A Scoping Review of Capacity-Building Efforts to Address Environmental Justice Concerns

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Dana H.Z. Williamson, Emory University; Emma X. Yu, Emory University; Candis M. Hunter, Emory University; John A. Kaufman, Emory University; Kelli Komro, Emory University; Na'Taki Osborne Jelks, Spelman College; Dayna A. Johnson, Emory University; Matthew Gribble, Emory University; Michelle Kegler, Emory University
• Language: English
• Date: 2020-05-26
• Publisher: MDPI
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: © 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
• License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17113765
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
• ISSN: 1661-7827
• Volume: 17
• Issue: 11
• Start Page: 3765
• End Page: 3765
• Grant/Funding Information: This article published with support from Emory Libraries' Open Access Publishing Fund.; This research was supported by funding from Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Health Policy Research Scholars Program.
• Keywords: advocacy; social justice; mobilization; environmental justice; community capacity; community organizing
• Research Categories: Sociology, Public and Social Welfare; Social Work

Abstract

Environmental justice (EJ) efforts aimed at capacity building are essential to addressing environmental health disparities; however, limited attention has been given to describing these efforts. This study reports findings from a scoping review of community–academic partnerships and community-led efforts to address environmental inequities related to air, water, and land pollution in the United States. Literature published in peer-reviewed journals from January 1986 through March 2018 were included, and community capacity theory was applied as a framework for understanding the scope of capacity-building and community change strategies to address EJ concerns. Paired teams of independent analysts conducted a search for relevant articles (n = 8452 citations identified), filtered records for content abstraction and possible inclusion (n = 163) and characterized selected studies (n = 58). Most articles implemented activities that were aligned with community capacity dimensions of citizen participation (96.4%, n = 53), community power (78%, n = 45), leadership (78%, n = 45), and networks (81%, n = 47); few articles identified a direct policy change (22%, n = 13), and many articles discussed the policy implications of findings for future work (62%, n = 36). This review synthesizes three decades of efforts to reduce environmental inequities and identifies strategic approaches used for strengthening community capacity.