diff --git a/nav2_util/CMakeLists.txt b/nav2_util/CMakeLists.txt
index 1c8b9b1d64b..6a82f015113 100644
--- a/nav2_util/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/nav2_util/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -2,54 +2,36 @@ cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.5)
 project(nav2_util)
 
 find_package(ament_cmake REQUIRED)
+find_package(bond REQUIRED)
+find_package(bondcpp REQUIRED)
+find_package(geometry_msgs REQUIRED)
+find_package(lifecycle_msgs REQUIRED)
 find_package(nav2_common REQUIRED)
 find_package(nav2_msgs REQUIRED)
-find_package(tf2_ros REQUIRED)
-find_package(tf2 REQUIRED)
-find_package(tf2_geometry_msgs REQUIRED)
-find_package(geometry_msgs REQUIRED)
 find_package(nav_msgs REQUIRED)
+find_package(rcl_interfaces REQUIRED)
 find_package(rclcpp REQUIRED)
-find_package(lifecycle_msgs REQUIRED)
 find_package(rclcpp_action REQUIRED)
 find_package(rclcpp_lifecycle REQUIRED)
+find_package(std_msgs REQUIRED)
+find_package(tf2 REQUIRED)
 find_package(tf2_geometry_msgs REQUIRED)
-find_package(bondcpp REQUIRED)
-find_package(bond REQUIRED)
-find_package(action_msgs REQUIRED)
-
-set(dependencies
-    nav2_msgs
-    tf2_ros
-    tf2
-    tf2_geometry_msgs
-    geometry_msgs
-    nav_msgs
-    rclcpp
-    lifecycle_msgs
-    rclcpp_action
-    rclcpp_lifecycle
-    bondcpp
-    bond
-    action_msgs
-    rcl_interfaces
-)
+find_package(tf2_msgs REQUIRED)
+find_package(tf2_ros REQUIRED)
 
 nav2_package()
 
-include_directories(include)
-
 set(library_name ${PROJECT_NAME}_core)
+
 add_subdirectory(src)
 
 install(DIRECTORY include/
-  DESTINATION include/
+  DESTINATION include/${PROJECT_NAME}
 )
 
 if(BUILD_TESTING)
   find_package(ament_lint_auto REQUIRED)
   find_package(ament_cmake_pytest REQUIRED)
-  find_package(launch_testing_ament_cmake REQUIRED)
   # skip copyright linting
   set(ament_cmake_copyright_FOUND TRUE)
   ament_lint_auto_find_test_dependencies()
@@ -58,8 +40,23 @@ if(BUILD_TESTING)
   add_subdirectory(test)
 endif()
 
-ament_export_include_directories(include)
+ament_export_include_directories(include/${PROJECT_NAME})
 ament_export_libraries(${library_name})
-ament_export_dependencies(${dependencies})
+ament_export_dependencies(
+  bondcpp
+  geometry_msgs
+  lifecycle_msgs
+  nav2_msgs
+  nav_msgs
+  rcl_interfaces
+  rclcpp
+  rclcpp_action
+  rclcpp_lifecycle
+  std_msgs
+  tf2
+  tf2_geometry_msgs
+  tf2_ros
+)
+ament_export_targets(${library_name})
 
 ament_package()
diff --git a/nav2_util/include/nav2_util/lifecycle_node.hpp b/nav2_util/include/nav2_util/lifecycle_node.hpp
index 7f1ef071570..d652982aef3 100644
--- a/nav2_util/include/nav2_util/lifecycle_node.hpp
+++ b/nav2_util/include/nav2_util/lifecycle_node.hpp
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
 #include <string>
 #include <thread>
 
+#include "rcl_interfaces/msg/parameter_descriptor.hpp"
 #include "nav2_util/node_thread.hpp"
 #include "rclcpp_lifecycle/lifecycle_node.hpp"
 #include "rclcpp/rclcpp.hpp"
diff --git a/nav2_util/package.xml b/nav2_util/package.xml
index 9de53f5fd52..26274e10d69 100644
--- a/nav2_util/package.xml
+++ b/nav2_util/package.xml
@@ -10,37 +10,31 @@
   <license>BSD-3-Clause</license>
 
   <buildtool_depend>ament_cmake</buildtool_depend>
-  <build_depend>libboost-program-options-dev</build_depend>
+
   <depend>nav2_common</depend>
 
+  <depend>bond</depend>
+  <depend>bondcpp</depend>
+  <depend>builtin_interfaces</depend>
   <depend>geometry_msgs</depend>
-  <depend>rclcpp</depend>
+  <depend>lifecycle_msgs</depend>
   <depend>nav2_msgs</depend>
   <depend>nav_msgs</depend>
-  <depend>tf2</depend>
-  <depend>tf2_ros</depend>
-  <depend>tf2_geometry_msgs</depend>
-  <depend>lifecycle_msgs</depend>
-  <depend>bondcpp</depend>
-  <depend>bond</depend>
+  <depend>rcl_interfaces</depend>
+  <depend>rclcpp</depend>
   <depend>rclcpp_action</depend>
   <depend>rclcpp_lifecycle</depend>
-  <depend>launch</depend>
-  <depend>launch_testing_ament_cmake</depend>
-  <depend>action_msgs</depend>
-  <depend>rcl_interfaces</depend>
-
-  <exec_depend>libboost-program-options</exec_depend>
+  <depend>std_msgs</depend>
+  <depend>tf2</depend>
+  <depend>tf2_geometry_msgs</depend>
+  <depend>tf2_msgs</depend>
+  <depend>tf2_ros</depend>
 
   <test_depend>ament_lint_common</test_depend>
   <test_depend>ament_lint_auto</test_depend>
   <test_depend>ament_cmake_gtest</test_depend>
-  <test_depend>launch</test_depend>
-  <test_depend>launch_testing_ament_cmake</test_depend>
   <test_depend>std_srvs</test_depend>
   <test_depend>test_msgs</test_depend>
-  <test_depend>action_msgs</test_depend>
-  <test_depend>launch_testing_ros</test_depend>
   <test_depend>ament_cmake_pytest</test_depend>
 
   <export>
diff --git a/nav2_util/src/CMakeLists.txt b/nav2_util/src/CMakeLists.txt
index 6ddcdc6d32f..96f69b54582 100644
--- a/nav2_util/src/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/nav2_util/src/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -10,34 +10,41 @@ add_library(${library_name} SHARED
   odometry_utils.cpp
   array_parser.cpp
 )
-
-ament_target_dependencies(${library_name}
-  rclcpp
-  nav2_msgs
-  tf2
-  tf2_ros
-  nav_msgs
-  geometry_msgs
-  lifecycle_msgs
-  rclcpp_lifecycle
-  tf2_geometry_msgs
-  bondcpp
+target_include_directories(${library_name}
+  PUBLIC
+  "$<BUILD_INTERFACE:${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/include>"
+  "$<INSTALL_INTERFACE:include/${PROJECT_NAME}>")
+target_link_libraries(${library_name} PUBLIC
+  bondcpp::bondcpp
+  ${geometry_msgs_TARGETS}
+  ${lifecycle_msgs_TARGETS}
+  ${nav2_msgs_TARGETS}
+  ${nav_msgs_TARGETS}
+  ${rcl_interfaces_TARGETS}
+  rclcpp::rclcpp
+  rclcpp_action::rclcpp_action
+  rclcpp_lifecycle::rclcpp_lifecycle
+  tf2_ros::tf2_ros
+  tf2::tf2
+  ${tf2_geometry_msgs_TARGETS}
+)
+target_link_libraries(${library_name} PRIVATE
+  ${bond_TARGETS}
 )
 
 add_executable(lifecycle_bringup
   lifecycle_bringup_commandline.cpp
 )
-target_link_libraries(lifecycle_bringup ${library_name})
+target_link_libraries(lifecycle_bringup PRIVATE ${library_name} rclcpp::rclcpp)
 
 add_executable(base_footprint_publisher
   base_footprint_publisher.cpp
 )
-target_link_libraries(base_footprint_publisher ${library_name})
-
-find_package(Boost REQUIRED COMPONENTS program_options)
+target_link_libraries(base_footprint_publisher PRIVATE ${library_name} rclcpp::rclcpp ${tf2_msgs_TARGETS})
 
 install(TARGETS
   ${library_name}
+  EXPORT ${library_name}
   ARCHIVE DESTINATION lib
   LIBRARY DESTINATION lib
   RUNTIME DESTINATION bin
diff --git a/nav2_util/src/base_footprint_publisher.cpp b/nav2_util/src/base_footprint_publisher.cpp
index f3b6791db44..144ba14ab66 100644
--- a/nav2_util/src/base_footprint_publisher.cpp
+++ b/nav2_util/src/base_footprint_publisher.cpp
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
 
 #include <memory>
 
-#include "nav2_util/base_footprint_publisher.hpp"
+#include "base_footprint_publisher.hpp"
 
 int main(int argc, char ** argv)
 {
diff --git a/nav2_util/include/nav2_util/base_footprint_publisher.hpp b/nav2_util/src/base_footprint_publisher.hpp
similarity index 96%
rename from nav2_util/include/nav2_util/base_footprint_publisher.hpp
rename to nav2_util/src/base_footprint_publisher.hpp
index 52bcdb53eb0..25d58d504bf 100644
--- a/nav2_util/include/nav2_util/base_footprint_publisher.hpp
+++ b/nav2_util/src/base_footprint_publisher.hpp
@@ -12,8 +12,8 @@
 // See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 // limitations under the License.
 
-#ifndef NAV2_UTIL__BASE_FOOTPRINT_PUBLISHER_HPP_
-#define NAV2_UTIL__BASE_FOOTPRINT_PUBLISHER_HPP_
+#ifndef BASE_FOOTPRINT_PUBLISHER_HPP_
+#define BASE_FOOTPRINT_PUBLISHER_HPP_
 
 #include <string>
 #include <memory>
@@ -126,4 +126,4 @@ class BaseFootprintPublisher : public rclcpp::Node
 
 }  // end namespace nav2_util
 
-#endif  // NAV2_UTIL__BASE_FOOTPRINT_PUBLISHER_HPP_
+#endif  // BASE_FOOTPRINT_PUBLISHER_HPP_
diff --git a/nav2_util/src/lifecycle_utils.cpp b/nav2_util/src/lifecycle_utils.cpp
index c778e2abdf7..e84bbbc55b7 100644
--- a/nav2_util/src/lifecycle_utils.cpp
+++ b/nav2_util/src/lifecycle_utils.cpp
@@ -13,16 +13,13 @@
 // limitations under the License.
 
 #include <chrono>
+#include <stdexcept>
 #include <string>
-#include <thread>
 #include <vector>
 
-#include "lifecycle_msgs/srv/change_state.hpp"
-#include "lifecycle_msgs/srv/get_state.hpp"
-#include "nav2_util/lifecycle_service_client.hpp"
+#include "lifecycle_msgs/msg/transition.hpp"
 
-using std::string;
-using lifecycle_msgs::msg::Transition;
+#include "nav2_util/lifecycle_service_client.hpp"
 
 namespace nav2_util
 {
@@ -34,7 +31,7 @@ namespace nav2_util
       try { \
         fn; \
         break; \
-      } catch (std::runtime_error & e) { \
+      } catch (const std::runtime_error & e) { \
         ++count; \
         if (count > (retries)) { \
           throw e;} \
@@ -53,10 +50,10 @@ static void startupLifecycleNode(
   // service calls still frequently hang. To get reliable startup it's necessary
   // to timeout the service call and retry it when that happens.
   RETRY(
-    sc.change_state(Transition::TRANSITION_CONFIGURE, service_call_timeout),
+    sc.change_state(lifecycle_msgs::msg::Transition::TRANSITION_CONFIGURE, service_call_timeout),
     retries);
   RETRY(
-    sc.change_state(Transition::TRANSITION_ACTIVATE, service_call_timeout),
+    sc.change_state(lifecycle_msgs::msg::Transition::TRANSITION_ACTIVATE, service_call_timeout),
     retries);
 }
 
@@ -81,10 +78,10 @@ static void resetLifecycleNode(
   // service calls still frequently hang. To get reliable reset it's necessary
   // to timeout the service call and retry it when that happens.
   RETRY(
-    sc.change_state(Transition::TRANSITION_DEACTIVATE, service_call_timeout),
+    sc.change_state(lifecycle_msgs::msg::Transition::TRANSITION_DEACTIVATE, service_call_timeout),
     retries);
   RETRY(
-    sc.change_state(Transition::TRANSITION_CLEANUP, service_call_timeout),
+    sc.change_state(lifecycle_msgs::msg::Transition::TRANSITION_CLEANUP, service_call_timeout),
     retries);
 }
 
diff --git a/nav2_util/src/string_utils.cpp b/nav2_util/src/string_utils.cpp
index 47d86aaf577..df447b54921 100644
--- a/nav2_util/src/string_utils.cpp
+++ b/nav2_util/src/string_utils.cpp
@@ -15,14 +15,12 @@
 #include "nav2_util/string_utils.hpp"
 #include <string>
 
-using std::string;
-
 namespace nav2_util
 {
 
-std::string strip_leading_slash(const string & in)
+std::string strip_leading_slash(const std::string & in)
 {
-  string out = in;
+  std::string out = in;
 
   if ((!in.empty()) && (in[0] == '/')) {
     out.erase(0, 1);
@@ -31,13 +29,13 @@ std::string strip_leading_slash(const string & in)
   return out;
 }
 
-Tokens split(const string & tokenstring, char delimiter)
+Tokens split(const std::string & tokenstring, char delimiter)
 {
   Tokens tokens;
 
   size_t current_pos = 0;
   size_t pos = 0;
-  while ((pos = tokenstring.find(delimiter, current_pos)) != string::npos) {
+  while ((pos = tokenstring.find(delimiter, current_pos)) != std::string::npos) {
     tokens.push_back(tokenstring.substr(current_pos, pos - current_pos));
     current_pos = pos + 1;
   }
diff --git a/nav2_util/test/CMakeLists.txt b/nav2_util/test/CMakeLists.txt
index 4c0f2747210..14d774c2986 100644
--- a/nav2_util/test/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/nav2_util/test/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 ament_add_gtest(test_execution_timer test_execution_timer.cpp)
+target_link_libraries(test_execution_timer ${library_name})
 
 ament_add_gtest(test_node_utils test_node_utils.cpp)
 target_link_libraries(test_node_utils ${library_name})
@@ -7,56 +8,46 @@ find_package(std_srvs REQUIRED)
 find_package(test_msgs REQUIRED)
 
 ament_add_gtest(test_service_client test_service_client.cpp)
-ament_target_dependencies(test_service_client std_srvs)
-target_link_libraries(test_service_client ${library_name})
+target_link_libraries(test_service_client ${library_name} ${std_srvs_TARGETS})
 
 ament_add_gtest(test_string_utils test_string_utils.cpp)
 target_link_libraries(test_string_utils ${library_name})
 
 find_package(rclcpp_lifecycle REQUIRED)
 ament_add_gtest(test_lifecycle_utils test_lifecycle_utils.cpp)
-ament_target_dependencies(test_lifecycle_utils rclcpp_lifecycle)
-target_link_libraries(test_lifecycle_utils ${library_name})
+target_link_libraries(test_lifecycle_utils ${library_name} rclcpp_lifecycle::rclcpp_lifecycle)
 
 ament_add_gtest(test_actions test_actions.cpp)
-ament_target_dependencies(test_actions rclcpp_action test_msgs)
-target_link_libraries(test_actions ${library_name})
+target_link_libraries(test_actions ${library_name} rclcpp_action::rclcpp_action ${test_msgs_TARGETS})
 
 ament_add_gtest(test_lifecycle_node test_lifecycle_node.cpp)
-ament_target_dependencies(test_lifecycle_node rclcpp_lifecycle)
-target_link_libraries(test_lifecycle_node ${library_name})
+target_link_libraries(test_lifecycle_node ${library_name} rclcpp_lifecycle::rclcpp_lifecycle)
 
 ament_add_gtest(test_lifecycle_cli_node test_lifecycle_cli_node.cpp)
-ament_target_dependencies(test_lifecycle_cli_node rclcpp_lifecycle)
-target_link_libraries(test_lifecycle_cli_node ${library_name})
+target_link_libraries(test_lifecycle_cli_node ${library_name} rclcpp_lifecycle::rclcpp_lifecycle)
 
 ament_add_gtest(test_geometry_utils test_geometry_utils.cpp)
-ament_target_dependencies(test_geometry_utils geometry_msgs)
-target_link_libraries(test_geometry_utils ${library_name})
+target_link_libraries(test_geometry_utils ${library_name} ${geometry_msgs_TARGETS})
 
 ament_add_gtest(test_odometry_utils test_odometry_utils.cpp)
-ament_target_dependencies(test_odometry_utils nav_msgs geometry_msgs)
-target_link_libraries(test_odometry_utils ${library_name})
+target_link_libraries(test_odometry_utils ${library_name} ${nav_msgs_TARGETS} ${geometry_msgs_TARGETS})
 
 ament_add_gtest(test_robot_utils test_robot_utils.cpp)
-ament_target_dependencies(test_robot_utils geometry_msgs)
-target_link_libraries(test_robot_utils ${library_name})
+target_link_libraries(test_robot_utils ${library_name} ${geometry_msgs_TARGETS})
 
 ament_add_gtest(test_base_footprint_publisher test_base_footprint_publisher.cpp)
-ament_target_dependencies(test_base_footprint_publisher geometry_msgs)
-target_link_libraries(test_base_footprint_publisher ${library_name})
+target_include_directories(test_base_footprint_publisher PRIVATE "$<BUILD_INTERFACE:${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/src>")
+
+target_link_libraries(test_base_footprint_publisher ${library_name} tf2_ros::tf2_ros rclcpp::rclcpp ${geometry_msgs_TARGETS})
 
 ament_add_gtest(test_array_parser test_array_parser.cpp)
 target_link_libraries(test_array_parser ${library_name})
 
 ament_add_gtest(test_twist_publisher test_twist_publisher.cpp)
-ament_target_dependencies(test_twist_publisher rclcpp_lifecycle)
-target_link_libraries(test_twist_publisher ${library_name})
+target_link_libraries(test_twist_publisher ${library_name} rclcpp::rclcpp ${geometry_msgs_TARGETS})
 
 ament_add_gtest(test_twist_subscriber test_twist_subscriber.cpp)
-ament_target_dependencies(test_twist_subscriber rclcpp_lifecycle)
-target_link_libraries(test_twist_subscriber ${library_name})
+target_link_libraries(test_twist_subscriber ${library_name} rclcpp::rclcpp ${geometry_msgs_TARGETS})
 
 ament_add_gtest(test_validation_messages test_validation_messages.cpp)
-ament_target_dependencies(test_validation_messages rclcpp_lifecycle)
-target_link_libraries(test_validation_messages ${library_name})
\ No newline at end of file
+target_link_libraries(test_validation_messages ${library_name} ${builtin_interfaces_TARGETS} ${std_msgs_TARGETS} ${geometry_msgs_TARGETS})
diff --git a/nav2_util/test/test_base_footprint_publisher.cpp b/nav2_util/test/test_base_footprint_publisher.cpp
index 47dc83c7f31..cd788831325 100644
--- a/nav2_util/test/test_base_footprint_publisher.cpp
+++ b/nav2_util/test/test_base_footprint_publisher.cpp
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
 #include <string>
 #include <memory>
 
-#include "nav2_util/base_footprint_publisher.hpp"
+#include "base_footprint_publisher.hpp"
 #include "gtest/gtest.h"
 #include "tf2/exceptions.h"