Community Engagement Core

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT – COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT CORE Decades of industrial and agricultural processes have left North Carolina with historic and emerging environmental health issues that are of interest to researchers and communities. Since 2015, the Center for Human Health and the Environment (CHHE) has brought together investigators with multidisciplinary expertise in environmental health sciences (EHS) to address these issues and create meaningful impacts for North Carolinians. The Community Engagement Core (CEC) facilitates multi-directional communication, drawing on the expertise of educators, and extension and community organizations to translate CHHE research into essential resources needed to understand and address local EHS concerns. The CEC’s vision for the next five years is to use an asset-based approach to community engagement with a focus on environmental health literacy (EHL), mobilizing existing knowledge and capacity within CHHE’s engagement audiences to address environmental health concerns. This vision aligns with CHHE’s mission and NC State’s land-grant commitment to innovative problem solving for the people of North Carolina. To do this, the CEC proposes four specific aims closely integrated with the larger Center infrastructure. Aim 1 will communicate Center research to CHHE engagement audiences and share their fundamental EHS concerns with the Center. Successful knowledge flow will involve the Stakeholder Advisory Board and Administrative Core, the deployment and analysis of surveys, and a variety of resources developed with the Translational Research Support Core. Aim 2 will create a shared understanding of assets and build capacity among engagement audiences and Center members to address important EHS issues collaboratively. The goal is to build each group’s skills in complementary areas–the audiences’ ability to participate in EHS and Center members’ ability to engage on local EHS issues–while establishing the importance of leveraging the expertise of others. Activities in this aim will enhance the way both groups address EHS issues. Aim 3 will promote collaborative partnerships between engagement audiences and Center members to address fundamental EHS questions by identifying opportunities for community-driven environmental sample analysis with CHHE members, maintaining a database of Community Grant and Pilot Project Program applicants, coordinating events for Center members and CEC audiences, and providing mentorship opportunities with educators. Finally, Aim 4 will evaluate the impact of CEC programming. Using evaluative feedback, we will assess dimensions of EHL and communication of EHS issues among our engagement audiences. Evaluation will ensure CEC activities reflect the changing needs of the CEC’s audiences, provide evaluation materials for broader use, and produce new knowledge that advances community engagement practice. Through an asset-based approach, the CEC aims to build environmental health knowledge, create shared capacity, and cultivate collaborative partnerships for EHL and improved public health.