1 / 13

Environmental Justice Network In Action

building relationships, increasing capacity, and improving service delivery. Environmental Justice Network In Action. Presented by: Michael Davis. What is Environmental Justice?. Equitable distribution of risks and benefits Inclusion of affected groups in planning and decision making

ronny
Download Presentation

Environmental Justice Network In Action

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. building relationships, increasing capacity, and improving service delivery Environmental Justice Network In Action Presented by: Michael Davis

  2. What is Environmental Justice? • Equitable distribution of risks and benefits • Inclusion of affected groups in planning and decision making Why Is EJ Important? • Right thing to do • Title VI • Social Bottom Line • SPU Strategic Business Plan • Mayor’s Race & Social Justice Initiative • Rate Payer Equity

  3. EJNA Beginnings • Local Hazardous Waste Management (LHWMP) funding • Partnerships • Immigrant & Refugee Community Based Organizations (CBOs) • Local Governmental Organizations • Non-governmental Organizations • Community Groups

  4. WHAT ARE THE CHALLENGES • The one-size fits all approach isn’t working • Foreign born population doubled to 268,300, 15% of King County population (1990-2000 census) • How to make information and programs accessible to all communities • Joint project planning and reciprocal training • How do we share power • Can we model equitable community agency partnerships?

  5. ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE NEEDS ASSESSMENT To address these challenges the Local Hazardous Waste Management Program, together with Community Based Organizations (CBOs), other local government organizations, universities and community participants, established the Environmental Justice Needs Assessment (EJNA) project. PROJECT GOALS • To establish and build reciprocal relationships between all participants to increase access to information and services. • To jointly conduct a needs assessment to identify what the top environmental health needs and concerns are of immigrant and refugee communities. • To identify service delivery strategies that work for the community.

  6. Needs Assessment • Conducting focus groups • Doing surveys at events and in peoples homes

  7. Training Providing training based on identified community concerns, and other partner interests on: • Household Hazardous Waste • Low-Income Rate Assistance • Water & Energy Conservation • Weatherization & Indoor Air Quality • Recycling & Composting • Environmental Health • Seafood Safety • Water Quality • Green Gardening • Public Safety

  8. Field Trips EJNA offers the following field trips to reinforce the community trainings: • Cedar River Watershed • Transfer Station • Duwamish River • Ballard Locks • Water Quality Lab • University of Washington • Longfellow Creek

  9. Community Events Partnering with community to do outreach at community events on: • choosing and using less toxic and non toxic products for home and garden use, • proper disposal of waste • recycling • water and energy conservation • watersheds and water quality • indoor air quality

  10. Community Groups 7 Community Meetings 52 Focus Groups 12 Festivals 28 Field Trips 46 # of community participants 616 Community Training & Presentations 57 # of community participants 710 Green Home Kits Distributed 800+ Languages Served 12 Outcomes (2002-2005)

  11. Outcomes • Building relationships of trust with the community • Creating a community-driven project • Reaching audiences the program has not reached before • Increasing equitable distribution of services • Including communities in planning and decision-making • Increasing Race & Social Justice • Trying to do the right thing

  12. Lessons Learned • Reaching community members by neighborhood vs. language group • Partner. Partner. Partner. You can’t do it all. Build a strong and diverse base to increase flexibility and address community needs. • Involve community members in the development of programs and messages in the twinkle stage. • Once concerns have been identified, do what needs to get done to address issues affecting the community. • Layering information/presentations with field trips closes the loop. • Just because people are from the same ethnic group does not mean that they think & act alike. • When things seem stuck try and keep the cross cultural piece in mind.

  13. Our Project Partners • International District Housing Alliance • Horn of Africa • Somali Community Services • Asian Pacific Islander Women and Family Services Filipino community & Samoan community • Pasefica • Khmer Community of Seattle and King County • Local Hazardous Waste Management Program • Seattle-King County Public Health • Seattle Public Utilities • UW Center for Ecogenetics and Environmental Health • Seattle City Light • Environmental Coalition of South Seattle • American Lung Association of Washington

More Related