Equitable Development Resource Hub

Looking for some easily actionable tools to help guide your land reuse project?

You’ve come to the right place. Our Equitable Development Resource Hub is full of tools, guides, podcasts, graphic novels, templates, and case studies to support your efforts to transform brownfields and other neglected lands into community assets. Our field tested resources are broken out roughly into five categories:

  • Getting Started – Are you considering starting a new project and trying to figure out what needs to happened? These tools will help you better understand the equitable development process and where to begin!
  • Planning & Strategy Development – A solid plan is essential to your success. These tools will help guide you through the planning process from identifying key partners to mapping out milestones on your path to success.
  • Engagement & Outreach –  Equitably turning land into community assets takes a village. These tools will help you identify ways to reach new audiences, build partnerships, and keep people invested for the long-haul.
  • Land Reuse Ideas – Whether you’re looking for inspiration for ways to reuse land for community benefit or wondering what it takes to bring your vision to life these tools are here to help!
  • Tracking Progress –  Measuring progress and demonstrating your impact is essential to your success. These tools will help you measure your progress and tell the story about the difference you’re making in the community.

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  • Planning & Strategy Development
  • Webinar

Building Institutional Knowledge to Support Community Revitalization

In this webinar, GWUSA and special guests provide guidance for combatting the loss of institutional knowledge that can cause land reuse projects to stagnate.
  • Engagement & Outreach
  • Getting Started
  • Webinar

Community Development Done Right: Putting Environmental Justice and Equitable Development Into Action

In this workshop, Groundwork USA’s Jalisa Gilmore and John Valinch share guiding principles of environmental justice …

  • Land Reuse Ideas

Massachusetts Brownfields to Brightfields Site Mapper

This digital mapping tool enable municipal officials, state agencies, renewable energy developers, and community organizations to assess brownfield sites in Massachusetts for B2B project suitability and to better understand the opportunities for community benefits from these projects or alternative uses for the sites.
  • Planning & Strategy Development
  • Webinar

Brownfields to Brightfields: Unlocking Solar Energy and Community Development

Workshop speakers and presenters shared models and real-world examples of B2B projects that advance equity and community benefits.
  • Guide / Toolkit
  • Land Reuse Ideas

Brownfields To Brightfields: Opportunities, Challenges & Program Models

This memo summarizes research undertaken between 2020 and 2021 by Groundwork USA and the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC), to understand the landscape of and opportunities for equitable “Brownfields to Brightfields” projects in the U.S.
  • Getting Started
  • Graphic Novel
  • Land Reuse Ideas

Chris’s Urban Garden Adventure

In this short story, you can follow Chris on his urban garden adventure to learn creative ways to safely reclaim urban spaces and start growing in your city.
  • Engagement & Outreach
  • Getting Started
  • Video

Best Practices for Inclusive Community Engagement

This video shares community outreach and engagement strategy tips and best practices from the Groundwork network and the residents we serve!
  • Engagement & Outreach
  • Getting Started
  • Guide / Toolkit
  • Planning & Strategy Development

Community Meetings for Busy People

This resource is for busy people who are looking for a high-level introduction to justice-focused community engagement.

  • Guide / Toolkit
  • Planning & Strategy Development

From Brown to Blooming: A Field-Tested Guide for Getting from Brownfield to Neighborhood Asset

Designed for nonprofits or well-organized neighborhood associations, this field-tested guide, walks you through the many steps and considerations involved in taking a brownfield-to-open space project from inception to reality.
  • Engagement & Outreach
  • Guide / Toolkit
  • Land Reuse Ideas
  • Planning & Strategy Development

Neighborhood Voices Curriculum: Guidance, Lessons, & Resources for Managing and Implementing Your Youth-Driven Community Engagement Project

Groundwork USA’s Neighborhood Voices Curriculum brings together interactive lessons, resources, and guidance for facilitating a youth-driven community engagement project.

  • Getting Started
  • Guide / Toolkit
  • Planning & Strategy Development

Planning with an Eye Toward Implementation: What All Communities Can Learn from Using a Brownfields Area-Wide Planning Approach.

This report was developed report to help practitioners learn from and implement best practices for an area-wide planning approach in their own brownfield-affected communities.
  • Case Study
  • Land Reuse Ideas

Reclaiming Brownfields: Highlights from the Groundwork USA Network

This report looks at some of the most exciting brownfields planning and reuse projects Groundwork Trusts are undertaking nationally and outlines the ways Groundwork USA is helping revitalize brownfields-affected communities.