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U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Community Involvement
Conference and Training
June 19-June 22,2007
Jacksonville, Florida
Proposals Due by
icember 15,2006
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Help make EPA's tenth anniversary
Community Involvement Conference and
Training the best ever! EPA invites you to
submit a presentation proposal for its annual
conference, which will be held June 19 - 22,2007,
in Jacksonville, Florida. This dynamic gathering
brings together public participation and community
involvement professionals from within EPA and its
federal, state, tribal, and local partners. This year
we want to celebrate the successes of the past ten
years and explore forward-looking, innovative
approaches for involving communities and promoting
environmental protection. We are seeking present-
ers to share stories, expertise, and experiences in
an engaging and interesting manner. Topics and
criteria for developing a proposal are on the next
page. Proposals must
be received by Decem-
ber 15,2006.
About the
Conference
This annual conference
is designed for EPA
project staff, manag-
ers, and Agency
partners who plan and
implement community
involvement, public participation, partnership,
stewardship, outreach, and education programs.
More than 450 people are expected to participate in
the conference, which includes several plenary
sessions, dozens of concurrent sessions, training
workshops, field trips, evening activities, many
networking opportunities, and a room for exhibits
and posters.
Presentation Topics and Goals
EPA is seeking proposals that demonstrate how
practitioners can enhance community involvement;
share successful tools, devise approaches and
lessons learned; and bring together people with
diverse perspectives to discuss key issues and
opportunities. We also are seeking proposals for
interactive presentations that fully engage the
audience. You may propose a presentation for the
following:
• Seventy-five (75) minute, ninety (90) minute, and
3-hour presentation, case study, panel discus-
sion, training, or interactive exercise.
• Four- or 8-hour training workshop to teach a
novice, intermediate, or advanced skills.
How to Submit a Proposal
Proposal applications are due close of business
December 15,2006. Please visit the conference
web site at http://www.epa.gov/ciconference/
2007 and complete the interactive on-line
proposal application. You also may download
the proposal application/instructions (as either a
WordPerfect, MS Word, or PDF document),
answer the application questions, and then
submit your proposal by email. If you are unable
to use any of these approaches, please contact
our conference coordinator, Environmental
Management Support, Inc., by email at
ciconference@emsus.com or by phone at
301-589-5318.
• Three or four-hour and fifteen minute field trips to
see first-hand how involving the community can
achieve the desired environmental result.
When developing your proposal, keep in mind the
conference offers sessions of interest to both novice
and experienced participants in the field of commu-
nity involvement and public outreach and education.
And, we want to see you "practice what you
preach," so please be creative in designing a
presentation that fully engages the participants by
including role playing, discussion questions, or
interactive exercises. Finally, people learn better
when diverse viewpoints are presented so you might
consider including a community member, represen-
tative from the regulated community, and/or tribal,
state, or local government partner in your proposal
and presentation. Consider, but do not limit your-
self, to a topic that focuses on:
• Hot issues or current trends in community
involvement, public education/outreach, partner-
ship-building, and information access.
• Tools, technologies, approaches, activities, or
case studies.
• Achieving environmental results through effective
community involvement.
• Ways to help community groups run their own
environmental initiatives.
• Techniques for building public-private partner-
ships.
• "It worked and this is how I did it," or "It didn't
work and this is why."
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Proposal Evaluation Criteria
Proposals must be submitted in writing and conform
to the application instructions. Proposals will be
evaluated on aH of the following criteria. Successful
presentation proposals will:
• Contribute to EPA's commitment to finding ways
to foster and encourage community involvement,
partnerships, outreach, stewardship, and/or
environmental education.
• Be relevant to emerging community involvement/
outreach challenges and demonstrate how the
challenge was met.
• Involve multiple perspectives by either including
diverse stakeholders or presenting alternate views.
• Provide a plan that clearly shows how the
presenter(s) intends to actively engage the
audience during the session.
• Have goals that are clearly specified and achiev-
able for the length of the proposed session.
For training proposals, two additional criteria will be
used:
• The proposed topic and presentation will en-
hance the skills of participants and/or provide
participants with useful tools.
• The presenters have experience making suc-
cessful public presentations.
Other Opportunities for Sharing
Giving a presentation, training workshop, or field trip
is just one way to formally participate in the confer-
ence. You may also:
• Submit an application for the conference poster
session, during which you can discuss your
topic with visitors.
• Propose a topic for an Open Time Presentation/
Discussion session. These informal, impromptu
one-hour sessions provide participants with an
opportunity to discuss various topics not in-
cluded on the agenda.
• Display an exhibit in the conference exhibit
room.
Visit http://www.epa.gov/ciconference for more
information about these activities.
What Else You Need to Know
Session Length: Most conference concurrent
sessions are 90 minutes in length. This year, there
also will be 75 minute and 3 hour sessions. Field
trips will either be three- or four-hours and fifteen
minutes. Training sessions are either four- or eight-
hours and will be held only on Thursday afternoon,
June 21, through Friday morning, June 22.
Registration: All presenters and co-presenters
must register for the conference and non-EPA
presenters need to pay a registration fee. A dis-
counted fee, of approximately $65-$75, will be given
to presenters.
Travel Reimbursement: EPA has limited funding
available to reimburse the travel-related expenses
for up to two non-federal
speakers for each proposal
accepted. These speakers
must arrange and pay for
all their travel-related
expenses up front and will
be reimbursed for ex-
penses after the confer-
ence. You must request
this assistance in your
proposal to be considered
for travel reimbursement.
Audio-Visual Equipment: Presenters needing
audio-visual equipment are encouraged to use a
computer and LCD projector. Computers with
PowerPoint viewer software (or other needed
software) and LCD projectors will be provided for all
presentations. If additional equipment is needed,
please note your equipment request on the applica-
tion form. We want the conference to be as "green"
as possible, so lengthy handouts are discouraged.
Proposal Application/
Instructions Available On-line
Visit http://www.epa.gov/ciconference to com-
plete the on-line proposal application. You also
can download from this site a WordPerfect, MS
Word, or PDF file of the application form with
instructions to complete and submit by email.
Proposals Due by December 15,2006
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Conference Contacts
Chris Tirpak, 2007 EPA Conference Chair
Office of Prevention, Pesticides & Toxic Substances
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Phone: 202-564-0546 Fax: 202-564-0550
Email: tirpak.chris@epa.gov
Pat Carey, 2007 EPA Conference Contact
Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Phone: 703-603-8772 Fax: 703-603-9102
Email: carey.pat@epa.gov
Jason Edwards, 2007 EPA Conference Co-Chair
Office of Research & Development
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Phone: 202-564-5568 Fax: 202-565-2925
Email: edwards.jason@epa.gov
Community Involvement Conference Coordinator
Environmental Management Support, Inc.
8601 Georgia Avenue, Suite 500
Silver Spring, MD 20910
Phone: 301-589-5318 Fax:301-589-8487
Email: ciconference@emsus.com
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Proposals Due By December 15, 2006
Complete on-line application or download application form and instructions at
http://www.epa.gov/ciconference/2007.
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