Academic Institutions – Communities – Agencies Network (ACA-NET) was a multi-year, collaborative research effort that provided technical assistance to environmentally impacted communities of color. The development of ACA-NET led to the creation of a strategic community, capacity-building model for environmental justice communities regarding the assessment and remediation of threats from the release of hazardous substances to human health.
ACA-NET established the following tenets:
- Conduct Community-based Participatory Research (CBPR)
- Develop a model to enhance citizen participation in Superfund-related decision-making
- Collect and analyze data
- Identify existing and relevant federal partnerships
- Research barriers to effective interagency coordination
- Conduct a research colloquium to identify resources
- Research and evaluate the effectiveness of computer technologies in networking with people of color communities, and
- Compose environmental reports.