HONORED TO SPEAK AT THE FLORIDA REALTORS

2024 CONVENTION IN ORLANDO

 

My topic was Sustainable Development Solutions -- How Do You Fit In?

I also focused on Universal Design and Aging in Place.

I appreciate the opportunity to speak at the Rosen Shingle Creek facility, to an attentive crowd.

Contact me to be your next keynote speaker on Universal Design, Placemaking, Aging In Place, Sustainability or any other aspect of Planning.

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT STRATEGIES FOR DIVERSE POPULATIONS

AVOID THE SINS OF THE PAST BY GETTING 

MEANINGFUL INPUT FROM MARGINALIZED PEOPLE

“When a community feels as if you have a goal that is misaligned with its goals, that you’re not working on behalf of them, you are not building consensus and working toward shared goals,”

said Charles Brown, founder and CEO at Equitable Cities and creator of the Arrested Mobility Podcast.

“If you have collaboration and co-creation from the start, you can get to a point of trust because you’re working towards shared goals.”

Give a voice to people who never had a seat at the table.

Brown said giving a voice to people who never had a seat at the table produces strong results.

When only the establishment runs the show — planning, rules and procedures can hurt marginalized people.

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT STRATEGIES FOR DIVERSE POPULATIONS

AVOID THE SINS OF THE PAST BY GETTING 

MEANINGFUL INPUT FROM MARGINALIZED PEOPLE

“As a person of color, when I tried to enact change swiftly from within — it was always met with resistance.

So, the solution for me wasn’t to stay within that system and fight against it on a day-to-day basis.

It was to create my own firm, so I could be free.

In the worlds of Jay-Z, ‘Til you own your own, you can’t be free,’” said Charles Brown, founder and CEO at Equitable Cities and creator of the Arrested Mobility Podcast.

Brown said the best reset button to refocus on inclusive community engagement is the power of collaboration and co-creation.

“Stakeholders are actively involved in shaping decisions and solutions.

And what this does is it involves valuing those diverse perspectives, building consensus, and working towards shared goals,” he said.

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT STRATEGIES FOR DIVERSE POPULATIONS

AVOID THE SINS OF THE PAST BY GETTING 

MEANINGFUL INPUT FROM MARGINALIZED PEOPLE

“Part of the solution is more Black people, more people of color, owning their own planning firms.

We do have people of color who are at management levels at firms or directors of government [planning] offices.

The problem is that they’re still not in a position of power to change the culture of that place,” said Charles Brown, founder and CEO at Equitable Cities and creator of the Arrested Mobility Podcast.

Brown said the American Planning Association could provide training, networking and resources to develop people of color on a path to upper management or creating their own firm.

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT STRATEGIES FOR DIVERSE POPULATIONS

AVOID THE SINS OF THE PAST BY GETTING 

MEANINGFUL INPUT FROM MARGINALIZED PEOPLE

“If that doesn’t happen, it leads to the distrust, perceived disrespect and the lack of empathy that exists between [the] community and planners who are in it just for the sake of the project — as opposed to centering the importance of people’s voices in these processes,”

said Charles Brown, who serves on the Advisory Committee on Transportation Equity to U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

Brown encourages planning firms to be reflective of the diverse communities they serve.

“I don’t know what the percentage of black and brown planners is, but it’s certainly very low.

So, part of the solution is hiring people of color and putting them in project management roles,” he said of fundamental changes for inclusion that go beyond techniques and toolkits.

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT STRATEGIES FOR DIVERSE POPULATIONS

AVOID THE SINS OF THE PAST BY GETTING 

MEANINGFUL INPUT FROM MARGINALIZED PEOPLE 

From toolkits to common sense ways of broadening input by embracing diversity and going to the street corners, kitchens and hang out places of diverse stakeholders — planners are aiming for more inclusivity with public engagement.

Charles Brown is founder and CEO at Equitable Cities and creator of the Arrested Mobility Podcast that explores why Black Americans and other people of color are disproportionately victims of overly aggressive police enforcement and brutality while walking, running, riding bicycles, taking public transit and driving.

The Equitable Cities teams in action alongside community teams.

“For me, it really boils down to planners understanding the importance of acknowledging other people’s feelings.

This is key because it is important to demonstrate — as a planner but also any professional — empathy, respect and understanding,” he said of getting at the heart of meaningful input from diverse communities.

“By acknowledging someone’s feelings, you validate their experiences.

It builds trust and it promotes effective communication, which is at the heart of what we’re trying to do when we are engaged with the public as planners.”

 

 

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT STRATEGIES FOR DIVERSE POPULATIONS

AVOID THE SINS OF THE PAST BY GETTING 

MEANINGFUL INPUT FROM MARGINALIZED PEOPLE

Planning, well-meaning or not so, has rarely produced equitable results for all stakeholders.

Certainly for much of the 20th century, people of color and other marginalized people bore the brunt of elitist to bigoted planning, zoning and other regulations.

Upwards of 100 Black communities were bisected or destroyed by freeways. Eminent domain robbed generational wealth from many minority main streets.

Sewage plants, factories and land uses with severely negative environmental impacts almost always wound up in areas where people were poor and not well connected to city hall.

The planning profession realizes that even the most well-educated, well-meaning planner has biases.

No single human being can personally know the dozens of different lived experiences and expectations of the diverse community they are shaping through planning.