The Department of Conservation highly values the involvement and engagement of all Californians.
We recognize how programs can create and/or perpetuate existing environmental
injustices and inequities. In this environment, DOC supports an educated, aware and engaged public, and promotes
understanding of its work in the fields of watershed, carbon, and hazard management.
We continually strive to improve public participation practices that align with our
engagement principles.
One key aspect of our work is focused on external-facing efforts relating to the engagement of Californians
through the lens of racial equity. That's why the Department has a
Racial Equity Community Engagement Plan (RECEP).
RECEP is an action plan developed in coordination with, and complementary to,
DOC's internal Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Action (DEI-A) Plan led by the Department's Equal
Employment Opportunity (EEO) office. In 2018, the Department deepened its commitment to outreach and engagement
with the creation of an outreach and engagement position in its executive office.
Public Engagement Principles
Planning and Preparation
Effective meetings result from clear goals, thoughtful design, and organization.
Inclusion and Diversity
All voices, ideas, and information, regardless of background, will
be considered when
designing paths to desired outcomes.
Openness and Learning
We encourage individuals to listen to one another when exploring
new ideas and topics.
Engagement and Participation
We aim to promote a culture of transparency, participation, and
support.
(Adapted from principles supported or seen from: National Coalition for Dialogue and
Deliberation [NCDD],
International Association for Public Participation [IAP2], and the Institute for Local
Government [ILG].)
Racial Equity Community Engagement Plan (RECEP)
View the original Racial Equity Community Engagement Plan here.
The Department finalized its RECEP in Spring 2022. The effort has six goals and 16 objectives.
Goal 1: Implement the use of DOC's ration equity-focused public engagement model.
View DOC's RUBIN Model for Racial Equity Focused Public Engagement.
- Objective 1.1: Integrate feedback from environmental and environmental justice advocates.
(in progress)
- Objective 1.2: Refine model with feedback from public
engagement
practitioners who prioritize racial equity as part of their practice (Complete as of
December 2022).
- Objective 1.3: Refine model through staff beta test
after revisions
from previous two objectives are implemented (Part 1 complete January 2023; Part 2 projected
for December
2024).
- 2023 Public Engagement Training Evaluation and Feedback Results (file link coming soon)
- Objective 1.4: Make internal resources and trainings
on the model
accessible to DOC employees (Complete as of 2022).
Goal 2: Create and implement tiered education, training and coaching opportunities for DOC staff
to support and
implement DOC's racial equity-focused community engagement efforts.
Explore DOC's course catalog here (PDF)
- Objective 2.1: Delineate education, training and
coaching offerings
including descriptions, duration, expected frequency and target staff audience.
(November 2023)
- Objective 2.2: Provide offerings on a regular
schedule (ongoing)
- Objective 2.3: Evaluate offerings (ongoing)
Goal 3: Demonstrate that language access is a high priority at DOC through at least 2
pilot projects
- Objective 3.1: Explore and implement pilot projects where individuals most comfortable
in the indigenous
language Mixteco are engaged and work with DOC to co-design a meeting structure they
believe will be most
conducive to a public meeting that makes local residents comfortable.
- Objective 3.2: Through ongoing conversation with
stakeholders seek out
one pilot opportunity around language access to further DOC's efforts in this space
(ongoing).
- On June 18, 2024, a public meeting was held in Spanish with Mixteco interpretation
as well as
interpretation into English.
Goal 4: Draft and adopt customized written commitments at the department, division &
program levels to
racial-equity focused community engagement as a foundational component of program
work
-
Objective 4.1: With an iterative approach and an understanding that various
programs interact with the
public in vastly different ways, all major programs within CGS, DMR, DLRP and CalGEM
will adopt a statement
affirming their commitment to racial-equity focused community engagement (in
progress).
Goal 5: Create accountability mechanisms to track and transparently share racial-equity
engagement related
results
- Objective 5.1: Create a criteria or dashboard mechanism for tracking progress.
-
Objective 5.2: Share results after two quarters of data
have been gathered to
receive initial feedback on usability of data. Plan to refine the mechanism (in
progress).
Goal 6: Communicate internally and externally about DOC's RECEP goals, efforts and
progress
- Objective 6.1: Working in close collaboration with the Public Affairs Office (PAO) to
ensure communication
about goals, efforts and progress to Department staff is held bi-annually (ongoing). To
view the latest
internal update, [click here].
-
Objective 6.2: Work with Division leadership to ensure
broader division-wide
audiences know about racial equity related efforts happening with the given
division; specifically, within
six months of the completion of any major project (on-going).
-
Objective 6.3: Work in close collaboration with EEO to
ensure efforts and
messaging align and integrate with DEIA plan (on-going).
-
Objective 6.4: Wok in close collaboration with PAO to
communicate to public about
this plan (on-going).
Resources
Check out the RUBIN Race and Equity Engagement model here.
Explore public engagement best practices further with the following resources.
If you are interested in learning more about public engagement, considering connecting with a local IAP2
Chapter
For more information
Please contact DOC's Outreach and Engagement Advisor,
Sarah Rubin.
