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.

Search The Hub

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  • Engagement & Outreach
  • Guide / Toolkit
  • Planning & Strategy Development

Neighborhood Brownfield Inventory Toolkit: Unlocking Free Mapping Software

A resident-led brownfield inventory can be a powerful tool enabling community members to actively participate in …

  • Land Reuse Ideas
  • Webinar

Harnessing Nature-Based Solutions for Climate Resilience and Brownfield Restoration

Looking for creative ideas to transform your land reuse project into a climate adaptation powerhouse? During …

  • Guide / Toolkit
  • Land Reuse Ideas

Best Practices for Food Production in Areas Suspected of Contamination

Best Practices for Food Production in Areas Suspected of Contamination offers best practices for urban gardeners, …

  • Engagement & Outreach
  • Webinar

Maps as a Platform for Equity-Based Planning

Engaging community members throughout land reuse projects takes work! Using visual resources to connect with residents …

  • Guide / Toolkit
  • Planning & Strategy Development

Equitable Development in Action Worksheet

This planning exercise and worksheet are designed to help guide you through the creation of a comprehensive list of people and institutions you’ll need to engage to advance your solution and think strategically about why those stakeholders should care about these issues.
  • Engagement & Outreach
  • Guide / Toolkit
  • Planning & Strategy Development

Creating a Resource and Stakeholder List for Your Community

This planning exercise and worksheet are designed to help guide you through the creation of a comprehensive list of people and institutions you’ll need to engage to advance your solution and think strategically about why those stakeholders should care about these issues.
  • Planning & Strategy Development
  • Video

Centennial Parkside CDC Community Map Dashboard Overview

Digital mapping tools can be a valuable planning tools to inform the development of equitable land reuse strategy that prioritizes community need. This tutorial provides an overview of the Centennial Parkside CDC Community Map Dashboard.
  • 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.