Community InvolvementFeedback

Many revitalization projects are the beginning of an entire community renewal. The long-term benefits of these projects can include the creation of more jobs, improvement in community relations, community empowerment, heightened economic status, environmental restoration and enhancement of the quality of life in the neighborhood through environmental assessment and/or cleanup. This section discusses what Community Involvement is, why it is important, and what its’ challenges are.  Information on how to conduct a Community Assessment, and information on the importance of communication in actively informing and involving a community is presented. Finally, this section includes information and links for techniques, guidance and tools for development of an effective community involvement program.

Community involvement is a very important aspect of revitalization for any community, no matter what size. Without community buy-in, a project may never get off the ground or will not be accepted once it is completed. In the United States, Federal Brownfield grant monies are tied to community involvement (i.e., without implementing and documenting the community involvement initiative), no monies will be awarded.  Often this requirement is a stumbling block for entities/communities seeking federal grant monies. Either community involvement is regarded as a minor nuisance and is ineffectively addressed, or there is a lack of knowledge as how to engage a whole community. Either way, the result can be disastrous (i.e., delays in construction can result in a loss of money, filing of law suits, disgruntled citizens providing negative comments in public to the media, non-acceptance of the revitalization project, and a non-sustainable project reverting back to a brownfields site – the very thing that was supposed to be remedied).

Community involvement should be used to generate not only ideas for revitalization projects and their implementation, but also ideas to further improve existing project features. Revitalization can be facilitated and enhanced by finding out what the community needs, what will benefit the community, what has been tried in the past, and what could be done to improve past ideas. Community members, when given an opportunity to be informed and involved in the revitalization process, are or can be a critical factor to a project’s success. Community members may have special issues or concerns that, if incorporated into a project at the outset, may help to reduce the likelihood of challenges to risk assessment results, and potential remediation or revitalization plans.

Successful community involvement is based upon information and dialogue. Only an informed community can be part of the decision- making process, which then will lead to a sustainable revitalization project.  Community members who contribute to the revitalization planning process will better understand the process and will be more likely to support a project they had input in. 

Community Involvement Challenges include:

Identifying stakeholders that can represent a diverse constituency, and represent these constituencies at public meetings and planning sessions.