Working with Communities to Make a Difference

Understanding the challenges a community faces and identifying potential solutions can be difficult on its own. But determining who to engage and how to involve them in the solution is often even more challenging, especially because communities have varying needs, interests, and perspectives. To effectively harness the power of a community, we need to adapt our approach based on each individual’s position on the issue. In this session for the North American Association for Environmental Education I focus on how to collaborate with others to advance your ideas, suggestions, or the actions you want. The key leadership skill of building strong partnerships is rooted in understanding the nature of your relationships with others—specifically, the levels of agreement and trust you share—and using that insight to guide how you communicate and engage with different colleagues and key audiences.