Involving younger stakeholders in collaborative projects can provide information about how they perceive, value, and understand the environment and help connect them with environmental stewardship and their community. Teams at the Guana Tolomato Matanzas and Chesapeake Bay Maryland reserves used different approaches to engage youth audiences in their projects.

Teams at the Guana Tolomato Matanzas and Chesapeake Bay Maryland reserves used different approaches to engage youth audiences in their projects. At the suggestion of the project’s steering committee, the Planning for Florida’s Rising Tides project engaged middle and elementary school students to understand what they knew about sea level rise and community planning, as well as what they valued in their community. The Increasing Community and Marsh Resilience in Maryland project also involved local students in project activities. Using National Public Radio’s StoryCorps for inspiration, the team partnered with a church youth group and trained them to conduct interviews with local community members.