Current working progress
Presently, as of July 2021, the RHCWG is developing a strategic action plan to guide its work over the next 5 to 10 years. We are moving into working with a consultant to conduct an equity audit of our planning process and procedures around Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI).
Strategic Action Plan
The RHCWG is developing a strategic action plan to guide our partnership over the next 5 to 10 years. The strategy is currently in draft form and incomplete. In 2021, we paused our work on the strategy to give full focus to the JEDI audit. We anticipate completing the strategy in 2022 following the completion of the JEDI audit and the recruitment of additional community groups to our process.
Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in our work
Habitat connectivity concerns also impact human health and well-being. In 2020, the RHCWG decided to pause our strategic action planning process and work to incorporate a Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) framework into the plan. The steering committee created an equity committee and recruited members to start the work. The equity committee drafted a statement of intent, and is now working on bringing on a consultant to perform an equity audit of the strategic action plan, equity workshop, and help lead the engagement process for the strategic action plan. The equity committee is also working on creating an inclusive space for communities representing historically underrepresented communities to join future planning processes.
Why Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion matters
Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) communities bear an inequitable burden from the impacts of our policy structures surrounding land development, neighborhood disinvestment, urbanization, gentrification, and ecosystem fragmentation as a result of systemic racism in the past and present. While other historically disenfranchised groups such as people with disabilities, LGBTQIA+ communities, women, elderly, young people, and low-income residents are all taken into evaluation, we recognize that BIPOC community members intersect strongly with each of those groups and experience deeper systemic inequality due to institutional racism. Because of this fundamental, race-based inequality, our efforts to address ecosystem fragmentation will employ a racial equity lens as our primary equity focus and seek to redress environmental justice issues to maximize outcomes for all people and the environment.
Our work will not be adequate without incorporating JEDI. To achieve this, it is necessary for us to work with diverse partners to incorporate the input and needs of BIPOC communities, and the strategic action plan must reflect the needs and desires of the BIPOC communities who will be affected by plan implementation.
PARTNERS
Audubon Society of Portland
City of Hillsboro
City of Milwaukie
City of Portland Bureau of Environmental Services
City of Portland Parks and Recreation
City of Wilsonville
Clackamas County Land Use and Transportation
Clean Water Services
Columbia Land Trust
Columbia Slough Watershed Council
Forest Park Conservancy
Friends of Forest Park
Friends of Tryon Creek
Knot Design
Metro
Multnomah County Transportation Department
North Clackamas Parks & Recreation District
Northwest Power and Conservation Council
Oregon Department of Transportation
Portland State University
Samara Group
The Xerces Society
Tualatin Hills Park & Recreation District
Urban Greenspaces Institute
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Washington County Land Use and Transportation
West Multnomah Soil & Water Conservation District