Sustainable Transportation and Communities Research Engagement
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I. Objective
This project will support CARB’s Sustainable Transportation and Communities Division (STCD) in identifying research approaches and focus areas to help understand and address housing, land use, and transportation equity issues. These research efforts could include, but are not limited to, assessing the impacts of regulatory or incentive policy; describing the drivers of present-day housing inequality and affordability crises; identifying the most effective organizing, policy, business, or other strategies for meaningfully addressing the underlying causes of high-emission land use patterning and their associated negative consequences for health, social opportunity, housing equity, and greenhouse gas emissions.
While there is robust and rapidly evolving research across urban planning, geography, transportation studies and science, economics, history, sociology, and more, important gaps persist between research, policy design, implementation, action, and desired outcomes. State-level frameworks often lack substantive grounding in the variation among local contexts, and the many factors that condition the outcomes of state-level policy strategies. This project will lead a focused, public-informed inquiry into how state-led research efforts could bridge these critical gaps.
This contract will develop and implement a strategy for organizing and consulting with community organizers, advocates, nonprofits, cooperatives, and other stakeholders representing historically under-served communities that are also active in California land use, housing and transportation practice. This project will inform the way the STCD conceptualizes, defines, solicits, designs, implements, and shares findings from future research studies to support policy and programmatic efforts at the nexus of equitable land use planning, housing, transportation, and climate policy.
II. Background
State research efforts are increasingly informed by equity considerations. CARB’s Research Division’s 2021-2024 Triennial Research Plan included a strategy for operationalizing racial equity in research, and in 2020 the Board passed Resolution 20-33 to “ensure that racial equity permeates all of CARB’s activities both internal and external.” The California Energy Commission’s Electric Program Investment Charge Research and Development funding sets aside 25 percent of funding for sites in disadvantaged communities, and 10 percent in low-income communities. In 2019, the Strategic Growth Council convened a Climate Change Research Symposium and required that all respondents to its research solicitation include a funded community-based organization partner. This project is a part of this broader landscape of efforts to advance equity in research.
In setting forth this scope, STCD seeks to address concerns from stakeholders that past research approaches, especially those related to housing, are not attentive to the lived experiences of people that have been harmed by racial discrimination and segregationist housing and land use policies and practices. This project scope acknowledges the importance of multiple ways of knowing and seeks to bridge methodological and epistemic boundaries in support of more holistic research for policy development and practice. This entails addressing data limitations that prevent adequate characterization of persistent transportation and housing inequities (such as the absence of statewide rental registry or data concerning anti-displacement policy enforcement) as well as critically considering how scopes of inquiry should be framed and carried out to meaningfully address persistent material and representational injustices in research practice. Community-engaged research is one approach of particular interest for addressing this.
III. Scope of Work
Interested applicants will respond to this solicitation in two phases: with a pre-proposal, due July 13, 2022, with a general description of the proposed project plan for completing the Tasks described in the following sections. The winning pre-proposal will be invited to submit a full proposal, due on September 9, 2022, which will require more detail. The Scope of Work description below delineates the parts and level of detail that are required at each stage.
Task 1 – Literature and Practice Review
The Contractor will develop a literature and practice review outlining the theories, methods, and model research engagement approaches that will inform the development of the engagement plan. This should include but is not limited to: (1) review of studies that model effective approaches to equitable research design, primarily in California and the United States and (2) review of approaches to community engagement for research planning and community-based research methods (particularly as related to land use, housing and transportation planning topics).
This review may survey traditional academic literature, gray literature, and/or informational interviews or focus groups with practitioners in the field.
At the pre-proposal stage:
The Contractor will summarize the key fields, subfields, example journals, sources, and search strategy for developing this literature review, and their approach to bounding the review scope, including guiding questions and/or search terms.
At the full proposal stage:
The Contractor will provide a more detailed synopsis of their approach to the practice and literature review, incorporating feedback from CARB staff and other reviewers.
Contract Deliverables:
- Draft literature and practice review
- Final literature and practice review
- Executive Summary/Fact Sheet for state and local government audience
Task 2 – Design and Implement Engagement Plan
The Contractor will develop a plan to elicit community-based guidance for the STCD research strategy, iterate upon this plan with the support of a project Steering Committee (or non-university project partner), finalize, and implement the initial round of community engagement. Though the total project term is 18 months, this effort will ideally initiate and create guidance for longer-term and recurring research engagement processes. The Contractor can anticipate some degree of collaboration, support, and engagement from CARB staff in co-implementing the engagement plan, which should include strategies for long-term sustainability (e.g., transitioning relationship stewardship to CARB staff upon conclusion of this contract). Proposers are encouraged to develop a scope that effectively draws upon their existing relationships and expertise, aiming for appropriate geographic reach and deep engagement, within the limited resources available. While CARB’s research planning and agency scope is statewide, pre-proposals at smaller geographic scales will be considered. CARB staff will review and collaborate on the draft plan. CARB staff will be available to consult with Project Team, provide information about activities and processes to date to inform the initial draft.
During and upon conclusion of community engagement activities, the Contractor will develop a draft and final report concerning the engagement plan process and outcomes. This report will provide guidance for STCD’s research planning, including pertinent data gaps, recommended research methods and approaches, and/or guidance for applying and interpreting existing research in state housing, transportation, land use, and climate policy. This will include a summary of high-priority research topics, focus populations, and geographies. The report will also document processes and expected and realized outcomes from the planned and implemented community engagement.
At the pre-proposal stage:
The Contractor will:
- Briefly describe their proposed framework for developing a plan in consultation with a partner organization and/or steering committee, and CARB and other agency staff. This will include a general description of the geographic/topical scope, candidate partner organizations, associations, and other strategies for contacting public participants for research engagement.
- Summarize the proposed project team’s approach for building a collaborative and community-informed process throughout the project term, including, but not limited to, engagement methods, accountability mechanisms, and approaches to defining roles and shared goals.
- Provide a general timeline and identify sub-tasks and deliverables for appropriately staging out this process over the project term, with the aim of completing the first round of engagement reporting within the 18-month project period.
- The staff biography and CV sections should include a clear description of previous experience related to the proposed scope.
At the full proposal stage:
The Contractor will:
- Receive comments and feedback from CARB staff on the pre-proposal and incorporate these in developing a more detailed timeline including milestones and specific deliverable content.
- Provide letters of support/intent from involved partner organizations (subcontractors and/or steering committee members). These letters are required at the full proposal stage, and highly encouraged for pre-proposals.
- Provide a scope and budget for potential engagement activities (e.g., focus groups, surveys, listening sessions, surveys, etc.). While specific activities and approaches may be determined by Month 6 of the project term, the contractor should define anticipated expenditures as clearly as possible, including stipends for participant engagement.
- Provide sample materials and engagement questions/facilitation plan.
Contract Deliverables (subject to change):
- Steering committee meeting(s) (if applicable)
- Draft engagement plan
- Final engagement plan
- Implemented engagement activities, such as listening session(s) / community engagement meeting(s), focus group(s), survey(s), etc.
- Notes and other data from outreach and engagement activities
- Draft report from community engagement process and findings
- Final report from community engagement process and findings, including prioritized list of research topics, focus areas, etc.
Task 3 – Knowledge Transfer and Further Recommendations
Before the conclusion of the project term, the Contractor will work with CARB staff to transfer knowledge and lessons learned from community engagement activities, to prepare the agency for conducting similar efforts to guide future research planning. This may include specific recommendations to CARB and other state agencies beyond the scope of the engagement reports, informed by the Contractors other activities and/or additional literature review. This will include recommendations and best practices for research models, including community-engaged design, and recommendations to CARB for sustaining stakeholder relationships and developing topics for future research solicitations.
At the pre-proposal stage:
The Contractor will:
- Describe their approach to knowledge transfer and collaboration with CARB to develop a sustainable multi-year engagement strategy
At the full proposal stage:
The Contractor will:
- Specify milestones and strategies for knowledge transfer and developing further recommendations.
Contract Deliverables:
- Outreach and engagement materials (e.g., templates, guidelines, contact directories, etc.)
- Knowledge transfer activities (training meetings with CARB staff, etc.)
- Final project executive summary/fact sheet for state/local government audience
IV. Deliverables
At Pre-Proposal Stage
- Provide a Cultural Humility Statement in the pre-proposal.
At Beginning of Contract
- Undergo cultural humility training (examples include implicit bias training, racial equity training, etc.). Trainings should be completed or scheduled within 30 days of contract execution.
- Work with CARB staff at the beginning of the project to create a 1-page plain-language outreach deliverable for the public describing the project’s goals, process, and planned deliverables (available in multiple languages, template will be provided).
- Kickoff Meeting with Project Team, Interagency Staff, Steering Committee Members and/or core project partners
During Active Contract Period
For the duration of the contract term:
- Quarterly Progress Reports
- Quarterly Progress Meetings
- Bimonthly meetings with CARB contract manager
One-time deliverables (also listed under Tasks above)
- Draft literature and practice review
- Final literature and practice review
- Executive Summary/Fact Sheet for state and local government audience
- Steering committee meeting(s) (if applicable)
- Draft engagement plan
- Final engagement plan
- Implemented engagement activities, such as listening session(s) / community engagement meeting(s), focus group(s), survey(s), etc.
- Notes and other data from outreach and engagement activities
- Draft report from community engagement process and findings
- Final report from community engagement process and findings
- Outreach and engagement materials (templates, guidelines, contact directories, etc.)
- Knowledge transfer activities (training meetings with CARB staff, etc.)
- Final project executive summary/fact sheet for state/local government audience
Prior to Contract Close
- CARB-hosted seminar presenting summary of results
- Presentation summarizing findings at community meeting(s) or workshop(s)
- Peer reviewed publications should be publicly available (please budget for this expense; submission-ready publications shall be reviewed by CARB staff).
- Any additional deliverables, to be determined in consultation with CARB staff.
V. Timeline
It is anticipated this project will be completed in 24 months from the start date (start date is estimated to be in Spring 2023). The estimated budget for this project is up to $200,000.
VII. Scoring Criteria
- Responsiveness to the goals and objectives outlined in the pre-proposal solicitation (20 points)
The pre-proposal should explain—in adequate detail and clear, understandable language—how the proposed project satisfies the project objectives: develop and implement a strategy for organizing and consulting with historically under-resourced stakeholders active in California land use, housing and transportation practice, to inform the way the STCD conceptualizes, defines, solicits, designs, implements, and shares findings from future research studies to support policy and programmatic efforts at the nexus of equitable land use planning, housing, transportation, and climate policy.
- Policy relevance/benefits to the state (10 points)
The pre-proposal should explain how the proposed project is relevant to and provides benefits to the state. The pre-proposal should describe how its approach to the Tasks will strengthen CARB STCD’s research engagement, and how the pre-proposal links this strengthened research engagement to policy, programmatic, and implementation benefits. For example, proposers could illustrate how the research guidance yielded by this project could support Sustainable Community Strategies, Senate Bill 350 and Senate Bill 150 related activities, and other relevant state efforts to address housing and transportation equity, climate change, and air quality.
- Work experience and subject matter expertise (20 points)
The pre-proposal should demonstrate that the proposers have the work experience and subject matter expertise required to successfully carry out the proposed project as described. Additionally, the pre-proposal should describe how the project will build upon previous relevant work. The proposer should describe their experience with community engagement, provide letters of support or references, and/or describe outcomes from this prior work.
- Expanding expertise (10 points)
The pre-proposal should explain how the project team expands expertise such as by incorporating multidisciplinary expertise or perspectives, including members from various public universities, non-academic institutions, or community-based organizations, and/or underrepresented groups. Reviewers will consider whether key personnel contributing significantly to the project (i.e., a principal investigator, co-principal investigator or co-investigator, contributing 25 percent or more of their time to the project) have not worked with CARB in the past five years.
- Explanation of methodological approach (20 points)
The pre-proposal should clearly explain the logic and feasibility of the methodology and approach to the project, spell out the sequence and relationships of major tasks, and explain methods for performing the work. The pre-proposal should include a clear description and plan for how each task will be completed. The proposer should specify why the methodology proposed is the best method to reach the desired populations. The proposal should include a clear description of whether and how non-academic partners or a Steering Committee will co-develop, guide, and/or inform the chosen methods.
- Level and quality of effort and cost effectiveness (20 points)
The pre-proposal should describe how time and resources will be allocated and demonstrate how this allocation ensures the project’s success. Pre-proposal reviewers will evaluate, for example: if the objectives of the project can be met given this allocation, if there is adequate supervision and oversight to ensure that the project will remain on schedule, if time and cost are appropriately divvied up across different project tasks and stages, and detail provided regarding compensation for subcontracted organizations and/or engaged participants.