| A primary goal of the outreach and education process is to support stakeholders in using the equity atlas to inform, guide, and spur policy change. This requires translating the equity atlas findings in ways that will be meaningful to different audiences and decision-making processes. This page provides ideas for how to work with stakeholder groups to translate the equity atlas data in ways that will support their decision-making needs. |
| Click here for examples of how CLF has used these strategies with the Regional Equity Atlas 2.0. |
- Work with stakeholders to develop customized maps that frame the equity atlas data in a way that will resonate with each audience’s specific interests and goals and be directly relevant to their area of impact.
- Combine the maps with a narrative explanation of the issues and trends that they demonstrate, the broader policy context, and potential solutions.
- Use the maps to tell a story by creating a case study of a particular place or issue or by using a series of maps to tell a visual story about changing conditions in an area.
- Put a face on the data by using photos, videos, and narratives to share the everyday experiences of people whose lives are impacted by the patterns shown on the maps.
- Use geographic overlays to align the maps with the decision-making process. For example, for decisions that involve elected officials, use the officials’ district boundaries as a geographic reference point on the maps.
- Combine indicators into composite maps that highlight the relationships between different issues and create a compelling visual picture of how disparities impact people’s lives.
- Find creative ways to engage audiences with the data so that they are exploring and discovering rather than just consuming the information.
- Develop scorecards or other types of tools that turn the equity atlas data into quantifiable information that can more easily be used to inform prioritization and decision-making processes.