Wrapping It Up

It's been a great eight weeks. My CUSP experience finished up well with another sunny day on Governors Island. The summary I wrote of my research for the CUCE-NYC website is below.

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The Urban Environment Program at Cornell University Cooperative Extension-NYC (CUCE-NYC) offers youth an opportunity to explore the green spaces and natural resources that enrich their urban home. Program participants expand their environmental knowledge, scientific skills, social networks, and openness to new experiences while developing a personal connection to the diverse place in which they live. A recent evaluation of CUCE-NYC’s innovative programs on Governors Island has demonstrated that an overnight camping experience just minutes away from Manhattan can indeed accomplish such varied goals. As one young man explained a year later,
“That experience was over the top. That was first time I actually had experience outdoors…actually had an opportunity to camp out with people and…to be on an island that was a part of history…you really feel calm because it’s not crowded, it’s not wild, it’s real quiet, and you learn a lot by just looking…so it was a great experience. That camping was probably something I’ll always remember.”
For him, the trip was a chance to get away and experience something new. For other teens, it was a chance to relate previous outdoor experiences back to their home environment and discover “that there are places like Governors Island in New York City that you can go to…you don’t have to get upstate to enjoy such places.”

The participants also appreciated the social components of the trip saying,
“We got to know different people, and they all live in our area, so it was easy to speak to them and see them outside of the program. So we had a new network of friends.…And we were in a place where we could speak freely. No one had any animosities towards anyone, so it was very calming.” Their shared interest in environmental education activities meant that the participants discovered “other groups that, you know, get into what we do, also on a regular basis.” They felt that “it was good to meet other people and to get to learn stuff about them and what they do.”

Because of its environmental education focus, the program included a variety of instructional activities from which the participants gained specific skills such as maritime knot tying, water quality testing, and taking tree measurements. These skills have been applied since then in academic, recreational, and community settings. The young adults also developed a greater enthusiasm for local history and an awareness of the value of environmental actions. Although few participants retained the general emphasis on sustainability, the experience of carrying food and water in and garbage out reminded them that, “We’re not the only people on this earth. There are a lot of creatures that live around us too.…if you leave any trash or anything on the ground, it could affect them.” More broadly, the trip fostered a general enthusiasm for the outdoors. One young woman described her reaction quite simply as “I love camping now. We’re planning to go camping again,” while another explained that, “It’s gotten me to want to explore my surroundings more because I never knew that the Island existed. And it was fun because…my school is already a water school to explore the waters and our rivers, so [the trip] helped me get an understanding as to why we have to do all of this for nature.”

This two-day, one-night trip to Governors Island is but one of the many programs offered by CUCE-NYC that expose urban youth to the environment around them. Whether they are doing action projects in community gardens, taking scientific measurements of urban trees or air quality, or attending day-long explorations on Governors Island, participants are interacting with nature and developing a stronger sense of place. Research has shown that such experiences enhance personal and community well-being, and that they can spark life-long interests. Capturing this potential continuing impact, one Governors Island participant explained that
“[The experience] forced me to be more open to new things in life, like things I don’t know much about. To be more open minded and do things, to learn more about new things because even though it might seem boring at first, it might be a great experience and that’s how this trip really turned out to be.”