Overcoming organizational fragmentation in environmental education – the networking role of local education offices

Although environmental education (EE) scholars celebrate the diversity of organizations that engage in this work, the challenge remains how to bring these organizations together. Over the last decade, scholars have called for building bridges, but we still know very little about organizational networking and integration processes in EE. In this paper, I analyzed a case study of the first local education office (LEO) to manage an EE network in California. Drawing on institutional theory, I found that the LEO cultivated a local EE organizational field through three complementary strategies of relational work: enabling connections, aligning the field, and holding space. These three strategic tools enabled EE organizations to connect, develop a shared meaning system, and grow their capacity to serve schools. Based on my findings, I propose a model for managing local EE networks, as well as theoretical constructs for understanding organizational processes within the evolving EE landscape.