Advancing Environmental Justice through Community-Based Participatory Research

concerns of susceptible populations, including children, the immuno-compromised, and the aged. Scientists and community leaders agreed to work in partnership to prioritize research needs, gather data, assess environmental exposures, and test interventions to influence public policy in order to protect the environment and the health of all, including those living in communities of color and places that are economically exploited. Over the last several years, communities throughout the United States and around the world have made progress in effectively addressing their expressed environmental justice concerns. Government agencies and private foundations have funded community‐university partnerships to conduct community-based participatory research (CBPR), a model rooted physically and conceptually in community. In CBPR, scientists work in close collaboration with community partners involved in all phases of the research, from the inception of the research questions and study design, to the collection of the data, monitoring of ethical concerns, and interpretation of the study results. Importantly, in CBPR, the research findings are communicated to the broader community—including residents, the media, and policymakers—so they may be utilized to effect needed changes in environmental and health policy to improve existing conditions. Building upon existing strengths and resources, CBPR seeks to build capacity and resources in communities and ensure that government agencies and academic institutions are better able to understand and incorporate community concerns into their research agendas.