Snotrac publishes guide for agencies to conduct community engagement equitably

To build affordable, age- and ability-friendly communities for all people, the processes by which we plan, design, and implement our transportation and land use infrastructure, services, and policies must be equitable and just.

Social, institutional , and systemic inequalities exist within our communities. Most often these inequalities impact historically marginalized communities the greatest. Because of the compounding of past injustices have never been fully redressed, and racial and social inequalities continue to widen, our community engagement efforts must seek to be more equitable than ever.

That's why Snotrac has published its "Equitable Community Engagement Best Practices" guide. The report includes:

• An overview of the legal and policy framework for how Snohomish County public agencies are to consider equity in their work.

• A framework for considering community engagement along a continuum of strategies that are more/less inclusive of community participation.

• An overview of the importance of including equity within four key aspects of developing policies, services, and infrastructure: internally within the agency, in relationship with the community, in planning and policy development, and as the end objective and goal.

• Description of community engagement across six key phases that can be cycled into future community engagement efforts.

• Worksheets that assist public agencies in considering equity in each of the six key phases.

The guide also includes appendices of examples of a community engagement forms, community response form, community survey, and design solution survey, as well as four case studies and resource list.

This report should prove useful to all Snohomish County communities that are looking to comply with federal Title VI requirements, state HEAL Act obligations for projects funded through the Climate Commitment Act, and regional equity prioritization through opportunity and displacement risk mapping.

As a living document that will be regularly updated, we welcome any recommendations for improvement. Provide any questions or comments to brock@gosnotrac.org.