Collaborations: The Power of Partnerships

Urban Impact, March 2002

Defining "Partnership"
A useful definition of partnership comes from Art Himmelman of the Hubert Humphrey Institute for Public Policy: A partnership is "a voluntary, strategic association of public, private, and nonprofit organizations joined together to enhance each other’s capacity to achieve a common purpose by sharing risks, responsibilities, and rewards."

Over the past three decades, the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society's urban greening program, Philadelphia Green, has demonstrated the impact greening can have in the city. The program's initiatives help breathe new life into struggling inner-city neighborhoods, bring new ways of thinking to community development efforts, and forge new bonds among community residents. Philadelphia Green works to restore neglected parks and downtown public spaces, and explores options and implements approaches to Philadelphia's burgeoning problem of vacant land.

Yet this comprehensive, citywide work would not be possible without a variety of strategic partnerships forged with key governmental agencies, community-based organizations, and non-profits. Working together toward a common purpose, each partner brings something unique and critical to the table. Through these alliances, Philadelphia Green and its partners increase their capacity to tackle complex problems in creative ways, accomplishing far more than any one organization could achieve alone.

This issue of Urban Impact looks at the role of partnerships in transforming our urban landscapes, the remarkable amount of work involved in establishing and maintaining these relationships, and the challenges and rewards of working together.

"It Takes Three..."

The power of partnership is well illustrated in Philadelphia Green's Parks Revitalization Project. Through its collaborative efforts with the city’s Department of Recreation and dedicated volunteer groups, the Project has effected dramatic change in neighborhood parks throughout the city. With its strategic three-way partnership, the Parks Revitalization Project has grown from a modest initiative involving three parks in 1993 to one that today includes over 40 active park groups.

Each collaborator makes an essential contribution. Philadelphia Green helps residents to organize as volunteer "Friends" organizations that in turn serve as park stewards. It provides training and technical support to both city staff and volunteers and works to obtain additional resources. The city has installed new playgrounds, renovated crumbling park maintenance sheds, and supplies seasonal maintenance workers. Friends groups schedule regular clean up days, hold various events, and raise funds on their own. Staff from Philadelphia Green and the Department of Recreation meet regularly with each other and with the community to plan new projects, problem solve, monitor ongoing maintenance, and share information.

"Little by little, the partnership has been a catalyst for tremendous change," says Tom Fox, director of facilities for the Department of Recreation. He says the strong commitment on the part of everyone involved helped leverage more funds from the city, enabling the Department to slowly rebuild its staff and budget from a low point in the early 1990s. "Our relationship with the community has improved enormously, because we can now deliver more. And they help make our job easier, so there is appreciation on both sides." As a bonus, he adds that the partnership with Philadelphia Green "has really grown from a business relationship into a friendship."

For park volunteers, the partnership brings easier access to resources and contacts. "When you need something done, you need to know who’s the right person in the Department of Recreation to call," says Bill Trost, president of the Friends of Konrad Square Park in the Fishtown community. Philadelphia Green has also helped his group with planning a new design for the center of the park. "A small group like ours could really run out of gas if we had to do everything," he notes. "But with the plan drawn up, we could concentrate on rounding up the volunteers and getting the work done."

"A successful partnership like the Parks Revitalization Project is based on a shared vision," notes Joan Reilly, associate director of Philadelphia Green. "In this case, everyone wanted the same thing—to reclaim the parks for the communities. It illustrates the kind of impact that can be achieved when partners combine their resources to achieve a common goal," she says. Reilly also stresses the importance of building these relationships "wide and deep." "We worked hard to forge bonds not only with the Department of Recreation's top leadership, but also with key staff members at every level, while also building a bridge between the city and community volunteers. That way, the partnership doesn't end if there is a change of personnel in any one organization," she notes.

The appearance of many of the parks has improved tremendously. They are once again centers of neighborhood life and havens for relaxation—the site of barbecues, Earth Day and Arbor Day celebrations, musical events, and gardening workshops. Community members, newly empowered, have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars from public sources and other Philadelphia institutions for additional improvements.

Finding Common Ground

The key to any successful partnership is for its participants to reach consensus on overall goals. In the 1990s, Philadelphia Green began to work with community development corporations (CDCs) to help these organizations incorporate greening and open-space planning into their redevelopment plans. Traditionally focused on "built" development such as new housing and commercial projects, these CDCs were initially unaccustomed to the concept of greening as a tool for revitalization.

In eastern North Philadelphia, the Asociación de Puertorriqueños en Marcha (APM) holds an important place in its predominantly Puerto Rican community, not only as a provider of health and social services, but also as a highly successful residential and commercial developer. At the start of Philadelphia Green's relationship with APM in the mid-1990s, the CDC was uncertain of the relevance of greening. But once the organization saw how dramatically greening could enhance the appearance of their project sites, they recognized that managed open space deserved greater consideration in their overall plans for the neighborhood.

According to Rose Gray, director of Housing and Community Development at APM, greening also helped get the community interested in revitalizing the neighborhood. "The partnership with Philadelphia Green became an organizing tool to increase community involvement," says Gray. "Greening was a peaceful activity, something that people enjoyed doing, and it opened up the doors for us. Everything we’ve done with Philadelphia Green has strengthened our overall efforts."

Today, several of APM's housing developments, as well as their commercial shopping center, Gateway Plaza, have been enhanced by new, redesigned landscapes. APM has also been a dedicated participant in Philadelphia Green's American Street Empowerment Zone project. As one of four CDCs involved in this area, APM has helped Philadelphia Green to target vacant, trashed lots for a basic "clean and green" treatment, making an immediate impact on the community's appearance.

Tackling a Complex Project

In addition to its neighborhood-based initiatives, the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society (PHS) has formed partnerships to improve large-scale, high profile public spaces in the city's downtown area. One such example is the renovation of the Philadelphia Museum of Art's 25-acre landscape. Besides its standing as a world-class cultural institution, the museum—along with the bordering Azalea Garden and Fairmount Water Works—serves as a gateway to Fairmount Park and popular recreation paths along the river. But over the years, heavy use and limited funds for maintenance took a heavy toll on its grounds.

Beginning in 1991, PHS partnered with the Fairmount Park Commission and the Art Museum to explore ways to restore the museum grounds to their original beauty, and the three entities together approved a design submitted by Wallace Roberts & Todd. Restoration work began in 1997.

Each partner plays an essential role in the project. As the owner of the land, the Fairmount Park Commission has committed capital dollars and staff time. Through Philadelphia Green, PHS manages the project, providing technical assistance and design oversight, and the Museum and PHS have raised considerable private funding for a maintenance endowment. The city's Department of Streets also contributed to the effort, completing pre-design surveys and resurfacing walkways and streets on the property.

"All the partners would agree that we’ve been able to work through our differences along the way to reach consensus," reflects Kathryn Newland, associate director of Philadelphia Green. "Without the partnership, this multi-faceted project wouldn’t have been possible." Today, formal lawns, flowering shrubs, perennials and annuals adorn the museum's ramparts and courtyards, along with stately young empress trees.

Strength through Partnership

A partnership requires a shared vision and give-and-take along the way to make it successful. Philadelphia Green has learned that it takes a vast amount of resources—namely, the time, commitment, and dedicated efforts of its staff—to not only establish a partnership, but to sustain it as well. Working together as partners can make the process more complex, yet the results are richer because each participant brings a different perspective, and each partner’s commitment is strengthened through the triumphs as well as the challenges. The end result—a healthy, vibrant relationship—allows all involved to realize goals that simply would be unattainable otherwise.