EPA REGION 4 Recipient : Research Triangle Institute (RTI) Applicant Type: Not for Profit Award Amount: $10,000,000 Title: Resource for Assistance and Community Training – Region 4 (REACT4EJ) Location: EPA Region 4 (AL, FL, GA, KY, MS, NC, SC, TN, and 6 tribes) Partners: REACT4EJ supports every state of EPA Region 4 and will connect to local community-based organizations with a hub-and-spoke design. With a Coordinating Office at RTI in NC, the project partners include:
North Carolina Central University (academic/Minority-serving Institution [MSI]), University of Memphis (academic), University of South Carolina (academic), University of Georgia (academic), Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (academic/MSI), Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University (academic/MSI), University of Kentucky (academic), Jackson State University (academic/MSI), and Environmental Protection Network (non-profit). Goals and Description: REACT4EJ will establish a center for educating and capacity building in underserved communities that will be sustainable and readily adapted to the needs of participants well beyond the 5-year period of performance.
REACT4EJ proposes to use a co-creation approach for the design of activities that centers the needs and inputs of the communities and program participants. Through the collective experience of team members, REACT4EJ will follow a comprehensive process that enables technical assistance to evolve in response to shifting landscapes and community needs, and to the results of an ongoing robust evaluation of outputs and outcomes through the project.
The result will be a comprehensive training and technical assistance center that provides program participants access to a combination of locally focused materials on environmental and energy justice topics and programs and trainings with broad applicability. The project partners will provide vital in-person training and resources within their states, with joint efforts and material development managed through the Coordinating Office at RTI. REACT4EJ brings existing connections with community-based organizations and state/local government agencies that will enable the network to provide services broadly across Region 4.
The RTI team has a long history of providing TA in federal grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements. RTI will leverage extensive experience in coordinating TA centers, community outreach, and programs. Team members have community engagement and environmental and energy justice expertise, enabling REACT4EJ to provide tailored services to program participants. The primary community engagement strategy will be co-creation, which involves direct collaboration with program participants and partners to share input and insights and center community needs in service development.
Essential to the success of the EJ TCTAC is an easy-to-use website that features shared network materials and events and that receives and tracks TA requests from participants. RTI will develop and manage the website using their experience from other coordinating center projects. The REACT4EJ website will be a virtual hub for network operation and stakeholder communication. RTI will collaborate closely with the Deep South Center for EJ, which will serve as the lead coordinator for EJ TCTAC services across the southern United States.