Contact Us Search: All EPA This Area

• You are here: EPA Home
• Green Communities
• Where Are We Now?
• Community Involvement

Where Are We Now? - Community Involvement

Where Are We Now? | Where Do We Want to Be? | How Do We Get There? | Let's Go!

"Chattanooga possesses both the chemistry and the hope needed to transform itself. I'd never seen a city where an outsider can come in and immediately become a player...Chattanooga allows people to do that."
Gerald Mason, Board Member, Chattanooga Venture

"The political activity that pervades the United States must be seen in order to be understood. No sooner do you set foot upon American ground than you are stunned by a kind of tumult; a confused clamor is heard on every side, and a thousand simultaneous voices demand the satisfaction of their social wants. Everything is in motion around you; here the people of one quarter of a town are met to decide upon the building of a church; there the election of a representative is going on; a little farther, the delegates of a district are hastening to the town in order to consult upon some local improvements; in another place, the laborers of a village quit their plows to deliberate upon the project of a road or a public school. Meetings are called for the sole purpose of declaring their disapprobation of the conduct of the government; while in other assemblies citizens salute the authorities of the day as the fathers of their country."
Alexis de Tocqueville on citizen participation. Source: Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America, Vol. 1, Chapter XIV.

• Planning the Community Involvement Program
• Steps in Designing Community Involvement Programs
• Selecting the Tools
• Applied Community Involvement
• The Civic Index
• Community Capacity Building

Community involvement is a cornerstone of a Green Communities program. A well developed community involvement program will bring people together and allow them to share ideas and concepts and to arrive at a consensus on what is best for the community. This section offers tips, guidance, and resources on getting a community involvement program underway in conjunction with the community assessment process under the question "Where Are We Now". The section discusses some of the more popular community involvement tools and provides sources where information on creating and sustaining community involvement programs can be found.

Community involvement is an opportunity to get "grassroots" participation in the Green Communities program. Effective community involvement can:

• Provide a way for community members to share information
• Encourage a more democratic process
• Provide dialogue between the community and decision makers.
• Generate creative alternatives and solutions.
• Help reach consensus on solving issues and problems in the community.

The community involvement process should begin early and often. Early involvement at the community assessment stage will:

• Enable participants to feel they are a part of the process.
• Develop a spirit of cooperation among participants.
• Encourage the flow of accurate and unbiased information.

Check out Northwestern University's Capacity Inventory.

Also Check out Know Your Watershed's Leading and Communicating: A Guide for Watershed Partnerships publication.

Planning the Community Involvement Program

Effective community involvement does not just happen but requires careful planning. The first step in this process is determining the needs of the community. The following is a checklist of items that should be considered in planning and organizing a community involvement program:

• Scope the community. Talk to local officials, business leaders and other interested groups and officials. Get their opinions and get them involved. Identify issues, needs and concerns.



• Identify the stakeholders. Make a list, notify them and get them to the meetings.
• Meet with them personally to discuss the project and get their support.
• Ask to speak at their meetings about your concerns for the community and the opportunities of the Green Communities project.
• Ensure that they represent the diversity of the community.
• Ask groups to recommend other stakeholders to ensure broad and complete representation of the community



• Develop goals for the community involvement program.
• Inform and educate the public about the issues in the community that have led you to initiate the Green Communities project. Establish the credibility of the program.
• Keep the community informed throughout the entire process.
• Establish the means for the public to provide information.



• Organize the community involvement program.
• Establish committees and leadership for the program. At this early stage in the process, a planning or steering committee may be enough. To answer future questions such as, "Where Are We Going?" and "How Are We Going to Get There?" additional committees and task groups will be needed.



• Develop a plan to guide the community involvement program.



• Get the media involved at the outset. Make them strong allies in the process.

Top of page

Steps in Designing Community Involvement Programs

1. Identify Issues, Needs and Concerns. Solicit Opinions and Get the Community Involved.
2. Identify Stakeholders.
3. Establish Goals and Objectives for Community Involvement.
4. Organize the Community Involvement Program.
5. Develop a Community Involvement Plan.
6. Get the Media Involved.
7. Select Tools and Techniques.
8. Implement the Program.

The EPA provides guidance in establishing goals and objectives for communities in its Superfund Community Tools Website.

A Good Neighbor Agreement (GNA) is a voluntary process by which a community and a company work toward improving the environmental performance of a facility in that community.

Good Neighbor Agreements: A Tool for Environmental and Social Justice is taken from Social Justice, Volume 23, Number 4.

The Citizen's Handbook is an excellent and very thorough online grassroots organizing guide.

Top of page

Selecting the Tools

The following is a list of tools and techniques that can help to inform the community, enlist community involvement, and answer the question, "Where Are We Now." This is not intended to be a complete listing.

Tools

• Use existing forums for public participation. Communities often have regular public meetings in which community members can place items for discussion on the agenda.
• Start a Speaker's Bureau and Schedule Speakers at meetings of various groups (Chambers of Commerce, League of Women Voters, Rotary, Kiwanis, scouting groups, PTA's, Sierra Club, etc.)
• Publish an announcement in the newspaper or run an ad on a local radio station or cable access TV. If a local newspaper serves your community, publish a notice about your ideas and either name a date for an open meeting or a telephone number people can call for further information. Alternatively, run a similar notice on local radio stations targeted towards different age groups, and post notice on the Community Bulletin Board of the local cable TV channel.
• Hand out leaflets. If you can get permission, set up a booth at a local store, shopping mall, library or other well-traveled locations, and hand out leaflets about the issues in the community and why people might be interested in joining the Green Communities effort.
• Mailings. Drop off leaflets to people directly at their homes or, if you have a source of funds for postage, consider sending them by mail.
• Set up a booth at local events or festivals.
• Write op-ed articles. Write letters to the editor of the local newspaper or write op-ed articles for the newspaper.
• Post a bulletin board notice or develop a home page on the Internet. The Internet can be a direct and very effective way of getting information to certain segments of the community, especially interest group members, such as environmental groups and academics. Consider developing a home page that explains your ideas, and publicize its existence through other media.
• Host Neighborhood Meetings and small Coffee Klatches in individuals' homes.

Public Kickoff Meeting

The planning team should all come out in support of this event which formally announces the start of the process and solicits involvement from the community in developing the Community Assessment which is the result of asking the question, "Where Are We Now?" This is an excellent opportunity for elected officials and other highly respected community leaders to show their support for the project and to answer questions posed by the general public. The meeting should be announced several weeks in advance using various media. Be careful to time the event so it does not conflict with holidays, vacations, or other scheduled meetings and events. An evening meeting is usually the best time to attract the most people. Ensure that the location of the meeting is easily accessible for the community and that it is accessible by the handicapped. Once you start holding meetings, it is best to change the locations to enable the widest attendance.

Workshops

Workshops are informal sessions usually organized to develop and discuss and possibly resolve a specific issue or issues. Workshops are usually agenda driven but have the informality for discussions, brainstorming, presentations, and role playing. Workshops can include a large number of people and can be organized into "breakout groups" for more focused discussions, brainstorming or role playing. The workshop can achieve the following results:

• Issues driven discussions
• Position statements by participants
• Changes in positions resulting from the workshop
• Consensus reached and suggested courses of action

Surveys

Surveys allow us to "take the pulse" of the community. Surveys can be designed to test public knowledge of a particular issue and can give valuable feedback on opinions and attitudes on the community and the current status of the community. The survey can also be used to obtain information on the other questions such as "Where Do We Want To Be?" Survey documents need to be designed so they ask the appropriate questions and do not confuse the recipient.

Top of page

Applied Community Involvement

The National Civic League, an organization committed to community leadership, has coined the term Civic Infrastructure. They define civic infrastructure as the formal and informal processes and networks through which communities make decisions and solve problems. Successful communities recognize the interdependence in the community of business, government, non-profit organizations and citizens coming together to identify and solve problems. (from, The Community Visioning and Strategic Planning Handbook, The National Civic League and The Alliance for National Renewal) This is precisely the intent of the Green Community's community involvement process.

Top of page

The Civic Index

The National Civic League has developed a Civic Index, a tool developed to measure a community's planning and problem-solving capacity. Stakeholders assess the community's current performance in each of 10 areas and consider how that performance affects the profile of the community. The proposed methods to enhance the community's civic infrastructure can be integrated into the action plans later in the process.

1. Citizen Participation
   • Do the citizens volunteer to serve on local boards?
   • How visible and active are local civic groups?
   • Do citizens know how local government works?
   • Is participation proactive or reactive?
   • Are citizens actively involved in major projects?
2. Community Leadership
   • Is there active leadership from all three sectors?
   • Is government willing to share leadership turf?
   • Are there training programs to nurture new leaders?
   • Is leadership results-oriented?
   • Is leadership risk-taking?
   • Do leaders take the long-term view?
   • Do leaders from the three sectors work well together?
3. Government Performance
   • Is government free of corruption?
   • Does government address qualitative concerns about services?
   • Is government professional and entrepreneurial?
   • Is government responsive and accountable?
   • Are services provided equitably?
   • Does government consider and utilize alternative methods of service delivery?
   • Is government a positive force in addressing community needs?
4. Volunteerism and Philanthropy
   • Is there an active community foundation?
   • Do local corporations have active giving programs?
   • Does the community have long-term philanthropic goals? <
   • Do local programs encourage and honor volunteers and philanthropists?
   • Do government and business work closely with the nonprofit sector?
5. Intergroup Relations
   • Is the community dealing with ethnic and racial diversity?
   • Does the community promote communication among diverse populations?
   • Do all groups have the skills to become involved in the community?
   • Do groups cooperate in resolving broad disputes?
   • Do small, specific conflicts escalate into larger ones?
   • Is the community dominated by narrow special-interest groups?
6. Civic Education
   • Do schools promote or require community involvement?
   • Do schools, churches, and youth agencies offer civic education?
   • Do civic education efforts involve the entire community?
   • Do youth have ample opportunity to engage in community service?
   • Are schools teaching citizenship and civic responsibility?
7. Community Information Sharing
   • Do citizens have enough information to make good decisions?
   • What role does government play in making information available?
   • Do schools and libraries play a role in informing the public?
   • Are there civic organizations designed for this purpose?
   • Do the media cover community issues fairly?
   • Do the media play an active and supportive role in the community?
8. Capacity for Cooperation and Consensus Building
   • Are there neutral forums and processes where all opinions are heard?
   • Are there informal dispute-resolution processes?
   • Do community leaders have regular opportunities to share ideas?
   • Are all major interests represented in collaborative processes?
   • Do all three sectors work together to set common goals?
   • Do leaders reach collective decisions and implement them?
9. Intercommunity Cooperation
   • How do local governments relate to each other?
   • How do regionwide policy challenges get resolved?
   • Is economic development addressed on a regionwide basis?
   • Do leaders in the region have a common forum in which to discuss issues?
   • Are any services provided on a regional basis?
   • Are any planning activities carried out on a regional basis?

Top of page

Community Capacity Building

Listed below are the "Top 10" Keys to Success as compiled by Annette Mills, Falls Church Recycling Coordinator, for the Community Capacity Building Training Session, Sustainable Chesapeake Summit, March 22, 1999.

1. Create structures that will allow people to work together over time.
2. Ask people individually and directly to participate in projects. A general call for volunteers is rarely as effective as personal contact.
3. Demonstrate respect for different skills and interests, as well as levels of commitment. There should be room for everyone to participate in some way, not just those who are leaders.
4. Encourage innovation and initiative. Consider how you might support an idea by building upon it.
5. Provide a forum for concerns and suggestions to be expressed. Foster an atmosphere of respect and inclusion.
6. Develop a positive "can do" spirit. If a goal is not reached by one means, try a fresh approach. Don't give up. If someone is problem oriented, invite them to be a part of the solution.
7. Nurture relationships among volunteers by building "social time" and celebrations into meetings and other activities.
8. Acknowledge the contributions of citizens. Make sure people know that their efforts have made a difference.
9. Provide ongoing communication with volunteers. Regular contact is critical to maintaining effective working relationships.
10. Be willing to make lots of personal phone calls and to write personal messages. (an hour or two of phone calling has often made the difference between a lively meeting and a dull, poorly attended one.)
    

Neighborhoods Online is a resource center for people working to build strong communities throughout the United States. Its aim is to provide fast access to information and ideas covering all aspects of neighborhood revitalization, as well as to create a national network of activists working on problems that affect where we live.

The International City/County Management Association (ICMA) is designed to strengthen the quality of local government through professional management.

EPA's Triology (Environmental Planning for Small Communities) offers a complete one-stop introduction to a wide range of environmental issues and decisions that affect small to medium-sized communities.

The National Neighborhood Coalition (NNC) serves as the national voice for neighborhoods by providing a crucial link to Washington for neighborhood and community based organizations.

The Center for Neighborhood Technology (CNT) "is a non-profit organization that helps build prosperous, sustainable communities by linking economic and community development with ecological improvement."

Top of page

Local Navigation

• Green Communities Home
• Basic Information
• Where You Live
• Step 1:
  Where Are We Now?
• Step 2:
  Where Are
  We Going?
• Step 3:
  Where Do We
  Want To Be?
• Step 4:
  How Do We
  Get There?
• Step 5:
  Let's Go!
• Grants/Funding
• Glossary
• Site Map

• EPA Home
• Privacy and Security Notice
• Contact Us