Project collaboration wins ACE award for outstanding community engagement

LA GRANDE, Ore. - A project born out of a collaboration between students from Eastern Oregon University, the Rural Engagement & Vitality Center, Euvalcree and Morrow County is being awarded the Most Outstanding Project in a Small Jurisdiction: Achievement in Community Engagement (ACE) Award.

The honor is awarded by the Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development recognizing people and organizations who promote and implement the values of 'Oregon's Statewide Planning Goal 1 Plan' by implementing excellent community engagement strategy.

Dr. Daniel Paul Costie, Assistant Professor of Public Administration at Eastern Oregon University was the lead author of the report from the project. He said, "The project's goal was to better understand the challenges of community members who live and work in Morrow County. The research team consisted of Morrow County, Euvalcree, REV and EOU. Under my supervision (and with feedback and guidance from Morrow County and Euvalcree) two outstanding students, Claire Bever and Corrian Kellogg, created a survey which was then distributed by the research partners. We then analyzed the data for key themes, then drafted the report based on the findings."

Madeline Phillips, of the Oregon DLCD said, "It was critical for the engagement role of this project to be rooted in the Eastern Oregon landscape. Not only was this project an opportunity to build capacity within EOU to support planning efforts of local jurisdictions, but that the folks doing the work have familiarity and build trust with the practitioners and community members who participated. Educators and students from Eastern Oregon University, Euvalcree and the REV Center took this notion to heart, and I believe the results of the work will continue to produce dividends as REV builds these methods into projects to serve other communities in the region."

The DLCD committee pointed out these impressive aspects of the project:

• Using demographics to understand the audience and coordination with existing community based organizations to reach them,
• Meeting community members where they were,
• Coordination with Eastern Oregon University for survey development and analysis,
• Consideration of and future aspiration to update Morrow County's Goal 1 plan to accommodate less traditional modalities in community engagement.

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