Community assessments: Road maps to successful public involvement
- Equinox Environmental Consultants, Wheaton, IL (United States)
This paper presents a framework for performing comprehensive community assessments to increase the effectiveness of public involvement efforts. The community assessment process involves systematic and critical examination of beliefs, attitudes, opinions and knowledge of the many groups in the community. A good community assessment gathers information on the concerns or issues directly related to an environmental project as well as other important community issues to ensure development of an effective public involvement program. The framework discusses types of people and organizations that should be included in the community assessment interview process. It also delineates steps that persons charged with performing assessments can take to ensure that the views of all potential stakeholders are included--a necessary consideration in communities that are ethnically, racially, or economically diverse. Lastly, the framework discusses types of written materials that can be analyzed for additional insight into communities. For example, it discusses methods for reviewing past issues of the local newspaper to provide both validation of the information gathered during interviews and an understanding of the ways that community members give and receive information and respond to conflict or perceived threats. This framework is designed to show environmental professionals who are responsible for public involvement how to perform an initial community assessment. It provides illustrations of instances in which information vital to a successful public involvement effort has been uncovered through a careful assessment of the community. Both the U.S. EPA and the public have made clear their intentions to require increased public involvement. Many of these efforts will succeed or fail based on how well those charged with the public involvement component of environmental projects identify community issues and design communications programs that successfully reach all stakeholders.
- Research Organization:
- National Association of Environmental Professionals, Washington, DC (United States)
- OSTI ID:
- 125927
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-9506115-; TRN: 95:006735-0021
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 20. National Association of Environmental Professionals annual conference and exposition: environmental challenges - the next twenty years, Washington, DC (United States), 10-13 Jun 1995; Other Information: PBD: 1995; Related Information: Is Part Of Environmental challenges: The next 20 years. Proceedings; PB: 932 p.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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