New multilingual resources help communities connect with more residents and strengthen public outreach. 

Capital Strategic Solutions was proud to partner with The Massachusetts Statewide Municipal Stormwater Coalition (Statewide Coalition) through its representative, the Town of Brookline, to support Think Blue Massachusetts in expanding the reach and accessibility of their stormwater education toolkit. The project aimed to help municipalities better engage residents from diverse linguistic backgrounds while making critical stormwater information easier to access.  

Since its launch in 2018, Think Blue Massachusetts has helped communities across the Commonwealth meet the education and outreach requirements of the 2016 MS4 General Permit while raising public awareness about stormwater pollution and protecting local waterways. 

The Need for Inclusive Public Communication  

Effective public outreach depends on ensuring information is obtainable to all community members. Recognizing the importance of language accessibility, the Town of Brookline pursued grant funding to expand its MS4 Education and Outreach Toolkit through professionally translated educational materials. By investing in multilingual resources, the Coalition has equipped municipalities with tools to better engage diverse communities, broaden access to important stormwater information, and help more residents play an active role in protecting Massachusetts’ waterways. 

Feedback from a survey sent out to Coalition members helped decide which four languages would be crucial for translation: 

• Spanish 
• Portuguese  
• Chinese (Simplified) 
• Haitian Creole 

CSS coordinated the implementation of the multilingual updates across each educational flyer, working closely with MAPA Translation Services to ensure every resource was professionally translated, visually accessible, and easy for communities to use. This collaborative approach helped maintain consistency across all materials while delivering high-quality translations in each language.  

Enhancing Website Design for More Accessible Community Resources  

To complement the expanded multilingual resources, CSS implemented significant enhancements to the Think Blue Massachusetts website that improved both accessibility and usability. Rather than simply adding translated documents, the team redesigned key elements of the user experience to create a centralized, intuitive resource library where residents and municipal staff can quickly find educational materials in multiple languages. These improvements ensure that the toolkit remains accessible, scalable, and easy to navigate as additional resources are introduced. 

Project efforts included: 

• Dedicating a location on the website for translated stormwater education resources 
• Updating existing content in Spanish 
• Adding drop down menus designed for users to filter website content based on preferences  
• Improving overall website navigation  

These website improvements ensured that residents were able to find stormwater information online at ease while being able to engage in those resources in their preferred language.  

This project was made possible through a municipal assistance grant from MassDEP and with the collaboration of the Statewide Coalition, Capital Strategic Solutions, and MAPA Translation Services. MAPA’s expertise in professional translation helped ensure that each resource was not only accurately translated, but also culturally appropriate and accessible for the communities these materials are intended to serve. Together, the team created a toolkit that helps municipalities communicate more effectively with residents across Massachusetts.