Responding to Community-Identified Needs

We've all got our own priorities. The trick is working together to achieve them! Here's a discussion about responding to community-identified needs featuring Dr. Trevor Bell, Professor, Department of Geography, Memorial University, and Dr. Bruce Gilbert, Assistant Deputy Minister, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador.

More information on this topic:

From the National Co-ordinating Centre for Public Engagement (NCCPE). This guide discusses working with local communities, beginning with community needs analysis.

From the National Co-ordinating Centre for Public Engagement (NCCPE). This guide introduces participatory mapping as method to explore an issue in a way that "attempts to subvert some of the power dynamics between the investigator and those being investigated allowing space for participants to identify and define issues, ideas and experiences that are important to them."

From the Work Group for Community Health and Development at the University of Kansas. Though health-focused, this toolkit provides generalizable information on topics such as "Assessing Community Needs and Resources," "Developing a Strategic Plan," and "Analyzing Community Problems and Solutions."

From the National Community-Based Research (CBR) Wiki. This wiki page provides several resources on "Engaging and Supporting Community Partners," including entries from CBR projects from various universities.

From the Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) community at the University of Washington. This website provides a "free, evidence-based online curriculum [for] community- institutional partnerships that are using or planning to use a CBPR approach to improving health."