Using the Community Engagement Framework to Understand and Assess EJ-Related Research Efforts

Dana H Z Williamson

doi:10.3390/su14052809

Abstract

Within an environmental justice frame, capacity-building has been an important component of efforts to address health disparities at the policy, system, and environment levels. While the literature is replete with studies that discuss the necessity of collective action as a means to generate power to overcome inequities, limited attention has been given to the structure of these efforts to build capacity and challenge environmental injustices. This study applies the community engagement continuum as a framework for understanding the scope of capacity-building strategies and the manner in which research investigators engage with their intended target community. Paired teams of independent analysts screened articles for relevance (n = 8452), identified records for content abstraction (n = 163), and characterized relevant studies (n = 58). Many articles discussed community engagement as being either collaborative or shared leadership (n = 32, 55.2%). While the most commonly used capacity-building strategies were organizing/social action (58.6%) and CBPR (50%), few studies were able to make an environmental impact (n = 23; 39.7%), and fewer had a direct legislative policy-related outcome (n = 13; 22.4%). This review identifies levels of collaborative involvement and strategic approaches used for strengthening community capacity in efforts of making transformative policy, systems, and environmental change.

Highlights

Explicit and implicit discrimination in environmental policymaking, targeting of communities of color for toxic waste facilities, and under-resourcing and overburdening of communities have been collectively termed environmental racism [1] and have plagued the United States for decades [2]
The environmental justice (EJ) framework delineates the necessity of centering the experiences of low-income groups, communities of color, and underrepresented groups to reduce the disproportionate exposure to adverse environmental impacts and hazards
Included studies were published in English and considered eligible if the study detailed the use of any variation of community-engaged methods and included: (1) efforts for invoking a reduction in or resolution of an air, land, or water-related health concern; (2) the enactment of a strategy to address environmental health disparities; or (3) the application of an approach that enhanced community capacity, empowerment, leadership, or decision making in relation to environmental concerns

Summary

Introduction

Explicit and implicit discrimination in environmental policymaking, targeting of communities of color for toxic waste facilities, and under-resourcing and overburdening of communities have been collectively termed environmental racism [1] and have plagued the United States for decades [2]. The environmental justice (EJ) movement demands that “everyone is entitled to equal protection and enforcement of environmental health, housing, land use, transportation, energy and civil rights laws and regulations” [3], and over the past 30 years, has progressed to incorporate all aspects of “where we live, work, play, and pray” [3]. EJ has expanded to a framework for organizing [4–9] to include but not be limited to food justice [10], green space [11], climate change [12], immigrant and indigenous rights [13] and refurbishment of brownfields [14]. The EJ framework delineates the necessity of centering the experiences of low-income groups, communities of color, and underrepresented groups to reduce the disproportionate exposure to adverse environmental impacts and hazards. Overburdened communities have been a focus area for many institutions, foundation initiatives, and practitioners in the fields of public health, public policy, urban planning, Sustainability 2022, 14, 2809.

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Conclusion