Heath Packard directed me to “Reaching out with Respect: Environmental Education with Underserved Co mmunities” by Bonnie Sachatello-Sawyer and Shamu Fenyvesi. In in, they off er 15 tips for working with diverse communities, and their advice is applicable far beyond the relatively narrow domain of environmental education — this is solid advice for organizers of all stripes. 1. Its All About Relationships
Break down barriers through rapport. EE programs need to be planned with the co mmunity you want to serve, not for them. Start the process by listening and ask ing questions about where people are at: What do they care about? What do they see in their community?

2. The Process is More Important Than The Programs
When developing collaborative programs with underserved communities, the proces s of collaboration, trust building and teamwork is often as important as the pr ograms themselves.

3. Do Your Homework
Understand the value systems and social norms in the community that you serve. For example, when working with water in tribal communities, it is inherently un derstood that water is animate and has a spirit, and that there is significance to each natural place because each place reflects the whole order of nature.

4. Bring Meat
When creating programs in a community that is not your own, always ask question s, listen and adapt to the social norms. If it is customary for guests to bring meat…bring meat. Doughnuts? Bring doughnuts.

5. Unsaddle Your Horse
Trust and relationships have to be established over long periods of time. Spend time getting to know people, beyond scheduled meetings and programs. Make time for community or cultural events.

6. Create Chaos Conscientiously
Consider facilitating a series of planning meetings in your key community, cons cientiously seeding ideas, and then let community members decide how to sow the se ideas based on their dreams, community needs and values. Always remember, it s not your program.

6. Build Bridges
Talking openly about cultural differences may help develop cross-cultural under standing. Provide cultural bridges between the dominant culture and the culture with which you are working. You can use one blackboard for traditional cultura l knowledge and another for Western science and help partici- pants translate b etween the two.

7. Collectively Dream for Children
Everyone has hopes and dreams for their children. They are our future. The shar ing of our dreams for them can offer a chance for everyone involved in program planning process to find common ground.

8. Tear Up The Templates
Every community has a different culture or set of shared agreements from which they live, work, and understand nature. Assumptions, or applying a little progr amming experience from another similar underserved community, can have unintend ed consequences. Wherever possible, start from scratch.

9. Team Teach Early and Often
In every community, there are already great educational programs in place. Coop eratively teach with local education leaders, fully participate in their activi ties, and always demonstrate respect for work that is already going on.

10. Can You Get There?
Think about access issues and comfort level with outdoor activities. What to yo u may be recreation, is to someone else difficult work, or just plain scary.

11. Wilderness or Asthma
Think of broader content connections for EE that are relevant to those communit ies such as EE and health, EE and literacy. Be conscious about your assumptions about nature and EE.

12. There are Many Trails
Allow your students different ways of expressing what they know.

13. Sit Down and Deliver
Underserved communities are used to broken promises. By never promising anythin g that you cant deliver, you can be a respectful agent for positive change.

14. Honor Diversity
Few people are overt racists, but all of us can choose to actively dismantle in equities. Educate yourself and colleagues on race issues, white privilege, and environmental justice issues. Remember that these categories (race, gender, cla ss) are fluid.

15. Do Not Abandon Us
Working with underserved communities is a long-term commitment. Make a consciou s choice before the grant ends to continue the partnerships and relationships t hat you have worked so hard to form.