Understand the attitudes and perceptions of the public.  
Know how to engage your audience.

OpinionWorks is a team of talented researchers and writers promoting the public good, focused on environmental stewardship, healthy behaviors, access to education, culture and the arts, human services, economic development, and customer satisfaction.

We believe that understanding people's priorities will result in better public policy, stronger non-profits, more effective communications, and more satisfied customers.



Measuring Citizen Stewardship

OpinionWorks is privileged to have been selected by the Chesapeake Bay Trust in 2015 to develop and conduct an innovative Chesapeake Behavior Index, an EPA-funded initiative to measure progress towards a new goal of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement.

The updated Watershed Agreement, signed by the six Bay states, District of Columbia, and Federal Government in 2014, for the first time includes a goal for Citizen Stewardship.  The signatories to the Agreement understand that the health of our waters requires much more than regulatory action, legislation, or large capital projects.  For a healthy Bay, we need the individual participation of the 17 million residents who live within the drainage area of the Chesapeake.

Each resident is a steward of his on her own actions – at home, in our own yards, at work and school, as we move around our neighborhoods and towns, and beyond.  Small actions by each of us will add up to much healthier waters, leading to safer places for our kids and pets to swim; local fish, crabs, oysters, and clams that are much safer to eat; and a Bay that returns to a healthier condition that some can remember from decades ago.

Once developed, this Index will be a public instrument that will keep everyone informed of progress towards the Citizen Stewardship Goal:

Increase the number and the diversity of local citizen stewards and local governments that actively support and carry out the conservation and restoration activities that achieve healthy local streams, rivers and a vibrant Chesapeake Bay.