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Strategies > Engagement > Community Engagement

Community Engagement

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Photo: Flickr/ Peter Durand
The purpose of community engagement is to inform, create, and implement plans and projects that enable the community to thrive. Authentic community engagement begins with listening to community members to understand their needs and hopes. However, community engagement is often merely a "checkbox" in planning processes rather than used as an opportunity to learn from residents. Ideas that emerge from governmental agencies may not be trusted by some community members, particularly in marginalized communities that have suffered from disinvestment. Consider new ways to engage that are based on the premise that residents are the experts of their community. Also consider how engagement can build community capacity to understand and navigate decision-making process. 

Likely Outcomes

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Increase social connection and civic engagement
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Improved health outcomes
Community engagement gives residents a voice in the design and function of their neighborhoods. Research has found that social media for civic participation (County Health Rankings & Roadmaps, 2020) is likely to improve civic and political participation. Experts agree that trauma-informed approaches to community building are important for those communities who have historically faced disinvestment, discrimination, and other community traumas (County Health Rankings & Roadmaps, 2020).

Equity and Inclusion

Communities do not have equal opportunity to safely access the goods and services they need to live healthy lives. The existence of these disparities can be traced in large part to decisions made by by federal, state, and local governments, including transportation and land use planners, that have resulted in inequitable access to community environments that support health (Bullard, 2003). Many of these decisions were made without community input, in the face of community opposition, or where community engagement was perfunctory. Transportation equity includes not only the outcomes created from transportation decisions but also the fairness of the process used to make the decision, sometimes called process or procedural equity.

For planning and community engagement guidance that is grounded in health equity, racial justice, and climate resilience, see the guiding principles from PHEAL (Planning for Health Equity, Advocacy, and Leadership). Principles of mobility justice can be found from the Untokening Collective. The Transportation Equity Caucus is a diverse coalition that promotes equitable transportation policy and has resources for practitioners.  Additional guidance for equitable planning and design is available from BlackSpace and the Design Justice Network.

Complementary Strategies

Community engagement is an important component of every strategy.

Implementation Guidance

Guides & Reports
The Spectrum of Community Engagement to Ownership


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Facilitating Power & Movement Strategy Center, 2019
The Salzburg Statement on Confronting Power and Privilege for Inclusive, Equitable and Healthy Communities
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​Salzburg Global Fellows, 2018
Strategies for Engaging Community: Developing Better Relationships through Bike Share

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NACTO & Better Bike Share Partnership, 2018
Guide to Equitable, Community-Driven Climate Preparedness Planning

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Urban Sustainability Directors Network & Raimi + Associates, 2017
Research Reports & Briefs
Connecting Transportation & Health: A Guide to Communication & Collaboration



Transportation Research Board, 2019
Fact Sheets & Infographics
What Is Asset Based Community Development (ABCD)?



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Collaborative for Neighborhood Transformation, 2017
Community Engagement during the COVID-19 Pandemic and Beyond



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The Urban Institute, 2020
Design Justice Network Principles




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Design Justice Network, 2018
Procedural Equity: Tools for Planning, Engagement, and Governance



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Georgetown Climate Center, 2018
The Principles for Equitable and Inclusive Civic Engagement



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Kirwan Institute, 2016​​
Answers from the Margins: Participatory Planning with Disadvantaged Communities
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University of California Transportation Studies, 2021
Social Movement Theory of Change






Innovation Network, n.d.
Every Place Counts Leadership Academy: Transportation Toolkit



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US Department of Transportation, 2017​
All the People, all the Places: A Landscape of Opportunity for Rural and Small-Town Civic Engagement​
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​Wallace Global Fund for a Sustainable Future & NewVenture Fund, 2018
Take Action to Improve Health: Work Together
​[Website]


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​County Health Rankings & Roadmaps, 2020
Developing and Advancing Effective Public Involvement and Environmental Justice Strategies for Rural and Small Communities
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​Federal Highway Administration, 2016
Community-Based Participatory Research: A Strategy for Building Healthy Communities and Promoting Health through Policy Change
PolicyLink & UC Berkeley School of Public Health, 2012
Road Rage: One Small City's Fight over Complete Streets




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America Walks, 2021
Engaging the Community to Create Community





AARP, 2018
Participatory Budgeting
​[Website]





Participatory Budgeting Project, 2020
Public Involvement Techniques for Transportation Decisionmaking




​​Federal Highway Administration, 2015
Answers from the Margins: Participatory Planning with Disadvantaged Communities
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University of California Transportation Studies, 2021
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  • Home
  • About
  • Service Areas
  • Clearinghouse
    • Goals >
      • Physical Activity
      • Bicycling
      • Walking
      • Equity and Inclusion
      • Greenhouse Gas Emissions
      • Vehicle Miles Traveled
    • Strategies >
      • Transportation Infrastructure >
        • Bicycle Infrastructure
        • Pedestrian Infrastructure
        • Traffic Calming
      • Transportation Demand Management >
        • Active Travel to School
        • Employer-Based Trip Reduction Programs
        • Parking Availability and Pricing
        • Road User Pricing
        • Voluntary Travel Behavior Change Programs
      • Land Use Strategies >
        • Local Accessibility
        • Regional Accessibility
        • Residential Density
        • Land Use Mix
        • Street Network Connectivity
      • Public Transit >
        • Transit Access
        • Transit Service
      • Engagement >
        • Community Engagement
    • Emerging issues
    • Approach
  • News
  • Contact