As my Sustainability Fellow project – “Governance Structures in Resilience Collaboratives,” in partnership with the Apalachee Regional Planning Council – has progressed, I’ve begun to reflect on and clarify my role in advancing the project’s goal: creating a sustainable resilience collaborative for the Apalachee region. These conclusions have been shaped by the stakeholders I am engaging with, my own personal experiences and assumptions, and the nature of the project itself.
The direct stakeholders I am interacting with are primarily governmental, due to the nature of my project: “Governance Structures in Resilience Collaboratives.” This includes county and city officials within the Apalachee region, with whom I’m working to determine what the most efficient resilience program for the region will look like. Direct stakeholder engagement also includes regional planning agencies and state-level institutions, such as the Florida Office of Resilience and Coastal Protection. The indirect stakeholders relevant to this project include residents and local communities, environmental advocacy groups, and federal agencies – all of whom are important actors in the broader regional planning landscape, even if they are not directly involved.
In full transparency, prior to joining this project, I had very little experience with local government or urban and regional planning. I specifically requested this opportunity in order to immerse myself in this kind of work. I have a strong interest in exploring how sustainability can be promoted institutionally, particularly through political and planning institutions, and I’m enthusiastic about engaging with this issue head-on.
I do bring assumptions to this work. I assume that institutions can be effective tools for promoting environmental sustainability, and that local context is critical in determining how a collaborative should be structured. As a non-Florida resident, I am eager to learn more about the specific challenges of the Apalachee region.
My review of research so far largely reflects the perspectives of governmental agencies and planning organizations, as my mentor at the Apalachee Regional Planning Council has specifically directed me to consult these sources. However, I’ve noticed that community voices are generally underrepresented in these discussions. While I cannot personally bring that perspective to the table as an out-of-state student, this has made me all the more motivated to actively reach out to residents and better understand their concerns.
I see myself fitting into this work as an organizer of social change. My understanding of the organizer role is someone who starts at the root of an issue, prioritizing ground-level voices in order to build solutions that are inclusive and effective. This is very much the approach my project is taking – our first step is identifying structural and contextual challenges within the Apalachee region. I see this as the natural entry point for community engagement, and I hope to integrate those insights into shaping what the collaborative ultimately needs to achieve. This project is about systematic change, as we are developing an entirely new collaborative model. I generally approach problems through root-cause analysis, so I feel confident in applying that mindset here. The active incorporation of community voices is new territory for me, so I’m excited to grow through that particular aspect of the experience. – Emma Clark
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