Section 6. Promoting Community-Friendly Policies in Business and Goverment

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What do we mean by community-friendly policies?
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Community-friendly policies are those social, economic, health, and environmental policies that make the community healthier and improve its quality of life.
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Community-friendly policies respect cultural and other diversity, community history, and environmental integrity.
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Community-friendly policies regard each community as unique, and take its characteristics into account.
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Community-friendly policies use the community as the context for policy-making
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Why promote community-friendly policies?
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Community-friendly policies help everyone in the community.
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Community-friendly policies promote equity.
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Community-friendly policies promote diversity.
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Community-friendly policies are good for business.
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Community-friendly policies help politicians get reelected.
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Community-friendly policies promote community health, environmental quality, financial stability, and social justice.
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When would you promote community-friendly policies?
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When policy is specifically being debated.
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When something new is about to be started.
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When there's an election.
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When there's a crisis in the making
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When there's a public groundswell for community-friendly policy in a specific area.
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When the community is invited to the table
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Who should promote community-friendly policies?
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Everyone.
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Stakeholders (i.e. those most directly affected by the policy).
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Community activists.
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Particular populations or groups who may have an interest (language minorities, public housing tenants, parents of children in the schools, the business community, low-income workers, etc.)
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Public officials, both elected and appointed.
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Public employees (who may be asked to carry out or administer policy).
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Community-based organizations and community coalitions.
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Educational institutions.