Keeping Communities Engaged

When men in a Philadelphia regional prison’s art class agreed to collaborate with crime victims to design a mural about healing, their views on punishment, remorse, and forgiveness collided.  At times the divide seemed too wide to bridge. But as participants began to work together, mistrust gave way to genuine moments of human contact and common purpose.  Their struggle and the insights gained are reflected in the art they created. Producers Cindy Burstein and Tony Heriza will attend the film screening to introduce it and answer questions.

In the past, some developers may have considered community involvement a burdensome requirement imposed on their brownfield assessment, remediation, and redevelopment projects by communities, action groups, or regulatory agencies.  In reality, effective and proactive community engagement can be a critical tool to facilitate the successful implementation of sensitive end-use redevelopment projects.  This roundtable discusses environmental justice, public outreach, education, and community engagement strategies that can be implemented, and in some cases are

The explosion of interest in social media applications such as Facebook and LinkedIn has created a powerful avenue for increasing awareness about contaminated properties.  This panel explores the exciting role that social media plays in allowing stakeholders to share information, increase awareness about property environmental conditions, and promote site cleanup initiatives.  Expert panelists share how social media helps address environmental justice challenges and promote the engagement of low-income and minority communities in brownfield redevelopment.<

Communities across the country are tapping into sources of technical information to help them address petroleum-contaminated properties, such as old abandoned gas stations, car dealerships, and other petroleum brownfields plagued by underground storage tanks (USTs).

Community involvement in the investigation and cleanup of contaminated sites results in more thorough site investigations and more comprehensive site cleanup plans.  However, many view community involvement as an impediment to redevelopment of brownfield sites because true community involvement often slows down the redevelopment process.