Amanda Zeidner, Project Manager at the Council for Watershed Health
Summaries from the Localizing California Waters Conference
Last week I attended the Localizing California Waters conference in Groveland, California. I was surrounded by water guardians and land stewards. I’ll be posting some of the information I learned, here on my substack.
Amanda Zeidner, a project manager at the Council for Watershed Health, provided insights into the Redesign LA program, a capacity-building and technical assistance initiative supporting community-based organizations and tribal partners across Los Angeles. The program originated from a disadvantaged community outreach evaluation study, aiming to shift the traditional top-down approach of agencies reaching out to communities. Amanda emphasized the importance of community engagement coming from communities themselves, leading to project development rooted in community needs.
Redesign LA focuses on 13 organizations, with an expansion in progress, collaborating with communities that have a history of environmental justice work. The program employs a mentor-mentee model, fostering co-learning spaces where expertise is shared, and community leaders become representatives on water boards and committees. Amanda expressed the program's rapid growth and the continuous need to broaden participation.
The Redesign LA model centers on community engagement at every project development stage, emphasizing co-creation over presenting pre-baked solutions. Amanda advocates for a sustained commitment to community expertise, ensuring compensation for community members involved in project development. The program addresses challenges like operations and maintenance, aiming to foster long-term project success.
Amanda delved into the distinction between outreach and engagement, highlighting the need for continuous two-way conversations in the latter. She emphasized the role of funding in ensuring community participation, stressing the importance of accessible grants and considering administrative burdens on smaller organizations. Redesign LA has leveraged substantial funding for community-led green infrastructure projects, but Amanda called for collective brainstorming to make such funding accessible to the communities on the ground.
Sharing capacity-building lessons, Amanda underscored the significance of trust and relationship building, urging conference attendees to connect with the environmental justice leaders present. She promotes a co-learning approach over hierarchical knowledge sharing and emphasizes the value of compensating community and tribal expertise in project development budgets. Amanda's insights offer a comprehensive understanding of Redesign LA's goals, challenges, and the importance of inclusive and equitable community engagement.
Click through to their website for more information about the Localizing California Waters Conference.