Community Engagement Core

PROJECT SUMMARY – Community Engagement Core The Community Engagement Core (CEC) will foster a culture of collaboration among scientists, community organizations, and public agencies to create and sustain multi-directional partnerships for environmental health research that is responsive to the environmental health priorities of the most vulnerable communities in California. Building from a foundation of strong community partnerships developed in the last nine years, the CEC’s aims for the next cycle are to (1) Foster research that is responsive and relevant to the needs of impacted communities; (2) Increase the capacity of researchers and community partners to collaborate effectively and equitably in the design, implementation, and translation of environmental health research; (3) Enhance the translation and dissemination of Center-supported research for public health benefit, (4) Evaluate programs and outcomes to improve support services and contribute to the fields of community-engaged research and environmental health communication. Our strategies to accomplish these aims include promoting and facilitating Community-Engaged Research (CEnR) strategies, integrating community leadership across all Center activities, and building individual and organizational capacity for university-community collaboration through knowledge, skills, and network development. CEC services in the coming cycle will include (a) facilitating the Center’s community advisory and collaboration groups, (b) developing and providing trainings and consultations in Community-Engaged Research, Translational Research Design, and Science Communications, and (c) offering research project enhancement services such as proposal and partnership development, science communications support. The CEC will interact with all Center programs and cores. Integration with the Pilot Project Program will focus upon developing and supporting community-responsive and community-engaged pilot projects. The CEC and Administrative Core will work together to plan and coordinate events, produce and disseminate outreach materials, and coordinate community-engaged project development. The CEC will collaborate with the Translational Research Support Core on the community- engagement components of disaster response research, and with the Translational and Exposure Cores on Working Groups and Seed funding.