Nothing About Us Without Us

Communities across the United States are more and more frequently impacted by climate change and increasingly face problems like property damage and health and safety issues as a result of flooding and extreme heat. Inadequate wastewater treatment and lack of access to safe and affordable drinking water in many communities compound these threats.

Community-based organizations in our network are working to address these impacts on residents, advocating for solutions to make their communities safer, healthier, and more resilient. These organizations have repeatedly emphasized that to equitably and successfully carry out climate resilience solutions, it’s imperative to directly engage with community members to deeply understand how the problems directly impact them. Likewise, to formulate solutions that are equitable and truly work—and to get utilities and city officials to prioritize equitable investments in under-invested areas—direct engagement with members of the community to identify solutions is essential.

With support from the Kresge Foundation in 2019, River Network set out to explore climate resiliency strategies and equitable engagement of communities in climate resilience work. In addition to consulting with community organizations, the results of this work include a two-part toolkit highlighting both  Fostering Leadership Development  and  Fostering Community-Led Research and Knowledge  as essential tools for addressing the diverse risks posed by climate change.

The tools are interrelated. Community-led research helps to identify community leaders; and community leaders are necessary to move research into action.

Using the CLR toolkit and associated resources as a guide, River Network—with financial support from the Kresge and the Patagonia Foundations—has provided 14 communities with technical support and funding to design and implement CLR projects related to climate resilience and water equity. Here, we highlight four recent projects from Avondale, PA; Baltimore, MD; Houston, TX; and Ponce, PR. Click on the place marker on the map or the logos to the left to find more information about each location.

The knowledge of community members is essential to solving local problems, and CLR can be an effective way to tap into that knowledge. By incorporating CLR into your climate resilience, green infrastructure, stormwater management, and infrastructure investment assessments and planning you can help ensure more successful and equitable outcomes for the community.

River Network is looking to partner with organizations and communities to design and implement CLR projects - please reach out to  Diana Toledo , Senior Program Director, for more information.

Get started with  Appendix 1: CLR Project Planning and Facilitation Guide  from the Fostering Community-Led Research and Knowledge Toolkit, which walks through each step of the CLR process with details and checklists.

For more information and examples of CLR projects, see  Appendix 3: References and Resources .