PROJECT PROFILE: Green Infrastructure and Placemaking Plan
Community Engagement, Outreach, and Education
About the Planning Project
Camden's Waterfront South is a federal and state historic district located in the southwestern part of the city along the banks of the Delaware River. Rowan University partnered with the Camden County Municipal Utilities Authority (CCMUA), Heart of Camden, and Camden Fireworks to create a neighborhood-wide green infrastructure plan to reduce stormwater runoff/flooding and improve the condition of existing parks and green spaces. Community engagement and feedback were critical in this planning process to obtain information on flood-prone areas, receive initial feedback on proposed GSI projects, understand social impact of proposed projects, and respond to the overall concerns of community members. Two public meetings, two focus groups, photovoice and photo collage activities, and in-depth interviews were conducted to allow for the acquisition of information from diverse neighborhood residents and stakeholders. Read more information about the project here.
Source: Meenar, M., Harris, S., Wren, M., & Moulton, D. (2020). Greening Waterfront South: A Green Infrastructure Plan for Camden Waterfront South Neighborhood. School of Earth & Environment Faculty Scholarship. 25. Rowan University Community Planning + Visualization Lab. https://rdw.rowan.edu/see_facpub/25
American Planning Association - NJ Chapter
Outstanding Community Engagement and Education Award
10 Community Engagement Activities
The project team applied 10 community engagement activities, each of which provided valuable input in the final plan. Outputs from these activities were systematically catalogued and presented in the plan. The team explained how ideas and suggestions were generated through these activities and eventually embedded in the final recommendations.
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June - August 2018
Activity 1 - Oral History and Intercept Interviews
Audio story featuring
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Andy Kricun
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Carlos Morales
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Donna Helmes
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Residents
Audio story production: Megan Bucknum
Interviews by Megan Bucknum and Jennifer Kitson
Intercept interviews by Cassie Shugart and Marie DiLeonardo
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April 2019
Activity 2 - Public Meeting 1 (community listening & visioning event)
Location: Camden Fireworks
Facilitators: Mahbubur Meenar, Megan Bucknum, Susan Harris, Ted Howell, Jennifer Kitson
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April 2019
Activity 3 - Community Design Workshop
Location: Camden Fireworks
Facilitators: Mahbubur Meenar, Megan Bucknum, Susan Harris, Ted Howell, Jennifer Kitson
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May 2019
Activity 4 - Focus Group with Environmental Professionals
Location: Camden County Municipal Utilities Authority
Facilitators: Mahbubur Meenar, Susan Harris
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June 2019
Activity 5 - Photovoice
Location: Waterfront South Neighborhood
Facilitators: Megan Bucknum, Jennifer Kitson, Mahbubur Meenar, and Ted Howell
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June 2019
Activity 6 - Environmental Education through Photo Collages
Location: Heart of Camden
Facilitators: Ted Howell, Mahbubur Meenar, Megan Bucknum, Jennifer Kitson, Meghan Wren, Giavanni Rizzo, Cassandra Rodriguez
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June 11 & June 18, 2019
Activity 7 - Focus Groups with Community Residents
Location: Heart of Camden
Facilitators: Megan Bucknum, Jennifer Kitson, Mahbubur Meenar, and Ted Howell
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August, 2019
Activity 8 - In-Depth Interviews
Location: Heart of Camden
Facilitators: Mahbubur Meenar, Meghan Wren
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September 2019
Activity 9 - Public Meeting 2 (feedback on draft plan)
Location: Camden Fireworks
Presenters: Mahbubur Meenar, Susan Harris, Meghan Wren, Cassie McDonald
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September 2019
Activity 10 - Celebration of Environmental Photo Collages
Location: Camden Fireworks
Environmental Education & Outreach
Media Coverage
News story by Rowan Today - Sep 2019 | Story by South Jersey Climate News - Sep 2019 | Video story by NJTV News - Oct 2019 | Op-Ed on ROI-nj.com - Aug 2020 | News story by Rowan Today - Dec 2022
News story by Local Today NJ News Update - Dec 2022
Products
Final Presentation - Sep 9, 2019 (pdf) | Program Booklet | Final Plan | Audio Story
Project-Based Learning
Rowan University courses that used materials from this planning project:
Writing Arts for Civil & Environmental Engineering | Community Planning & Site Design
Open-Access Learning Module
Exploring Environmental Justice through Listening by Jennifer Kitson & Edward Howell
Conference Presentations
Community Perceptions and Challenges of Green Stormwater Infrastructure Planning in Urban Neighborhoods, presented by Dr. Meenar
Annual Conference of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning, 2020
Using First Person Perspectives to Understand Place and Human-Environment Interaction, presented by Dr. Meenar, Dr. Kitson, and Ms. Bucknum
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Virtual Research Mixer at Rowan University, 2020
Project Team
Rowan University
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Mahbubur Meenar, PhD, Project Director, Assistant Professor—Geography, Planning, & Sustainability (project administration; community engagement)
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Meghan Wren, Assistant Project Manager (event management, community engagement)
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Megan Bucknum, Lecturer—Geography, Planning, & Sustainability (oral history; focus group facilitation)
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Ted Howell, PhD, Lecturer—Writing Arts (photo collage workshop facilitation)
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Jennifer Kitson, PhD, Assistant Professor—Geography, Planning, & Sustainability (oral history)
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Devon Moulton, Giavanni Rizzo, and Cassandra Rodriguez, Student Assistants—Geography, Planning, & Sustainability
Consultant
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Susan Harris, Cerulean LLC
Community Partners
Donna Helmes, Carlos Morales—Heart of Camden
Cassie MacDonald—Camden Fireworks
This project is primarily funded by CCMUA, with support from a Rowan University SEED Grant on inclusion and diversity, 2018-2019.
Any questions? Please send an email to meenar@rowan.edu
