“Moving at the Speed of Trust”: How Environmental Justice Advocate-Researcher Collaborations Can Build Better Partnerships
An article on the Urban Institute's website highlights a webinar in the Exposure series, a joint endeavor between the Urban Institute and RFF.
Community expertise and representation are invaluable to high-quality applied research, and collaboration between researchers and environmental justice (EJ) advocates built on shared responsibility and accountability has proven to be key to better understanding—and better informing—environmental policy decisions.
But how do advocates and researchers design effective partnerships? It begins with recognizing that EJ advocates and researchers aren’t at odds but contribute diverse skill sets, tools, and expertise—and neither corners the market on any one resource or skill.
Rethinking these partnerships requires sharing resources beyond finances, challenging assumptions about advocates and their technical capacity, and reevaluating knowledge systems to include input from those most affected by environmental changes.
In a recent event cohosted by the Urban Institute and Resources for the Future (RFF), advocates and researchers discussed their experiences building partnerships that work.
