Participatory development and organizational empowerment: Community forestry in Detroit

Modernization theory errs in its conception of development as linear, its unsubstantiated assumptions regarding the primacy of economic development and of large scale infrastructure-centered interventions as facilitative of economic development and its theoretical treatment of participation. As evidenced by the deindustrialization and depopulation of urban centers in this country, such as Detroit, modernization theorists accounted only for a portion of the development cycle.; Continued reliance on modernization-based strategies has failed to address the resulting economic and social ramifications. However, collective efforts of Detroit citizens to reclaim their city through local efforts to establish mutual reliance and economic independence belie the presumed linearity of the development process. Exploring appropriate roles for professionals in supporting local initiatives, the Urban Resources Initiative of Michigan State University's Department of Forestry (URI/MSU) applied participatory development 'technologies' borrowed from the South, through collaborative partnerships with community-based organizations in Detroit.; A review of the pertinent literatures identified several critical and overlapping concerns. A conceptual model was derived which posits that involvement in participatory development would facilitate community cohesion, organizing capacity and development and realization of a shared vision for local communities. This model was tested through a multi-level, multi-method evaluation of the URI/MSU community forestry program which also explored the utility of participatory development to address the objectives identified by community organizations in the urban United States.; While the sample was too small to conduct the statistical analyses necessary to determine the validity of some aspects of the conceptual model, there was provisional support for those aspects of the model specific to participatory development. The data imply that cohesion could be positively impacted through participatory development activities. There is stronger evidence that involvement in the program positively influenced organizing capacity and moderately strong evidence for the program's positive contribution to organizational empowerment. The program was most successful in addressing participants' aesthetic and safety concerns. Efforts to address economic objectives directly relating to forest products were less successful, although indirect economic benefits in the form of improved land values were reported.