Social Network Analysis

To find out about relationships between organizations, stewardship groups were asked what groups they:

  1. got funding from
  2. gave funding to
  3. got info/advice from
  4. gave info/advice to
  5. what coalitions or partnerships they belonged to

This information tells us a lot about the network of stewardship groups across the region. For example, who is funding environmental stewardship work? What are the ‘hub’ organizations that lots of groups go to for information and advice about stewardship? On average, the 281 groups that filled out this section were connected to 13 other groups in some way. See the lists and play with the diagrams below to learn more.

  • Flow of Stewardship Information

    Studying the flow of information through an environmental stewardship network helps us understand who the big players are and how organizations are linked to each other. In this case, ‘information’ means advice, expertise, collaboration, and more. An amazing 626 groups, organizations, and agencies were listed as sources of stewardship information. Here are the top 25:

    • Info Giver
    • Openlands
    • Chicago Wilderness
    • The Field Museum
    • Chicago Botanic Garden
    • Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR)
    • Chicago Park District
    • Forest Preserve District of Cook County (FPDCC)
    • The Morton Arboretum
    • The Nature Conservancy
    • Center for Neighborhood Technology (CNT)
    • Friends of the Parks
    • Audubon Society
    • Chicago Department of Environment
    • Greencorps Chicago
    • Lake County (IL) Forest Preserve District
    • Local colleges / universities
    • Forest Preserve District of Kane County
    • NeighborSpace
    • Forest Preserve District of DuPage County
    • US Fish and Wildlife Service
    • Illinois Nature Preserves Commission (INPC)
    • The Conservation Foundation
    • Growing Power
    • Friends of the Forest Preserves
    • Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA)
    • # of STEW-MAP Groups that Get Info from this Organization
    • 54
    • 48
    • 44
    • 43
    • 41
    • 32
    • 28
    • 27
    • 26
    • 26
    • 23
    • 23
    • 23
    • 22
    • 21
    • 21
    • 19
    • 18
    • 18
    • 17
    • 17
    • 16
    • 15
    • 15
    • 15

    We also created a dynamic diagram of the stewardship information network that you can explore. Bigger circles represent groups with more ties to other groups, smaller circles represent groups with fewer ties – but an organization’s position in the diagram is random. You can zoom in and out. You can hover your mouse over each circle and the organization name or number and its ties will be highlighted. You can type a different number in the box next to “of xxx nodes” to see more or fewer nodes.

    Note that the names of groups, organizations, and agencies are used in the diagram only if they are a government agency or if they filled out the survey and said that we could share their information. All other organizations are listed by an i.d. number. Ignore blue and orange coloring.

    Information Exchange:

  • Flow of Stewardship Funding

    We were surprised to find that 251 different organizations were listed as funders of stewardship work across our region. Many of the usual suspects like foundations, government agencies and large non-profit groups are at the top of the list (and were also at the top of the list of information sources) but funders also include local businesses and small organizations. Of the groups that filled out this section of the survey, 78 said that they themselves give stewardship funding to other organizations.

    These are the top 25 sources for stewardship funding, not in terms of dollars, but in terms of how many groups they provide funding to:

    • Funder
    • Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR)
    • Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA)
    • US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA)
    • REI
    • Openlands
    • Forest Preserve District of Cook County (FPDCC)
    • The Nature Conservancy
    • NeighborSpace
    • Friends of the Parks
    • Chicago Conservation Corps (C3)
    • Center for Neighborhood Technology (CNT)
    • Chicago Park District
    • Greencorps Chicago
    • Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation
    • Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO)
    • State of Illinois
    • US Forest Service
    • Chicago Wilderness
    • US Fish and Wildlife Service
    • Parkways Foundation
    • Wildlife Habitat Council
    • Cardno JFNew
    • The Field Museum
    • Grand Victoria Foundation
    • Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation
    • Davey Tree
    • Uncommon Ground
    • # of STEW-MAP groups that get funding from this organization
    • 23
    • 15
    • 13
    • 10
    • 10
    • 10
    • 10
    • 9
    • 9
    • 8
    • 8
    • 8
    • 8
    • 8
    • 8
    • 7
    • 7
    • 6
    • 6
    • 6
    • 6
    • 5
    • 5
    • 5
    • 5
    • 5
    • 5

    Again we created a dynamic diagram of the stewardship funding network that you can play with. Bigger circles represent groups with more ties to other groups, smaller circles are groups with fewer ties. An organization’s position in the diagram is random. Again, the names of groups, organizations, and agencies are used in the diagram only if they are a government agency or if they filled out the survey and said that we could share their information. All other organizations are listed by an i.d. number. Feel free to zoom in and out and play with the diagram. Ignore blue and orange coloring.

    Funding:

  • Partnerships and Coalitions

    Again, we were surprised at the sheer number of partnerships and coalitions named in this category – a total of 329! Far and away the top one here was Chicago Wilderness. This is not surprising since Chicago Wilderness is a coalition of over 300 environmental groups working in the region. Plus, Chicago Wilderness helped us publicize the STEW-MAP survey and asked their member organizations to participate. Some of the responses are unexpected, though, such as the Forest Preserve District of Cook County, Shirley Heinze Land Trust, and Audubon Society which are not technically partnerships or coalitions. We imagine that people think of these as networking organizations or meeting conveners that help connect groups working on similar issues.

    • Partnership/Coalition
    • Chicago Wilderness
    • Calumet Stewardship Initiative (CSI)
    • Advocates for Urban Agriculture (AUA)
    • Friends of the Parks
    • Chicago Food Policy Advisory Council (CFPAC)
    • Local schools
    • Fox River Ecosystem Partnership (FREP)
    • The Nature Conservancy
    • Chicago Conservation Corps (C3) Program
    • Volunteer Stewardship Network
    • NeighborSpace
    • Chicago Park District
    • Chicago Cultural Alliance
    • Forest Preserve District of Cook County (FPDCC)
    • Openlands
    • Greencorps Chicago
    • Bird Conservation Network
    • Shirley Heinze Land Trust
    • Prairie State Conservation Coalition
    • Chicago Region Land Conservation Coalition
    • Local colleges / universities
    • Audubon Society
    • Energy Action Network (EAN)
    • GreenNet Chicago
    • Named by this many groups
    • 56
    • 12
    • 10
    • 10
    • 8
    • 7
    • 7
    • 7
    • 7
    • 7
    • 6
    • 6
    • 6
    • 6
    • 5
    • 5
    • 4
    • 4
    • 4
    • 4
    • 4
    • 4
    • 4
    • 4

    And here is a snazzy diagram of the partnership network that you can play with.