[CPEO-MEF] Army launches Web site for ‘community partnerships’

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

Army launches Web site for 'community partnerships'

WASHINGTON (Army News Service, March 15, 2005) -- The Army has launched 
a new Web site to help strengthen partnerships between the Army and the 
communities around installations and ranges.

The Army Public Involvement Toolbox seeks to help meet the goals of the 
new Army Strategy for the Environment announced in October 2004, 
officials said.

The Web site was developed by a consortium of Army organizations to 
provide tools, methods, examples, and information related to public 
involvement.

The strategy highlights the necessity of involving the public if the 
Army is to meet its goals and achieve sustainability in the future, 
officials said. They said the site, like the strategy, places emphasis 
on the full range of activities needed to engage stakeholders with the 
"4Cs" of communication, coordination, consultation, and collaboration.

Viewers can access the site at www.asaie.army.mil/pitoolbox.

"As the Army Strategy for the Environment states, 'the sustainable 
futures of our installations and our communities are inextricably 
connected,'" said Geoffrey Prosch, acting assistant secretary of the 
Army for Installations and Environment. "This new strategy mandates that 
the Army change how it communicates, moving beyond simply informing 
others of our activities, to actively collaborating with the public to 
forge mutually beneficial solutions regarding the limited resources we 
all share."

The primary purpose of the Web site is to provide Soldiers, Army 
civilian staff, and Army contractors engaged in public involvement with 
functional, proven techniques and information, according to the Army 
Environmental Policy Institute.

The site is publicly accessible to reinforce the Army's commitment to 
public involvement, as well as to share information across other 
government agencies engaged in these type of activities, institute 
officials said.

"This is an initiative that intends to foster collaboration, and it has 
truly been a collaborative effort from the start," said Karen Baker, 
senior fellow for strategic policy at the Army Environmental Policy 
Institute.

Baker pulled together the Army Public Involvement Committee, a team of 
Army organizations engaged in public involvement. The committee sought 
to build upon recommendations from an Army senior leadership panel which 
had identified the need for more "how to" resources in engaging the 
public on environmental issues.

As the committee assembled material and developed content for the Web 
site, it consulted with other federal agencies, such as the 
Environmental Protection Agency, state agencies, and several 
non-governmental organizations.

"The most exciting thing about this project was the enthusiastic 
feedback from all of the partner organizations," said Baker. "Every time 
we met, more people came to the table, and every time we showed the test 
site to a group, we were provided with more resources and ideas."

"From the beginning, we made a conscious effort to avoid reinventing the 
wheel," Baker said, noting that a great deal of excellent information on 
best practices developed by the Army, and by other organizations already 
existed. The challenge was making it easier for Army personnel to find 
information so they can develop plans and programs that meet their local 
needs and issues.

The project team selected content for the Web site with an emphasis on 
providing practical, hands-on information and organizing the information 
into functional 'buttons' for easy, quick linking to the information.

Viewers can quickly access guides on specific public involvement 
activities, locate training opportunities, find the latest regulations 
and policy statements on public involvement and link to other resources 
created by other agencies. The site is designed for frequent updates, 
Baker said, with viewers providing suggestions for future Web postings 
through an e-mail feedback feature.

"The project team combined the excellent work already done by many Army 
organizations to create a "one-stop shop" for all army practitioners, 
that extends far beyond the environmental arena. The techniques and 
material can be applied to any issue in which the Army would need to 
actively engage with the public," said Col. Richard Breen, director of 
Community Relations & Outreach for Army Public Affairs.

Launching the Army Public Involvement Toolbox is only the first 
initiative for the Army Public Involvement Committee, officials said. 
The group also is creating pilot public involvement training courses and 
making recommendations on how to incorporate public involvement 
practices into Army policy.

"The tool box is a great start to raising awareness and providing 
resources to the field, but it is only our first step in making the ‘4C’ 
concept a reality," said Ray Fatz, deputy assistant secretary of the 
Army (Environment, Safety and Occupational Health). "We have much work 
to do to ensure that involving the public becomes part of how the Army 
does business."

(Editor's note: Information provided by the Army Environmental Policy 
Institute.)


For the original press release, go to:
http://www4.army.mil/ocpa/read.php?story_id_key=7008
--
Lenny Siegel
Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
c/o PSC, 278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
http://www.cpeo.org


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