000 residents in the two
city limits; 2.25 million in the
region
• City covers 145.1 sq. miles
(375.8 km²); region covers
6,684 sq. mi.(17,310 km2)

19. Collective Impact
Element
Portland/Vancouver Regional Urban Forestry
Strategy
Common
Agenda
• Increase tree canopy;
• Foster regional collaboration
• Expand capacity
Shared Measurement
• Needs assessment
• Compile ecosystem analysis data
• Increase participation
Mutually Reinforcing
Activities
• Summit meetings,
• Content workshops
• Forums and “un-forums”
Continuous
Communications
• Email and website
• Steering committee meetings
• Listening sessions/stakeholder forums
Backbone Organization • The Intertwine Alliance

20. Perceptions of value of urban forestry
program components
Program components of most
importance | success
• a healthy tree population
(94.8% | 75.8%)
• a structured tree maintenance
program (91.9% | 59.9%)
• managing trees for environmental
benefits (88.2% | 61.1%)
• public awareness on the benefits
of trees (83.8% | 56.0%)
Program components of least
importance | success
• a certified arborist
(46.9% | 46.5%)
• a tree board or commission
(43.3% | 29.6%)
• an urban forest management
plan (74.0% | 29.6%)
• designated program funding
(70.6% / 39.1%)

21. Summary
• Collective impact can help
you build capacity for
advancing your urban
forestry effort
• Collective impact should be
another tool in your tool
box for urban forestry
success

22. Read more about Collective Impact at the
Stanford Social Innovation Review
http://ssir.org/articles/entry/collective_impact
http://www.oregon.gov/ODF/Documents/ForestBenefits/
RegionalUCFGuidebook.pdf
Visit the ODF webpage to download
Cultivating a Greener
Collective Impact
- a guidebook for applying collective
impact to your urban forestry efforts

23. Paul D. Ries
Oregon State University
Oregon Dept. of Forestry
Email: paul.ries@oregonstate.edu or
paul.ries@Oregon.gov
Phone: 503/945-7391