Local champions speak out: Pennsylvania's community watershed organizations

Abstract

Community-based watershed organizations (CWOs) are non-governmental, non-profit, voluntary organizations with a water-related theme or mission. Interview data collected from 56 Pennsylvania CWOs are examined for evidence of social outcomes from collaborative management approaches that include local citizens. CWO members' actions have multiple effects in their communities: environmental education and behavior change, and positive unintended outcomes that build local capacity at multiple levels for leadership, partnerships and policy impact. © 2011 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.