Informing the Community Engagement Framework for Natural and Nature-based Projects: An Annotated Review of Leading Stakeholder and Community Engagement Practices

Abstract

In its infrastructure development work, the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) engages and collaborates with numerous local, state, and national stakeholders. Projects incorporating innovative approaches, such as beneficial use (BU) of dredged materials and other natural and nature-based features (NNBF), are often not well-understood by stakeholders, including those at the community level. This often results in conflicts and project delays. By sponsoring the development of a Community Engagement Framework, the Dredging Operations and Environmental Research (DOER) program hopes to systematically improve how project teams design, conduct, and measure effective community engagement on infrastructure projects. The purpose of this focused Review was to assesses leading stakeholder and community engagement practices that reflect the state of practice of stakeholder engagement within USACE, and by other leading organizations in the US and internationally, to inform development of the Community Engagement Framework. While the resulting Framework will be particularly well-suited for community engagement on projects incorporating BU and other NNBF, it will be applicable to a broad range of USACE Civil Works initiatives where effective stakeholder engagement is critical to project success. The assessment showed the practice of stakeholder engagement has evolved significantly over the past 30 years, with much more focus today on ensuring that engagement processes are purposeful, meaningful, collaborative, and inclusive - reflecting stakeholders desire to participate in co-creating sustainable solutions that produce environmental, economic, and social benefits. This, and other key findings, are informing development of the Community Engagement Framework which is scalable and adaptable to a broad range of projects across the USACE missions.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Sep 15, 2022
Accession Number
AD1180152

Entities

People

  • Burton C Suedel
  • Daniel C. Kovacs
  • Joseph Z. Gailani
  • Sarah L. Thorne

Organizations

  • Engineer Research and Development Center

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • Human Systems

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Army Corps Of Engineers
  • Business Administration
  • Climate Change
  • Commerce
  • Engineering
  • Engineers
  • Environmental Health
  • Environmental Protection
  • Flood Control
  • Geography
  • International Organizations
  • Management Personnel
  • National Governments
  • Organizational Structure
  • Public Health
  • Public Policy
  • Risk Analysis
  • Standards
  • United States Government

Readers

  • Defense Technology Research and Development.
  • Systems Analysis and Design
  • Wetland-Land-Environmental Management.