Browsing by Subject "Community engagement"

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    2018 Land Trust Communication Guide
    (2018-04-26) Hanway, Hayley
    Communications is a critical component of a land trust’s success. Since land trusts are mainly private, non-profit organizations, they are heavily dependent on donors and volunteers. A strong communications strategy will attract new donors and volunteers while retaining old ones. This project for the Land Conservancy of West Michigan (LCWM) evaluates different communications platforms and strategies and provides a list of recommendations for an effective communication’s plan. Research was conducted via a survey disseminated to LCWM members and informational interviews with other environmental organizations. Final recommendations include prioritizing Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube/Vimeo over other forms of social media, investing in an annual (or five-year) professional paper magazine product, strengthening partnerships with local organizations, and holding more events for outreach.
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    Increasing access and uptake of SARS-CoV-2 at-home tests using a community-engaged approach.
    (Preventive medicine reports, 2022-10) D'Agostino, Emily M; Corbie, Giselle; Kibbe, Warren A; Hornik, Christoph P; Richmond, Al; Dunston, Angella; Damman, Allyn; Wruck, Lisa; Alvarado, Manuel; Cohen-Wolkowiez, Michael
    Inequalities around COVID-19 testing and vaccination persist in the U.S. health system. We investigated whether a community-engaged approach could be used to distribute free, at-home, rapid SARS-CoV-2 tests to underserved populations. Between November 18-December 31, 2021, 400,000 tests were successfully distributed via 67 community partners and a mobile unit to a majority Hispanic/Latino/Spanish population in Merced County, California. Testing before gathering (59 %) was the most common testing reason. Asians versus Whites were more likely to test for COVID-19 if they had close contact with someone who may have been positive (odds ratio [OR] = 3.4, 95 % confidence interval [CI] = 1.7-6.7). Minors versus adults were more likely to test if they had close contact with someone who was confirmed positive (OR = 1.7, 95 % CI = 1.0-3.0), whereas Asian (OR = 4.1, 95 % CI = 1.2-13.7) and Hispanic/Latino/Spanish (OR = 2.5, 95 % CI = 1.0-6.6) versus White individuals were more likely to test if they had a positive household member. Asians versus Whites were more likely to receive a positive test result. Minors were less likely than adults to have been vaccinated (OR = 0.2, 95 % CI = 0.1-0.3). Among unvaccinated individuals, those who completed the survey in English versus Spanish indicated they were more likely to get vaccinated in the future (OR = 8.2, 95 % CI = 1.5-44.4). Asians versus Whites were less likely to prefer accessing oral COVID medications from a pharmacy/drug store only compared with a doctor's office or community setting (OR = 0.3, 95 % CI = 0.2-0.6). Study findings reinforce the need for replicable and scalable community-engaged strategies for reducing COVID-19 disparities by increasing SARS-CoV-2 test and vaccine access and uptake.
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    McIntosh SEED: A Case Study for Community Forest Planning
    (2015-04-23) Archer, Audrey; Zambello, Erika
    Community forestry offers the opportunity to both strengthen sustainable environmental management while building on community assets. However, these types of forest programs require both that the community is involved in various aspects of the decision-making process, and that the community benefits economically, recreationally, and/or educationally. McIntosh SEED, a grassroots nonprofit organization, purchased 1,159 acres of land situated in the coastal flatwoods of Georgia, with the goal of designating it as the McIntosh SEED Community Forest. The primary objective of this project is the development of The McIntosh SEED Community Forest Master Plan, which plays a crucial role in achieving their vision for the forest. The plan consists of three parts; the first involves an analysis of the community’s interests in relation to the forest using a combination of focus groups, interviews, and surveys. The second part is multi-faceted and site-specific, including an environmental assessment and site plan. The third and final part is also multi-faceted and moves beyond the site itself, addressing community accessibility and key communication and funding strategies. The community access assessment included a service area and competitive landscape analysis. As a case study, this process is applicable to the development of future community forests. By following the methodologically rigorous steps used in this plan, future organizations can incorporate community feedback and ecological assessments to design the ideal community forest program for their unique environmental and social circumstances.
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    Preparation is the Key to Success: Strategies for Pre-Emptive Managed Retreat in Vulnerable Coastal Municipalities
    (2024-04-26) Mitchell, Elizabeth
    Introduction As climate change increasingly affects communities, vulnerable coastal municipalities are grappling with more severe and frequent flooding and stronger storms. Coastal communities must consider ways to adapt to climate change effects by implementing planning tools that make communities more resilient. One planning tool, managed retreat, moves people and property out of harm’s way through strategies like government-facilitated buyouts and acquisitions and economic- and zoning-based techniques like rolling easements and transfer of development rights. Managed retreat in the United States has traditionally been implemented after Presidentially Declared Disasters, leveraging post-disaster federal funding to move people out of the most severely damaged properties in affected communities. However, communities are increasingly considering future flood risk and are planning pre-emptive, or pre-disaster, managed retreat programs. This project defines pre-emptive managed retreat programs as ones proactively planning for or addressing natural hazards exposure that do not rely on post-disaster federal funding to finance the programs. Because pre-emptive managed retreat programs are still relatively rare, studying programs that have already been planned or implemented can provide insights into the retreat strategies communities are using, how communities are overcoming program hurdles, and information about people’s attitudes towards climate change-related hazards and retreat. This project aims to understand the pre-emptive managed retreat strategies that coastal communities in the eastern United States are using, as well as the challenges these early adopters have faced. It also aims to understand how communities are financing or planning to finance pre-emptive retreat because these programs are very expensive and there is limited federal funding for pre-disaster retreat. The project also explores the ways government leaders have engaged with community members and how community engagement shaped the program development process. Finally, this project uncovers information about program implementation timelines and the ways communities are bridging the gap between planning and implementation. Methods I addressed my research questions through the case study analysis of six coastal communities in the eastern United States that are planning for or implementing pre-emptive managed retreat programs. I identified pre-emptive managed retreat programs in Massachusetts, Virginia, and Florida to get geographic representation along the coast, and focused on two programs in each state for inter- and intra-state comparison. I started by analyzing planning documents available online which built my baseline knowledge about each program and helped me identify gaps in that knowledge. I next conducted 13 semi-structured interviews with local government leaders which helped me gain additional information to answer the questions I identified during the plan analysis process. Finally, I analyzed the interview transcripts by conducting a theme analysis to better understand details about the programs’ financing, community engagement, and implementation. Results In addition to program-specific details about the retreat strategies communities are using, and financing, community engagement, and implementation details for each program, I identified common themes among municipalities. First, financing is a barrier to implementation. Municipal budgets are not large enough to fund large-scale retreat programs. Particularly because the real estate market is extremely hot across the country, potential participants can easily sell their homes on the regular market. Communities are working to get funding from state and federal sources, which may help fill the funding gap. Additionally, pre-emptive retreat is generally viewed as a future necessity. Pre-emptive retreat is seen as a fork in the road that communities might need to take in the future rather than a pressing current reality. In some cases, this future planning approach reflects the community’s view that managed retreat will be necessary for future generations of homeowners, not the current homeowners in the municipality. Even if communities wait to implement these programs, planning for managed retreat in the near term allows community leaders to be prepared when residents need to retreat and gives leaders time to discuss the subject of retreat with residents through continued engagement efforts. Community engagement will be particularly important during the years before program implementation because no community plans to use eminent domain. All near-term programs will be voluntary, which will require government leaders to get community buy-in, especially for programs where specific neighborhoods are planned for retreat. There is little-to-no coordination among communities. This is a missed opportunity for programs to avoid missteps and share ideas and resources that might improve the retreat process. Professional networks may be an appropriate and convenient forum for these conversations, and governments may also consider integrating engagement with other program leaders into the community engagement process during program planning. Finally, the policy entrepreneurs I spoke with inspired me with their dedication to improving community resilience, viewing retreat not as a failure but as an opportunity to build a stronger community. Despite the challenges these leaders face in planning and implementing pre-emptive retreat programs, they are determined to equip their communities for future hazards and mitigate future climate risk through retreat. This project broadens research on managed retreat programs by focusing on pre-emptive retreat, which is relatively uncommon compared to post-disaster retreat. Understanding the strategies communities are using to pre-emptively plan for retreat and how these communities are addressing funding, community engagement, and implementation challenges can help build institutional knowledge about pre-emptive managed retreat among the academic community and practitioners. Pre-emptive managed retreat allows communities to plan for and implement retreat programs outside a post-disaster scenario, which can move people and property out of harm’s way before the next disaster. Studying six case study communities that have planned or implemented pre-emptive managed retreat programs demonstrated the types of retreat strategies communities are considering, details about how communities can overcome retreat challenges, and common themes that are present among the cases. These cases demonstrate that, despite the challenges, pre-emptive retreat program planning is a viable and meaningful step in adaptation planning and can help communities prepare for future climate change effects.
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    Rules of Engagement: A Study of Community-Facility Interaction in an Environmental Justice Community
    (2016-04-22) Green, Megan
    This Masters Project explores the phenomena of how an environmental justice community and its neighboring facilities interacted during a recent Title V permit application process. A case study methodology was used to define a study area, identify cases and interview subjects, and collect and analyze data. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with three key actors in the North Birmingham (Alabama) neighborhood. These participants provided different perspectives on community-facility engagement: a facility manager, a neighborhood leader and a permitting agency. Data analysis consisted of thematic coding using the framework originated by Bowen, Newenham-Kahindi, and Herremans (2010) and incorporated inductive coding to identify emergent themes. The results showed that community-facility interaction isn’t only experienced during the permitting process; that the neighborhood leader desired engagement efforts that go beyond what is legally required; and that unexpected external factors can impacted community-facility interactions.
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    ShotSpotter in Durham, NC: Service or Burden? A Community Sentiment Evaluation
    (2023-12) Kelly, Pilar
    ShotSpotter is a gunshot detection technology that uses audio sensors to locate and notify local police departments of gunfire. In 2023, the Durham Police Department (DPD) conducted a year-long pilot of ShotSpotter. Conversations with 30 residents of ShotSpotter’s three-square mile pilot area revealed nuanced opinions on the role of police officers, both generally and within their role as responders to ShotSpotter alerts. In the context of ShotSpotter specifically, conversations surrounded the ethics of technology and corporate actors in policing, as well as the lack of community engagement in the decision to pilot. Less frequently did these conversations reveal any observed impact on gun crime or police activity after ShotSpotter was implemented. Not one participant believed that ShotSpotter could help reduce gun crime. However, the participants who did report seeing changes in policing since ShotSpotter described those changes in a positive light. Opposition to ShotSpotter was rooted primarily in preconceived mistrust rather than direct experiences. This mistrust was directed toward City Council, ShotSpotter as a corporation, policing as an institution, and concerns about surveillance and storing personal sensitive information. City Council should consider the experiences and perceptions of the citizens most affected by gun violence when deciding how to proceed with ShotSpotter. Meaningful engagement and representation of these community voices is critical in efforts to promote institutional trust, community-police relations, and reductions in violent crime.
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    Tackling Social Opposition: Can the Fossil Fuel Pipeline Playbook Work for the Grid?
    (2024-04-26) Nittler, Stephen
    This Playbook will discuss the importance of transmission and the U.S. electric grid, starting with an examination of its history. The Playbook will review the historical funding from the Federal government to support new HVDC transmission development and the three leading barriers to its buildout. Going beyond the policy and financial barriers to transmission development, the Playbook will consider the impact of NIMBYism, the root causes of social opposition towards transmission infrastructure, and the importance of community engagement matters for limiting opposition. The Playbook will then review polling data surveying rural Americans to understand perspectives on the energy transition, levels of support for renewable energy, concerns about renewable energy projections, and potential messaging to garner support. Next, this Playbook will compare the characteristics of intrastate HVDC transmission lines and intrastate fossil fuel pipelines. The Playbook will utilize the American Petroleum Institute’s (API) Community Engagement Guidelines to identify techniques and strategies that can be adapted by transmission developers to overcome social opposition in local communities. The community engagement recommendations from the API Guidelines includes three phases of a community engagement plan. The Playbook also adapts exercises to begin stakeholder management, message development, and encourages continued evaluation and adaptation of the plan throughout the project’s lifecycle. After an analysis of the API Guidelines for community engagement, the Playbook will consider how to align the best practices with survey results from the rural Americans polling data. Finally, the Playbook will share additional resources for transmission developers as they develop their community engagement plans and work to reduce social opposition in project communities.
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    Tourism, Environmental Stewardship, and Community Engagement on Andros Island, Bahamas
    (2020-04-22) Melvin, Emily C.
    Tourism is the mainstay of the economy of the Bahamas, making up between 40-60% of the GDP and providing jobs for nearly half of the country’s population. However, local communities do not always realize the benefits of tourism, with much of the revenue lost to other countries’ economies. The Small Hope Bay Foundation is a new non-profit organization on Andros Island in the Bahamas with a mission to create an economically and environmentally sustainable Andros. This study aims to understand (1) how the Foundation and the tourism industry on Andros Island can mobilize the perceptions and values of tourists to improve the impacts of the tourism industry on local communities and the environment; and (2) what barriers to community engagement in the dive industry must be overcome to maximize the potential benefits of development. I find that tourists receive functional, emotional, social, and epistemic value from environmental stewardship, environmental quality, and community engagement, suggesting that efforts to improve environmental sustainability and increasing local engagement can appeal to tourists’ values. Thus, preserving natural environments and promoting interactions with the local community can enhance rather than detract from tourists’ experiences, providing support for the Foundation’s efforts in acting as environmental stewards while engaging and empowering the local community. However, lack of local capacity in the dive industry remains a considerable barrier in improving local engagement. Overcoming these barriers will require broad-scale institutional changes as well as local capacity-building efforts in order to improve the ability of local communities to fully realize the benefits of this industry. By working with the community to develop environmental sustainability and community training programs that appeal to tourists, the Foundation can work toward supporting a successful community-based ecotourism model.