Authors

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Policy, Economics, and Innovation.  Eric Marsh, Project Manager.

Summary

Barrio Logan is a predominantly Latino community located on the border of the indistrialized portion of the San Diego Bay.  Today, roughly 6,000 people reside in Barrio Logan, of which approximately 85% are Hispanic.

In early 2000, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) applied to have Barrio Logan designated as a national Environmental Justice Pilot Project to provide a way for all of the effors already taking place in Barrio Logan to com together in a comprehensive project whose goal would be to reduce the exposure to toxics in the neighborhood.

This article describes how the EPA and the Environmental Health Coalition (EHC) and an outside facilitator worked with the numerous groups in Barrio Logan to form a lasting partnership for environmental justice and health.

Type of Data/Science

Comprehensive Community Plan

Type of Community Action

Implementation of Comprehensive Community Plan

Lessons Learned

Barriers and Challenges

Partners experienced difficulties in prioritizing actions.  The diversity of partners made it difficult to agree on what actions and steps to take.  However, with a skilled facilitator and leadership displayed by several organizations, and mutual recognition of the benefits of regular information sharing, have kept the partnership together.

Lack of commitment from individual partners.  Some potential solutions could be more resources and more relationships-building among coalition members. 

Accomplishing a tangible activity is difficult with this many partners.  The nature of the partnership is slow and it was difficult to synchronize partners on specific actions and activities, especially with members in various positions in their own organizations, that may not be able to speak on behalf of the whole organization.

General Lessons Learned

Facilitating the coalition process is easier with clarity of partner agreements and expectations early in the process.  The coalition worked to obtain partnership agreement on the goals, signging of a formal Partnering  Agreement, and a partnering session/retreat to get everyone in-sync and on the same page very early in the formation of the collaboration.

Successful partnerships should prioritize bringing actual community members into the process very early on.  There were various levels of buy-in from community members and organizations based on when they entered into the partnership.  The earlier you can engage community, the better. 

Parnterships must incorporate mechanisms that will truy empower the various partners.  Some potential solutions recommended included building alliances with local planning bodies, or considering a more top-down approach. This may also be linked to the feeling of stagnancy due to lack of clear action or priorities.

Federal partners bring both pros and cons to a community partnership.  On the one hand, federal partners bring credibility and name recognition.  On other other hand, the partnership must then deal with government bureaucracy, lack of experience in interacting with communities, and previous adverse relationships with other potential partners.  Federal partners are encouraged to provide funding for these partnerships, develop a mix of both social and technical skills when working with communities, and keeping federal participation consistent (in regards to particular staff) and use their influence to encourage the support of the partnership on the local level.