Over the past decade, URI has created several community and urban forestry training programs. These programs--including natural resource managers training sessions (for municipal employees), a tree steward training program (for community leaders) and a street tree inventory training project (targeting local residents)–have created powerful learning experiences for the Yale F&ES students as well as the target audience. Students gain expertise in developing and implementing training programs across a broad spectrum of topics and audiences and work with and learn from experienced mentors from F&ES and local, state and federal forestry agencies.

Other projects have included the creation of Canoe New Haven, where URI staff coordinated a local roundtable of environmental and community leaders on projects to raise interest in, access to, and support of New Haven's rivers. To promote collaboration among local organizations URI hosts a citywide community conference that draws together residents active in community building and environmental projects. The speakers at the 2000 symposium "Lessons from the Cities" provided several innovative strategies to build flexible local institutions able to respond quickly to cycles of crime, blight, and environmental degradation. URI has also worked with community groups in formal and informal planning sessions for open space areas. For the Hill Central Park charette, for example, URI brought together community members, civic leaders, city officials, children, teachers and others in a collaborative process to discuss possibilities and dreams and select options for transforming a derelict neighborhood park into a genuinely celebrated common space.