Preparing for Effective CBA Engagements

Defining the Scope of Your Engagement and Coalition: Approaches and Considerations

Defining the Coalition: Who Are Your Core Partners?

Determining the size and membership of your CBA partnerships is a key strategic decision. The size and makeup of the coalition will vary based on your local and regional context, the range of issues you want to address, and the type of energy transition project being proposed. Consider where the project stands in the approval process and whether there is already strong opposition to it, among other factors. Broad coalitions can be powerful for representing the interests of diverse members, but they can also pose challenges in advancing CBA provisions that address the specific and unique needs of a particular group. There may even be a key issue where there is no alignment among the coalition members on how it should be addressed. In this scenario, some groups may seek to stay nimble in negotiations to prioritize demands through close-knit coordination without a broad coalition.

Another set of issues that impact the size and scope of your coalition is the range of issues you plan to address in the CBA. The People’s Justice 40+ Community Benefit Playbook categorizes the scope of the benefits into three categories. 

1. Comprehensive Community Benefits: The Coalition will seek funding and other benefits for a full range of community priorities, such as affordable housing, economic opportunities, and mitigating environmental harms.

2. Sector-Specific Community Benefits: The Coalition will seek funding and other benefits to address a specific community priority, such as clean water infrastructure or reducing air pollution.

3. Population-Specific Community Benefits: This Coalition will seek funding and other benefits to address the unique needs and priorities of a specific population group, such as youth or farmworkers.

We have included Figure 1 (below), which illustrates the spectrum between inclusivity and exclusivity as well as the implications for negotiation complexity, timelines, community power, and the equitable distribution of benefits. Groups should be intentional about where on that spectrum they would be best positioned to meet their goals, considering the local circumstances.  

Figure 1 – Spectrum of Community Coalition Inclusivity

Other Engagement Options

A CBA is not always the best option and may not be appropriate depending on what your group defines as its values and priorities. Alternative options to a CBA could include participation in permitting and review processes, litigation, direct action land defense or protest, or an accountability campaign through independent media and/or social media, among others. Sometimes, a coordinated approach to working on one or more of these pathways while also negotiating a CBA can be effective.

Get involved as early as possible in the permitting process, when you have the greatest leverage to shape outcomes. Imagine a proposed development has only just begun to work its way through an agency’s permitting process; there will be many more opportunities to provide input during public comment periods. Give your organizing team as much time as possible to build community power, because this can be a long and winding process.

There is also the possibility that a developer has reached out to your community or group to participate in a project advisory committee, which could lead to the negotiation of a CBA. Once again, consider your community or group’s values, capacities, and priorities when deciding whether to participate in this kind of committee. Given that there are other ways to engage with the company and the risks of an under-resourced organization being co-opted by a developer, a CBA may not be the best path forward.   

Regardless of how your community or group chooses to proceed, having a clear set of values and priorities, along with the capacity to organize around them, offers the greatest chance of success.

Developing the Capacity to Engage and Negotiate

The first step in engagement is taking an honest look at your current capacity. There are several methods to choose from, and we encourage you not to assume you know and skip this step.

Honest Capacity Assessment

From among other methods, you may choose to conduct a SWOT (Strengths,  Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis to focus community engagement and inform your negotiation strategy. For this exercise, you can work as a group to brainstorm your coalition’s internal strengths and weaknesses as well as opportunities and threats external to your control.

Worksheet 2A can be used to help you develop your SWOT analysis on the community coalition that has come together to negotiate the CBA. For those who prefer electronic versions, Canva offers free SWOT Analysis templates. The first step in the exercise is to identify all of the participants’ positive strengths, including skills, resources, lands, ideas, knowledge, experience, and stories. Centering the community’s assets and strengths can help shift the false narrative that the communities most impacted have little or nothing to offer. From there, you must also identify areas of opportunity and weaknesses or gaps that the coalition and its partners need to address to succeed. The final step is identifying the threats. A more detailed explanation of the steps to preparing and using the SWOT analysis for developing your Negotiation Strategy is available here.

In addition to the resource referenced here, there are other SWOT analysis-related materials you can review. These include SWOT-like frameworks, including “SOAR” (Strengths, Opportunities, Assets, and Risks) and “NOISE” (Needs, Opportunities, Improvements, Strengths, and Exceptions). Use whichever framework works best for the project and the community members you are trying to engage.

Community Organizing and Coalition-Building

The strongest coalitions, of course, are based on authentic relationships built on trust established over time and multiple shared experiences. However, we recognize that projects aren’t necessarily proposed in communities that are already organized, nor will developers and project sponsors wait. Often, coalitions are forged through necessity. Table 1, below, includes 5 toolkits and guides on coalition-building, effective communication, and organizing around community development activities. Additionally, every coalition needs guiding principles; the Jemez Principles for EJ and Other Democratic Organizing are a broadly accepted and endorsed starting point.

Additionally, Section 5 outlines guiding principles and provides helpful information for initiating engagements with Tribes. While history has taught Tribes to be cautious and suspicious of unknown groups asking them to become involved in new issues, it is worth the time to meet with, share information, and learn about their experiences and priorities. Tribes hold unique leverage in the permitting, licensing, and project approvals, given their position as rights holders and independent sovereign nations. Once provided with the time to review the project information, Tribes may share concerns with your coalition regarding a project’s potential impact on issues such as Tribal cultural resources (e.g., sacred sites) and water quality and availability. Tribes may also have very different concerns, such as ensuring their continued right to access ancestral lands or pass across lands through corridors that the project could impact. 

Intentional Engagement

In planning to engage with community members, recognize that sharing information and holding community meetings not only strengthens your coalition’s capacity to respond but also contributes to the narrative you will use in your negotiation. Use these activities to build coalition member lists, identify allies in unique positions, and prepare individuals and neighborhoods to unleash community power.

While each community is unique with evolving needs and priorities, there are general principles that can help guide these engagements.

• Utilize trusted partners to help introduce your organization when entering a new space. If there are existing community coalitions or organizations supporting this type of community advocacy, consider leveraging that partnership to help establish your CBA group.  

• Craft a written plan on how and when community members will be engaged. Avoid the errors of traditional government and corporate engagements. These are not dog and pony shows. Community engagement should be initiated early in the process, responsive to issues raised, and ongoing throughout the negotiation and implementation process. The simple act of writing it down will help you uncover gaps and create more effective timelines.

• Develop a funding strategy that supports your community engagement plan. Certain groups can be powerful allies and represent communities that have been significantly affected. Yet, they often lack the financial capacity to participate in ongoing, long-term projects, such as CBA negotiation and implementation. Entities that may need financial support to participate include Tribes, farmworkers, and EJ organizations. 

• Set timelines that reflect the foundational need to build trust and establish relationships.

• Recognize community leaders, but remember that people also appreciate having options for directly expressing their needs and priorities. 

• Consider allocating time and funding to provide translation and interpretation services for impacted community members who may need to engage in a language other than English, including Indigenous languages. You can prioritize hiring local people to undertake these services or even identify coalition members who would be happy to contribute their translation skills. 

• Assess collaborators’ knowledge, and be prepared to provide general information about the proposed project and the industry. People’s lives are busy, and they may not have had time to learn about the proposed new energy or extraction facility.

• Make fact sheets, Q&As, draft letters, short polls, lists of related resources, and other materials available. People need information as they request it, and failure to be responsive can make certain groups feel as though you are not serious about your work or sufficiently organized for them to expend their social capital. 

• Hold meetings with written agendas that are shared in advance, focusing on topics that are meaningful to attendees and adaptable to address new issues as they arise. Invite multiple community members to present and thoughtfully schedule time for each item so that the group hears everyone and has time to consider all issues. 

Communication Strategy 

Building an effective support network to advance a CBA that reflects community priorities requires intentionality. At the center of this effort is a structured communications plan and strategy that connects coalition members, uplifts key messages, and provides a backstop against important issues being overlooked.   

A well-defined communications plan and strategy ensure that critical information reaches the appropriate audience. They consistently deliver the right message, align both internal and external communications, and ultimately help community coalitions achieve their goals by fostering trust and effectively managing the campaign’s public image. The additional guides and toolkits listed above provide practical guidance and templates to help you jump-start the development of your communications strategy.

When engaging with community members who need access to different languages or communications methods, this strategy establishes a foundation for coordinating with translators, webmasters, podcasters, newsletter writers, and other relevant collaborators. Without a clear plan and strategy, communications can become disjointed, confusing, and potentially damaging to the campaign’s reputation.

Circulating Information

• Share information in an approachable manner using words and phrases that are understandable to community members.  

• Consider translation into other languages. Words, phrases, and concepts that minimize jargon or figurative language can be translated more directly to ensure a more consistent narrative.

• Ensure your information displays effectively on phones and through email and that any platforms you use are accessible without a paywall.

• Recognize and accommodate some people who may not use or have access to cellphones or email or follow social media. Also, some people prefer in-person meetings and materials presented on paper. 

• Meet people where they are. While you may need your own newsletters and communications platforms, the most effective communications are integrated into other groups’ existing communication streams. Ask, listen, and identify where community members are getting their information and which organizations they regularly engage with. Share information about the project through those channels if possible. Share information in an approachable manner using words and phrases that are understandable to community members.  

Holding Meetings

• Schedule meetings at times and on dates consistent with the community members’ needs and activities (e.g., in the evening if participants need to work during the day).

• When possible, include childcare, refreshments, full meals if held during mealtime, transportation reimbursement, and stipends that reflect the time community members forgo to attend meetings.  

• Design meetings in a way that includes interesting and varied opportunities for audience participation.

• Organize meetings with a clear purpose, content, set of outcomes, and follow-up.

• Select the type of engagement that best fits the community and desired outcomes. These may include in-person and hybrid meetings, town halls, or conferences; community input through surveys, polls, and online platforms; conference calls, emails, and technical assistance workshops; or training in preparation for a public comment period. Consider whether a third-party facilitator would be helpful.

Understanding the Project Scope  

A key component in determining whether to proceed with a CBA and, if so, how best to engage is gaining a clear understanding of the proposed project. Understanding the project scope is a foundation from which to explore and analyze the project’s potential impact on local communities and environments that are directly and indirectly affected.   

This subsection outlines the type of information, possible questions to obtain the information, and a flexible research and data collection process. You can use this information throughout the CBA and permitting processes as it serves as the foundation for your data-driven and community-informed impact analysis. 

To assist you in moving through our basic five-step process (outlined below), we have created Worksheet 2B—Information Gathering on Project and Developer. This worksheet provides ideas for resources and questions to initiate research on the scope of the project and analyze its potential direct and indirect impacts on communities and environments. 

5 Steps for Gathering Information on the Project and the Developer

1. Information gathering to identify the basics.

2. Engage coalition partners, communications team, trusted experts, and funders to scope out key questions that need to be answered about the project, including information for impact analyses and communications and negotiation strategies. 

3. Expand and take a deeper dive into key aspects of the project.

4. Check to see whether similar projects have been approved or whether the developer has a history of doing business in your community, state, or nation or internationally, and determine whether any lessons, success stories, or cautionary tales can be applied to current projects.

5. Organize the research in a format that supports sharing of information, easy review by others, and collection of comments and recommendations. 

Identifying Tribal Cultural Resource Contacts

One area of research that is too often overlooked is Tribal cultural resources. Understanding the Tribal context of projects is very important and is also a required component of many state and all federal permitting, subject to the National Environmental Policy Act.

Many, but not all, Tribes have a dedicated Tribal historic preservation officer, Tribal cultural resource professional or liaison on staff. You can identify a Tribal cultural resource contact for a traditionally and culturally affiliated Tribe by contacting the Tribe directly or by requesting the information from the state. Here is a template for requesting the contact.

The information gained by completing Worksheet 2B can be used throughout the CBA and permitting processes, including community meetings, presentations to local governments and funders, and negotiations with the developer and project sponsors. It can also help inform other CBA preparation documents, including the impact analysis, identification of at-risk fenceline communities, communication strategy, SWOT analysis, and power map, among other uses. You may also want to review “The Life Cycle of a Project,” in Section 3, for additional information related to completing this worksheet.

Ultimately, all of this information and related analysis will help you identify, negotiate, and defend the necessary mitigations and community benefits provisions in the CBA. The better your coalition understands the details of the project, the owners, and its developers, the more effective your negotiation strategy will be.

Identifying Directly Affected Fenceline Communities Relative to the Project

• There are many ways to define a historically disenfranchised community that could be negatively impacted by a proposed project. For this Toolkit, we will refer to this group as a “fenceline community.” You may have your own way of identifying and defining who will be most impacted within your community, and we encourage you to continue applying that definition. We offer several resources in Table 2 (below), which you can reference for established methods for identifying directly affected fenceline communities. Reviewing and selecting the definition(s) that best align with your objectives and the jurisdictions in which the project is located are essential.

• In California, for example, the state government uses multiple definitions in its planning efforts in recognition that no one size accurately reflects local circumstances of “disadvantaged communities.”

• Outline which surrounding communities and neighborhoods will be impacted by the project, both directly and indirectly, and the potential positive and negative effects.

• This exercise helps to create a baseline for further research and community engagement.

• At the end of the negotiations, your CBA should include a set of actions intended to benefit these communities and mitigate any potential adverse effects specifically. 

• In the next step, you will research the project’s supply chain. Locating related projects, especially in surrounding communities but also across different links in the supply chain, can help expand your supporter network’s reach and build out your coalition. These projects will have their own disadvantaged and affected communities and workforces. They may even have active CBA campaigns, litigation, or social movements to learn about and build supply chain solidarity.

• Be transparent and ground-truth your identified communities with trusted partners, community members, and advocates. 

In addition, Table 2—Defining Fenceline Communities, below, provides definitions and databases that may help you identify relevant communities. While some communities directly impacted by the issue will be readily apparent, a review of socioenvironmental data may reveal that other areas are also affected. Be sure to check state and local laws to understand which definitions may uniquely apply to your project.

Identifying Community Needs, Priorities, and Guiding Principles

“And we said, ‘We don’t want money. We want environmental performance. So we want that written in.’ And [developers] still give that kind of money just as donations to the community . . . They just do that for their own PR and goodwill…“

There is no set formula for negotiating a CBA. CBAs are highly context-dependent, and the specific conditions present in your community should ultimately shape what’s possible. However, one element remains constant: Before jumping into CBA negotiations with a project developer, it is crucial to carefully establish your community or group’s values and priorities. This includes provisions that protect the community from the detrimental effects of the activity as well as benefits that create a better future. Questions to consider include: Is creating more job opportunities the most critical issue? Economic revitalization? A clean environment? Protection of sacred sites? Local government revenue? Decision-making power? Or something else? In a CBA negotiation process, clearly stated values and priorities will shape your demands of a developer.

You can use the worksheet below with your coalition members to identify which issue areas are most relevant and pressing for a campaign (e.g., via protest, litigation, or CBA negotiations) by first rating each from 1 through 5, with 5 being the most critical and nonnegotiable, uncompromisable issue to fight for. 

There are multiple ways to use this worksheet, and we encourage you to adapt it to what works best for your community coalition. For example, this worksheet can be completed as an individual activity or as a small-group visioning exercise, can be converted into an online survey, or can serve as the basis of a group discussion. Interpreting and then applying everyone’s feedback is equally flexible. The rating of 1–5 for each category could be tallied and averaged and serve as the singular source of information for prioritizing community needs. Alternatively, the information could be presented in focus groups, which would help refine the list and design CBA provisions that address those priorities. This information would then be used in a second round of community engagement.  

The point of the exercise is to have an understanding of what is “most important” to your fenceline community. This should help determine which grievances, goals, and CBA provisions to focus on in the coalition’s action and negotiation campaigns. Additional resources on community interviewing are available in Section 6, Resources. These include steps to get to know your community, prepared by the Sierra Club, along with a sample interview guide from a renewable energy case study in Illinois.

Power Mapping

This subsection discusses how to utilize the information gained through research and community engagement to create a power map that will guide the development of your negotiation strategy.  

Power Maps

• Identify all key groups and individuals involved in or affected by the project or, potentially, the CBA.

• Help analyze where key players stand on core issues and what kind of power they have to help or harm the campaign.

• Create simple visuals to share knowledge about different players.

• Inform organizing strategies and provide a shared understanding of the power relationships involved.

• Reveal the effectiveness of tactics if redone throughout the campaign.

Power Mapping as a Tool

Power mapping and analysis reveal your coalition’s power today and how you can strategically build power through new partnerships. It helps to identify all possible important groups and actors who might be affected by a particular campaign. It informs your group of where key players stand on the issue and the power they have to help or harm the campaign. It also seeks to understand your opponents’ self-interest and weaknesses so you can pursue organizing strategies that target their most vulnerable pressure points.

Before power mapping, it is best to have already identified community needs and developed a campaign plan that can help determine targets, allies, and opponents as well as other relevant groups. The following steps will help walk you through that process: 

1. First, you will need to review your research and notes thus far to prepare a comprehensive power map:

   • Worksheet 1B—Is a CBA a Good Next Step for Your Community?

   • Worksheet 2B—Information Gathering on Project and Developer

   • Worksheet 2A— SWOT analysis table

2. Identify goals and objectives (what you want). You may wish to review:

   • Worksheet 3B—Identifying Priorities for CBA Engagement

3. Identify and describe targets or decision-makers (who can give you what you want). This will likely be the corporations managing the project or participating in the CBA as well as local, state, and/or federal governments and permitting agencies. Take notes in: 

   • Worksheet 2C—Power Mapping: Checklist to Prepare and Focus the Analysis

4. Identify and describe allies (who share your goals). (Take notes in Worksheet 2C.)

5. Identify and describe opponents (who are opposed to your goals). (Take notes in Worksheet 2C.)

6. Identify and describe other actors who may be swing groups, considered “neutral,” or are otherwise currently unorganized. (Take notes in Worksheet 2C.)

7. Use your notes in Worksheet 2C to complete the next power mapping exercise, in person or virtually: 

   • Worksheet 2D—Power Mapping: 2x2 Matrix Exercise

8. Record new research questions that come up. For reference, review the resources found in: 

   • Worksheet #2E—Power Mapping: Power Player Research

9. Consider repeating the power mapping matrix exercise (Worksheet 2D) throughout the campaign to help you track the movement of allies and opponents and test the effectiveness of tactics and strategies you’ve taken.

There are many ways to visualize a power map. One common way is the 2x2 matrix below, but alternative options can be found in the Resources section of the toolkit.

Next, you can use the map to guide a strategy for influencing decision-makers, decide where to focus your efforts, and understand where you need more research. For example, you may come out of your power mapping with new strategies to do the following, represented in Figure 2:

1. Mobilize strong supporters with moderate to strong influence (people in the top-right).

2. Move neutral influential people toward support (move people from the top-middle → top-right).

3. Undermine/neutralize influential opposition (move people from the top-left → bottom-left).

Figure 2 – Power Mapping Matrix 

In Worksheet 2D, you can find a sample completed power mapping exercise. What follows are links to additional power mapping resources, which may be more intuitive to your team, including power mapping guides from South Central Regional Council of Governments, The Change Agency, the Union of Concerned Scientists, and engagement specialist Anita Tang.

Power Player Research

Researching specific information can help tailor your power mapping and strategies to either oppose project development or push for a stronger CBA.

Evaluating Community Capacity to Engage and Move to Negotiation

The CBA negotiation team will also need to gather information and assess their capacity to engage. Worksheet 3A is designed to help identify what needs to be accomplished, what resources are available, and how to apply those resources in a successful CBA Negotiation Strategy.

This section’s final Worksheet 4A—Guiding Questions to Move from Community Engagement to Negotiation Strategy identifies a series of questions that will help flesh out these other areas, such as guiding principles, what should happen if the project never comes to fruition, and tracking and enforcing commitments. 

Overcoming Capacity Limitations—One Option

Find a stable, well-resourced organization to anchor the process. Whether negotiating, litigating, or protesting, the process of engaging with a mining or energy development will likely be years-long and resource-intensive. Many small Tribes or community groups do not have the financial and staff resources or expertise needed to sustain and succeed in these efforts by themselves, so established translocal organizations may offer necessary legal expertise and resources (e.g., the role of Jobs to Move America in the New Flyer, Alabama, case or Redwood CORE Hub in Humboldt County, California).

Case studies from Building Community Power: Community Benefits Agreements Across the Global Energy Supply Chain by Climate and Community Institute.

Action Items

Conduct research on the project or activity, including background on the industry, developer, and locality. Worksheet 2B—Information Gathering on Project and Developer 

Review the research to identify key inflection points in the project approval or commencement of the activity, including exploratory, permitting, and other pivotal moments in the project life cycle.

Based on research, prepare a power map relative to the key inflection points of the project or activity. Resources to assist you include:

• 1. Worksheet 2C—Power Mapping: Checklist to Prepare and Focus the Analysis;

  2. Worksheet 2D—Power Mapping: 2x2 Matrix;

  3. Worksheet 2E—Power Mapping: Power Player Research.

Evaluate community capacity. Worksheet 3A—Information Gathering on Community Capacity to Engage 

Consider using Worksheet 4A to guide questions that move from community engagement to negotiation strategy.