2026 AA Explorer | Outreach and Behavior Change

Overview

Cover photo for Outreach and Behavior Change

Cultivate individual and collective behavior changes among residents to benefit the Puget Sound ecosystem.

The long-term health of Puget Sound depends on our everyday choices. From how we care for our homes and yards, to how we volunteer, organize, and connect with our communities, individual and collective action plays a vital role in protecting the region’s lands, waters, and wildlife. To encourage behavior change and increase opportunity for engagement, we can build and strengthen incentive programs and community-based social marketing. These strategies can help make it easier for people to act by reducing barriers, building skills, and offering meaningful benefits to support recovery efforts.

Engaging with individuals and communities to adopt environmentally friendly behaviors supports community health and quality of life. It can also encourage involvement in local food harvesting and outdoor recreation. Connecting with natural resource managers and agencies at volunteer events also improves the public’s opinion of agencies. Participating in volunteer and stewardship activities helps us feel more connected to our community and environment. It strengthens cultural ties, builds a sense of place, and fosters hope for the future. These social connections, sometimes called “social capital”, can help communities respond more effectively to environmental change and other challenges.

Strategies and Actions

Strategy Action

Strategy Action

What We're Tracking

The Partnership uses a system of indicators and targets to monitor our progress implementing regional priorities and movement towards Puget Sound recovery goals. Commitments describe activities that partners and the Partnership pledge to pursue over the next four years to implement the Action Agenda and/or the Salmon Recovery Plan. Progress Indicators track human activities that impact ecosystem health. Vital Sign Indicators track the status and trends of ecosystem conditions, including human health and quality of life.

2026-2030 Commitments

Commitments describe activities that partners and the Partnership pledge to pursue over the next four years to implement the Action Agenda and/or the Salmon Recovery Plan.

Organization	Description	Status
Oregon State University	Commitment: Oregon State University (OSU) will co-organize a Motivating Action Lunch and Learn series in the late summer/early fall of 2026. The audience will be planners, managers, and others who are designing, managing, and/or assessing behavior change projects or programs.
Oregon State University	Commitment: Oregon State University (OSU) will further develop Puget Sound Institute's catalogue of incentive programs for salmon habitat-specific incentive programs through 2027.
Oregon State University	Commitment: Oregon State University (OSU) will conduct research to understand elements of landowner willingness to allow access to their properties, to manage or restore their properties to improve salmon habitat, or to support policies and programs intended to improve salmon habitat on private land through 2027.
Puget Sound Partnership	Commitment: Ecosystem Coordination Board (ECB) will advocate for restored state funding for environmental education statewide through 2027.
Washington Conservation Action	Commitment: Washington Conservation Action (WCA) will develop informational materials (e.g., Convene, one-pagers, action alerts, etc.) and host events (e.g., Orca Action Month) to educate the public on the co-benefits that healthy, intact, salmon habitat provide to communities and human health through 2030.
Washington State Conservation Commission	Commitment: Washington State Conservation Commission (SCC) will continue to develop the Integrated Science Hub for Agriculture and Ecosystems, which will include the development of incentives and monitoring of outcomes for riparian ecosystem restoration and protection through 2027.
Washington State Department of Natural Resources	Commitment: Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) will engage public schools in projects to restore, monitor and protect salmon habitat, encouraging environmental literacy and stewardship behaviors through 2030.
Washington State Department of Natural Resources	Commitment: Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) will create curriculum guides for state lands to support public education on the ecological, economic, and cultural importance of salmon habitat through 2030.
Washington State Department of Natural Resources	Commitment: Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) will partner with other government agencies, Tribes and non-profits to facilitate community events for members of historically underserved populations to engage with efforts to improve salmon habitat and promote environmental stewardship through 2030.
Washington State Department of Natural Resources	Commitment: Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) will provide trainings for formal and informal educators to learn about the collaboration between Tribes, state and local agencies to support salmon habitat and environmental stewardship through 2030.

Indicators

Indicators are one or more metrics that we track consistently over time with repeatable methods. Indicators help us understand key dynamics of interest to tell the story of short-, medium-, and long-term changes in human activities and ecosystem conditions in Puget Sound. Each indicator is evaluated for trend (e.g., 'getting better', 'getting worse', etc.). Some indicators also have targets and are evaluated for target status (whether we have met those targets).

No indicators have been associated with this topic.