The Brown Superfund Basic Research Program: A Multistakeholder Partnership Addresses Real-World Problems in Contaminated Communities.

The Superfund Basic Research Program (SBRP) funds a variety of basic and applied research on the remediation of contaminated sites. Universities that receive SBRP grants are also required to conduct community outreach and research translation activities. There is, however, scant discussion of how outreach and translation should be defined and evaluated. This paper reports on a recent project by the Brown University SBRP, in which academic researchers and state agency personnel collaborated with community activists on a legislative initiative to mitigate the financial impact of contamination on homeowner property values. This paper situates this case study in a wider context of social science research on contaminated communities and in a longer tradition of community-based participatory research (CBPR); highlights the need for a more rigorous approach to evaluation of community-based advocacy and consultancy activities; and suggests ways that sociology can contribute to this discussion. Theoretical tools and concepts from the study of social movements and collective action, in particular, may illuminate discussions about the partnerships formed through programs such as the SBRP, and SBRP alliances provide a ripe field of case studies that could advance the theoretical tools for assessing coalitions among academic researchers, community groups, and state actors. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]