The 2018 twentieth annual meeting
of BES participants, institutional partners, and interested citizens, provided
an opportunity to ask people what they thought the most important finding or
contribution of BES had been over those 20 years. We were expecting suggestions that suggested specific results, or particular educational contributions. We were surprised by the results.
First, we should note that the survey was informal and far from
sociologically rigorous. Although we handed out response cards to the more than 110 people registered at the meeting, we only received 15 returns. Maybe not a bad rate given the usual percentage that even formal surveys achieve. But that number is a caveat here.
So what did we learn? The majority said that the most important contribution was BES itself as an intellectual network and community of
practice aimed at advancing urban ecological science and its application. This suggests that people value the opportunities for collaboration, data sharing, mutual encouragement, and fellowship with scholars and activists concerned with the city as a socially relevant system. Of course, these last suggestions are our guesses, and maybe we'll generate a more formal survey for the 2019 annual meeting to identify the particular things that people value.
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| Participants in the 2016 BES Graduate Symposium. |
But in the meantime, we are pleased that our longstanding concern with a culture of openness, inclusiveness, and focus on the Baltimore region as an environment and as a home has paid off. An integrative, inviting culture can be both a goal and an outcome.
Steward Pickett, Director Emeritus
Some relevant BES papers:
Pickett, S. T. A. 1999. The culture of synthesis: habits of mind in novel ecological integration. Oikos 87:479–487.
Pickett, S. T. A., W. R. Burch, and J. M. Grove. 1999. Interdisciplinary research: Maintaining the constructive impulse in a culture of criticism. Ecosystems 2:302–307.

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Děkuji za podnětný pohled na to, co lidé skutečně oceňují.
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What stands out here is that BES seems to have become more than a research project—it has created a genuine community. Even with the small survey sample, the emphasis on collaboration, shared data, and learning from one another says a lot about why these networks matter. Research can produce valuable results, but a strong community is often what keeps the ideas moving forward. For a completely different kind of online break, https://slot-monster.co.nl/ is there too.
What stands out to me here is that people often value the human side of a project more than its individual achievements. Collaboration, exchanging ideas and having a community where people can learn from one another can leave a much stronger impression than any single result.
I notice something similar when discovering different communities and websites online. Even with entertainment-focused projects such as Betzino French, the overall experience and sense of engagement can be just as important as the content itself.
It would be interesting to see the results of a larger survey, especially whether long-term participants and newcomers value the same aspects of a community.
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