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Heritage and Social Impact Assessment

Carlton C. Eley Living Heritage Symposium

August 7, 2017

Office of Environmental Justice (1992 – Present)

We believe that the community must always be at the core of our community work. Community Involvement (1998) Community Based Participatory

Research (2000) Collaborative Problem Solving

Model & Framework (2003) Community Action for a Renewed

Environment (2005) Equitable Development (2010) Citizen Science (2013)

Source: U.S. Department of Transportation’s Transportation Toolkit

How Did We Get Here?

Factoid: The first ‘social impact assessment’ was for the Trans-Alaska pipeline in 1973 in response to concerns raised by Inuit tribal leaders.

Standing Rock 2016

Doing Just Enough is Not O.K.

“Instead of asking what the design should look like, I wish we’d asked, ‘What can we do for you?’ People have bigger problems than design.”

Robert Hammond CityLab, February 7, 2017

1996 2006

NEPA has a Social Footprint

Sec. 101 [42 USC § 4331]…(b)…4. preserve important historic, cultural, and natural aspects of our national heritage, and maintain, wherever possible, an environment which supports diversity, and variety of individual choice;

Sec. 102 [42 USC § 4332…(A) utilize a systemic, interdisciplinary approach which will insure the integrated use of the natural and social sciences and the environmental design arts in planning and in decision making which may have an impact on man’s environment;

Making a Visible Difference with Communities

Equitable development is an approach to meet the needs of underserved communities through projects, programs, and/or policies that reduce disparities while fostering places that are healthy, vibrant, and diverse.

Equitable Development Principles Housing choice Transportation choice

Personal responsibility Capacity building

Healthy communities Heritage preservation

Stewardship (environmental) Entrepreneurship

Sustainable wealth creation Civic engagement

From Good to Great Through

Planning/Design, Standard of Excellence

Source: Carlton Eley, PBCD, NOMA

Rebuilding America’s Neighborhoods through Heritage Preservation:

The 18th and Vine Jazz District of Kansas City, MO

Environmental Justice Internship

with the U.S. EPA (1994) BA Sociology/Social Work Curriculum

(1995) MS Urban and Regional Planning (1998)

EPA Smart Growth Program

(2000 – 2009) Ian Axford Public Policy Fellow (2003) EPA Office of Environmental Justice

(2013 – Present)

Impact Assessment: It’s My Job Too

“As professionals, our experience affects our process and manifests itself in the aesthetics.”

Kathryn Prigmore, FAIA, NOMA

Social Impact Assessment and Citizen Ingenuity Port Expansion in North Charleston, SC

Social Impact Assessment and Citizen Ingenuity Thai Town in Los Angeles, CA

Social Impact Assessment and Citizen Ingenuity Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor

The Bottom Line – ‘Party Responsibly’

“Social impact assessment is predicated on the notion that decision makers should understand the consequences of their decisions and that people affected will not only be apprised of the effects, but have the opportunity to participate in designing their future.”

Published in 2003

An Abbreviated Chronology: Who is Talking about ‘Social Impacts’?

2005 2015

Heritage and Social Impact Assessment

Carlton C. Eley Living Heritage Symposium

August 7, 2017