Improving Public Participation: Stewardship Map and Community Involvement Guide

In 2017, the Lower Passaic River Urban Waters federal partnership created two resources to proactively improve public participation in environmental projects on the Lower Passaic River. The Stewardship Map is designed to help civic organizations network with one another, and the Community Involvement Guide is geared towards agencies seeking to develop robust Community Involvement Plans for their projects.

Stewardship Map

The Lower Passaic River Stewardship Map helps community and stewardship organizations connect with new organizational partners and collaborate on issues related to the Partnership’s mission. The survey used to create the map asked organizational representatives about their missions, how they reach their membership, as well as where they have ongoing projects. For government agencies, the map can be used to identify community “hub” organizations active within a specific geography. These “hub” organizations who provided data can act as portals to reaching other local stakeholders, as well as their memberships.

Lower Passaic Watershed

Click here for full Map

Large orange points represent the office locations of organizations who provided data for the map. These points also reveal information about an organization’s mission, communication tools, and partners. The filter on the right can sort these groups by their area of focus.
 
Smaller green points connected by lines represent collaborators and partners named by the organizations who provided data. To get connected to one of these listed partners, use the contact information for one of their networked partners, and mention the Lower Passaic River Stewardship Map.
 
The polygons reveal a list of groups that have active projects in that area. The polygons themselves represent ZIP codes in riverfront municipalities that fall within the Lower Passaic River Watershed, and together make up the Urban Waters Federal Partnership core area.
 
Didn’t see your group on the map? Fill out NY/NJ Baykeeper’s Stewardship Survey here . 
 

Community Involvement Guide

The Lower Passaic River Community Involvement Guide is focused on the formal modes of public input outlined by the National Environmental Protection Act. It is geared towards helping agencies advancing flood-risk management and ecological restoration projects develop robust Community Involvement Plans for their projects. The Guide is not a comprehensive guide to civic organizations and local communication tools in the Lower Passaic River Watershed. Rather, it consists of time-specific reflections from conversations at existing community meetings facilitated by the partnership’s Ambassador, called “Community Snapshots”. The introductory document provides guidance to agencies for how this information can be used within existing planning frameworks for federal projects. Interested in having a “Community Snapshot” created for your organization? Reach out to the Partnership’s ambassador here.

Lower Passaic River Community Involvement Guide

Community Snapshots

Urban Waters Partnership

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Last updated on June 30, 2024