Introduction to Community Involvement (Part 1 of 2)
Presented by: Helen DuTeau and Peter Redmond, Office of Emergency and Remedial Response, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

This eight-hour workshop is designed to problem solve challenging situations by offering a variety of tools and techniques to plan effective outreach and involvement strategies. The course will focus on designing strategies for planning a successful communication and participation program. The tools and outreach strategies presented in this workshop are based on the experiences of the Superfund program, which requires EPA to involve the public during the investigation and cleanup of hazardous waste sites. Other state or federal programs facing community involvement challenges can use or modify the tools and strategies that Superfund has used for the past 20 years. Whether planning a public meeting or implementing a comprehensive outreach strategy, this workshop will introduce the tools and techniques that have helped EPA be a more effective partner with communities it serves.

This workshop uses a simulated community involvement scenario around which participants will design an outreach/community involvement strategy (ies). Participants will be divided into “teams” to develop a strategy and then present their strategy to the rest of the group. The course also will devote time to coaching participants on different strategies that can be used to address common community involvement challenges and closes with an “advice session” to share ideas and offer solutions to real life community involvement problems posed by participants.

No additional materials are available for this session