Mobilizing Community Engagement Across the TN

The goal of this project is to assess specific current needs for guidance, resources and training to help TN research teams effectively and ethically engage with communities in convergent research.

TN members attending a field trip at the 2023 All-Hands Meeting to learn about the Yakima Basin Integrated Plan. (Photo by Sonia Hall)

Objectives:

  • Identify and evaluate from a literature review how community engagement has been included in previous research projects as a first step (recognizing published work may be biased towards successes). This review will also include Tribal engagement;
  • Create a framework to evaluate community engagement across the IMW, especially the FEW Exemplar in Washington State;
  • Help build capacity and evaluate community and Tribal engagement work and how it relates to convergence research;
  • Leverage our relationships with Extension professionals and partnerships with land-grant institutions across the IMW.

Charter Summary:

One of the central tenets of the Transformation Network (TN) is ethically and effectively co-designing research goals and projects by engaging with communities, stakeholders, and Tribal partners. This charter aims to provide engagement resources and consultation for the TN research teams, charters, and exemplars. We recognize that communities can be identified in different ways, that there is great diversity in the communities and Tribes that projects could engage with. We also recognize that stakeholders may be community or Tribal members; community-based organizations; or  local, state, or federal agencies. The purpose, tools, and methods of engagement will vary with the characteristics of the people and groups the project is engaging with and with the desired outcomes of such engagement. The work of this charter will reflect this recognition, and the diversity of goals, situations, and conditions of different research projects will be reflected in the recommended engagement methods, products, and resources. In the end, our plan is to share within and beyond the TN resources that help researchers determine which community, stakeholder, and Tribal engagement approaches that are likely most effective for their project, thereby supporting convergent research on resilient socio-ecological systems.

Primary Contacts

Team Members