GREENING
Inglewood + Lennox
ASSESSING STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT IN AN URBAN GREENING PLANNING PROCESS Promoting Sustainability + Health
Research Methods
TreePeople received a grant from the California Strategic Growth Council to collaborate with community stakeholders and a leadership team on a plan to “green” the City of Inglewood and Lennox, an unincorporated part of Los Angeles County. The Stakeholder Group is comprised of community representatives who volunteered to work on the plan as members of the Healthy & Sustainable Inglewood Collaborative. The Leadership Group is made up of staff representatives from TreePeople, Social Justice Learning Institute and SWA Group as well as certain members of the Stakeholder Group. Overall, the Inglewood / Lennox Greening Plan seeks to create an implementable vision for a healthier and more sustainable Inglewood and Lennox based on a planning process carried out by the Stakeholder Group and the Leadership Groups and feedback provided by the broader community.
Surveys: Three different surveys filled out by the Stakeholder Group at Coalition Meetings.
Why Inglewood + Lennox? Street Grid
Planning Meetings Throughout the planning process, there were four Coalition Meetings with the Stakeholder Group and the Leadership Group, five Leadersip Meetings with only the Leadership Group and two Community Meetings.
Interviews: Recorded discussions lasting one hour with the members of the Leadership Group. Field Notes: Recorded during all Leadership, Coalition and Community Meetings.
Examples of Survey Questions Have you identified ways that you can participate in the implementation of this plan? What is your understanding of where the funding for this process came from? Has this planning process been empowering for you?
Analysis Case study format comparing the results of each data collection method in the context of questions including (but not limited to):
Open Space
1) Do both groups’ views of plan implementation match?
Plan Settings
2) How genuine was this process?
The Leadership Group organized the planning process around nine settings. The Leadersip and Stakeholder Groups covered hree settings at each Coalition Meeting. Urban Greening
Bicycle Lanes
Transportation
Air Quality
Land Use + Zonng
Economic Development
Energy, Waste + Water
Community Engagement
Food + Agriculture
Climate Adaptation
Research Questions 1) How are stakeholders engaged in the planning process? 2) Did the Stakeholder Group understand the intentions of the Leadership Group throughout the planning process? 3) Did the Leadership Group meet the expectations of the Stakeholder Group?
Laurel Hunt, MURP Candidate Edith de Guzman, Agency Supervisor Dr. Stephanie Pincetl, Faculty Advisor
Planning meeting photograph and maps were taken with permission from “Preliminary Analysis for the Inglewood / Lennox Greening Plan” by SWA Group. Other photographs were taken by Laurel Hunt.
3) How did this researcher influence the process? 4) To what extent could this process be implemented in another location?
Preliminary Findings • The Stakeholder Group reported that the faciliatation style of the meetings allowed them to openly express their throughts. They agree that their ideas are heard and incorporated into the plan. • Both groups are in agreement that this plan represents the perspectives of the people directly involved in the planning process, but not necessarily the broader communities. To that end, both groups suggested that future planning processes try to incorpororate representatives from more community groups. • Both groups raised questions about the extent to which this plan can be implemented by local government and about the role of local government in the planning process in general. • Both groups agreed that the fact that the planning process is funded by a grant from the State of California has not constrained the process.