Revision of Environmental Justice Projects from Thu, 11/05/2020 - 09:54

Environmental Justice Projects

Identifying Strategies for Corporate Environmental Justice

Through robust corporate sustainability standards and environmental management programs, corporations are playing an increasingly significant role in environmental governance. Ensuring that environmental justice is considered throughout corporate decision-making is crucial to protecting the environmental health of communities affected by corporate operations. This project researches innovative strategies for responsible and effective corporate actions for environmental justice.

View our blog on Companies and Communities.

See some of our other work on Private Governance.

Identifying Strategies for Municipal Environmental Justice

Local land use decisions and environmental policies have an unparalleled influence on the quality of life. Municipal zoning decisions, transportation planning, and infrastructure planning all significantly impact community environmental health. This project interrogates strategies for including and considering vulnerable communities in municipal environmental planning.

View our blog on Municipal Environmental Justice.

See some of our other work on Municipal Goverance.

The BRIGHT Guide

ELI’s Blight Revitalization Initiative for Green, Healthy Towns (BRIGHT) identifies corridors of blighted, vacant, and environmentally-impaired properties in overburdened communities and supports the community and municipality in developing a revitalization plan.

To facilitate the sharing of best practices in corridor redevelopment, ELI is currently developing the BRIGHT Guide. Based on a survey of EPA’s Area-Wide Planning Grants and other corridor redevelopment projects, this document:

Articulates the rationale for targeting brownfield redevelopment as an engine of environmental justice and sustainable development;
Analyzes projects that have successfully brought environmental justice and economic opportunity to overburdened communities;
Identifies barriers and challenges that have kept other projects from accomplishing these objectives;
Suggests an array of end-uses that can bring numerous and lasting benefits, while providing criteria to help communities select the best use for their own area-wide plan;
Highlights the unique challenges faced by community, government, and private developers, in order to lay the groundwork for lasting cooperation;
Integrates these insights into a step-by-step manual for community groups and municipalities to coordinate and execute corridor redevelopment projects.

To support communities in their redevelopment efforts, ELI provides:

Technical and legal expertise
Best practices and information sharing
A framework for planning & cooperation
Cross-sector connections through ELI’s network

BRIGHT has also supported the development of additional area-wide plans in Whitesburg, Kentucky, Washington, D.C., as well as St. Louis, Detroit and New Orleans.

If you are a community group or municipality interested in area-wide plans and resilient corridors, or have experience with organizing or executing area-wide plans, please contact us.

Meet Scott Badenoch, Director of the BRIGHT Program.