Community
COMMUNITY
Communities are vital to WCS’s mission to save wildlife and wild places. We work to engage our local New York City communities to build mutual understanding and trust and ensure equitable participation in our collective work to create a more sustainable future.
The Association of Zoos and Aquariums released a Social Science Research Agenda in 2020 that highlights the importance of research on community engagement. We are beginning this important work by exploring the role that zoos and aquariums play in community empowerment at our New York City parks. This research aims to learn with and from the communities that surround our parks, develop meaningful relationships, and ensure that WCS is a resource for all community members to learn about conservation and its applications to their daily lives.