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

Williamson, D F

doi:10.3390/su14052809

Cited by 4 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 99 publications

(164 reference statements)

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“…In addition to summarizing the evolution of capacity building, we focus on how this concept has been applied in the context of active travel. Studies have demonstrated that capacity-building initiatives such as training programs, policy development, and community engagement play a pivotal role in enhancing active travel in urban environments [13][14][15]. The improvement of an individual's or an organization's facility (or capability) "to produce, perform, or deploy" is known as capacity building [16].…”

Section: Capacity Buildingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Towards a Sustainable Transport System: Exploring Capacity Building for Active Travel in Africa

Lartey,

Glaser

2024

Sustainability

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The promotion of active travel is deemed a crucial component of the transition to sustainable urban mobility. Several barriers hinder its policy implementation and uptake. Some evidence suggests that capacity building could be a useful tool for deepening sustainability efforts. This concept involves the development and deployment of skills and resources. However, a clear framework for understanding the dimensions of capacity building for active travel is lacking. Furthermore, most research and findings use cases within a Global North context, constricting implications and transferability to the Global South, especially to African cities. This study responds to the dearth of scholarly work exploring Global South cases and fills a knowledge gap regarding capacity building in the case of active travel. Through a literature review, we examined the dimensions of capacity building that are necessary to improve active travel in selected African countries. We focus on multilevel transportation governance with highlights from five African cities. Our findings suggest that the literature and policies on transport in Africa have key dimensions for capacity building for active travel but lack the introduction of key instruments and strategic pathways to meet these requirements for improved sustainable mobility. We propose a thematic guiding framework that delineates the strategic application of capacity building at three levels of governance. This framework helps integrate capacity building for active travel policies and implementation at the institutional, individual, and environmental levels.

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Section: Capacity Buildingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Towards a Sustainable Transport System: Exploring Capacity Building for Active Travel in Africa

Lartey,

Glaser

2024

Sustainability

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Modeling Air Pollution‐Related Health Benefits of Transportation Scenarios: A Collaboration Between Academic Researchers and Environmental Justice Organizations

Rick,

Gaddy,

Lewis

et al. 2024

Community Science

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Transportation is a leading contributor to greenhouse gas emissions and has become a focus for climate policies. Traffic‐related air pollution disproportionately affects environmental justice (EJ) communities—neighborhoods that have disproportionate exposure to environmental hazards, but health impact assessments rarely center EJ issues or prioritize the concerns of EJ communities. One explanation for the lack of focus on EJ communities is that both policymakers and academia have often failed to engage these communities. In this paper, academic researchers collaborate with seven EJ organizations in the northeastern US, working with collaboration advisors and facilitators, to design and evaluate potential transportation emissions reduction scenarios using air quality and health benefits modeling tools. We model and estimate the benefits of these scenarios, while working to build collaborative relationships between academic researchers and EJ organizations. The two primary outputs from this process are: quantification of health benefits attributable to emission reduction scenarios of interest to EJ organizations, and enhanced trust and community building between academic researchers and EJ organizations, with reflections on strengths, challenges, and opportunities for future work. We find the largest improvements to health result from scenarios that reduce car and truck traffic. Dialog between academic researchers and EJ organizations reinforce the disconnect between regional‐scale models and local community concerns as well as the more general gaps between statistical models and lived experience. Despite these challenges, the collaboration led to more meaningful models and valued insight for community organizations, and we recommend comparable collaborations in other settings where pollution control is being planned and evaluated in EJ communities.

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Conceptualizing Community Engagement for Mental and Brain Health Research in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Case of Kilifi County, Kenya

Bosire,

Khakali,

Shah

et al. 2024

Qual Health Res

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Community engagement (CE) has increasingly been recognized as a critical element for successful health promotion and intervention programs. However, the term CE has been used to mean different things in different settings. In this article, we explore how CE has been conceptualized in the field of mental and brain health in Kilifi County, Kenya. We used ethnographic methods encompassing focused group discussions, key informant interviews, and observations with 65 participants, purposively recruited from Kilifi County. Data were transcribed verbatim and thematically analyzed. Our findings show that community members and stakeholders had diverse perceptions of and experiences with CE. Factors such as trust between researchers and community members, sensitization, and awareness creation were key for acceptance of research projects. Partial involvement in research, lack of access to information, poverty and socio-economic challenges, and financial expectations from researchers hindered CE and led to resistance to participation in research projects. For effective CE, there is a need to work closely with community gatekeepers, create awareness of the research projects, use local languages, and ensure continuous engagement that promotes equitable research participation. Our findings suggest that tacit knowledge, context, and mechanisms for research are all critical features of CE and should be considered to enhance acceptance and sustainability of mental and brain health interventions in Kenya.

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

Cited by 4 publications

References 99 publications

Towards a Sustainable Transport System: Exploring Capacity Building for Active Travel in Africa

Towards a Sustainable Transport System: Exploring Capacity Building for Active Travel in Africa

Modeling Air Pollution‐Related Health Benefits of Transportation Scenarios: A Collaboration Between Academic Researchers and Environmental Justice Organizations

Conceptualizing Community Engagement for Mental and Brain Health Research in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Case of Kilifi County, Kenya

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