![[logo] US EPA](../gif/logo_epaseal.gif){kind=logo}
Public Involvement Network News
Note: EPA no longer updates this information, but it may be useful as a reference or resource.
Public Involvement Resources and Training (PIRT) Database Goes Live
Did you know there is one place where you can find hundreds of trainings, conferences and other resources to help you do your public involvement and collaboration job better? EPA’s Public Involvement Resources and Training (PIRT) Database (https://www.epa.gov/publicinvolvement/pirtdatabase) , a system that practitioners asked for in an earlier survey, is now available on-line.
What can PIRT do for you?
Find resources to help you design, carry out and evaluate public involvement activities and programs
- Find surveys to evaluate the effectiveness of your activities
- List information on best practices, case studies, tools kits and more
- Find course and conference listings to help you develop or enhance your public involvement skills
Check out these examples of how PIRT can help you:
- Lee, a relatively new EPA employee, will participate in his first public meeting in a few months. He’s a little nervous about leading the discussion and wants to improve his facilitation skills. Lee can select among several listed facilitation trainings and choose the one that fits his schedule and funding.
- Reese has been tasked with setting up an environmental conference that includes both government representatives and identified stakeholders. She wants to address environmental results at both local and national levels, and wants the “take home message” to focus on environmental solutions. Reese will be able to locate information on evaluation, stressing the differences between outputs and outcomes.
- Kendall wants to present a paper charting unique approaches to alternative dispute resolution at a conference this year, but does not belong to a professional association. Kendall can locate calls for papers for several upcoming alternative dispute resolution related conferences.
- Jerry’s boss suggested he take additional environmental justice training so he can qualify for one of several positions that will open in the next few months. Jerry can contact the person who will know when the next convenient EJ training is scheduled.
How can you help make PIRT more useful?
PIRT is an active database in that invites users to share their learning with others. Do you attend a regularly scheduled conference that addresses unique approaches to public involvement? Have you taken training that was essential to your professional development? Is there a book, manual, web site or article that you found particularly helpful?
If it’s not in PIRT and you think it should be, please use the electronic forms in the database to suggest a public involvement resource, course or conference. It’s fast and easy, and you could be helping someone else find exactly what fits his or her needs.
To be a success, PIRT needs to work for you, and it won’t be just right for you if you don’t tell us how to improve it to meet your needs. If you have a problem with the way PIRT works, how it’s organized or its features, please use the comment form to state the problem or propose a solution.
PIRT’s FuturePIRT is now a good tool for practitioners, managers, partners and others who participate in public involvement decision-making processes. With your help, it will grow and become an excellent source that can aid others who practice across the whole spectrum of public involvement – from providing information through consultation and collaboration to agreement processes. For additional information, e-mail Pat Bonner (bonner.patricia@epa.gov) or call her at 202-566-2204.