Sustainability and Diversity: Addressing Environmental and Social Issues

1. How Diversity Matters: The connection between Sustainability and Diversity Green Bag Lunch | March 25, 2015 Dara Sanoubane, dns10@psu.edu Michael Brahosky, mab39@psu.edu Office of the Vice Provost for Educational Equity

2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OAoz9EF_Ig Office of the Vice Provost for Educational Equity

3. Air & Water quality, Health issues, Infectious Diseases Instability, Displacements Pollution, Species Extinction, Deforestation Office of the Vice Provost for Educational Equity

4. Diversityis the process of recognizing our differences and similarities and creating an environment that capitalizes on them. Equityis the fairness in the way people are treated Office of the Vice Provost for Educational Equity

5. Why is it important to address diversity and equity issues in our sustainability efforts? http://www.census.gov/population/projections/files/analytical-document09.pdf Office of the Vice Provost for Educational Equity

6. The connection of the environment, economy, and society within the last year Pig poop fouling North Carolina Streams Environmental Impact: • High levels of bacterial found in streams and waterways. North Carolina’s DENR treats large swine farm operations as “non-discharge facilities” exempt from state rules on having to monitor waste found in rivers and streams. Economic Impact: • North Carolina is the second leading pork producing state behind Iowa. These farms generate so much waste it is too expensive to transport via pipeline or truck. Instead, pig feces is held in “cesspools” or dispersed by spraying “slurry” across fields ultimately leading to seepage into underground water sources and run-off into nearby streams. Social Impact: • Affecting the health of residents who are largely made up of minorities and the poor who are most impacted. Why, because those affected have the least amount of voice and resources to challenge big industries. As a result, they have little choice but to endure the unbearable smell and watch their property values depreciate. • Source: Environmental Health News

7. Educational Equity Green Team Strategic Sustainability Plan 2014-2015 Mission Statement: Recognizing its connection to matters of social justice and subsequent impact on the diverse communities we serve, it is the mission of the Educational Equity Green Team to promote the responsible stewardship of fiscal, natural, and human resources through ecologically sustainable practices. Social Justice: “Social Justice is the view that everyone deserves equal economic, political and social rights and opportunities.” -National Association of Social Workers Office of the Vice Provost for Educational Equity

8. Environmental and Social Issues Are Related SOCIAL Environmental Justice: “Environmental Justice is the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies.” -U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Social Justice IS Environmental Justice Poverty Human Health ENVIRONMENT Water & AirQuality Development ECONOMIC Risk Security Development

9. Educational Equity Green Team Strategic Sustainability Plan 2014-2015 Objectives Where do we want to go? What change do we want to see? Action Items How do we get there? How will we achieve the changes? Time Line When will we achieve this? Outcomes and Evaluations Did we get there/ did we make any changes? How do we know? Office of the Vice Provost for Educational Equity

10. Objectives Action Items Time Line Outcomes and Evaluations • Outcomes: 20% rate of attendance and participation among all Ed. Equity staff in Ed. Equity GreenTeam meetings, workshops, events, and website usage. To provide support for sustainability and diverse-ability efforts. Increase Educational Equity staff participation in Green Team Event • Monthly green team meetings. •  Workshops/events (various sustainability tours). • May 2015: (Pre) Surveystaff(self-report) re: participation in Green Team events•  May 2016: (Post) Survey staff(self- report) re: participation in Green Team events Increase knowledge and awareness of diversity and environmental issues. Workshops/events with emphasis on diversity and sustainability • May 2015: (Pre) Survey staff (self-report) re: level of awareness and/or interest in diversity.•  May 2016: (Post) Survey •Outcomes: 10% Increase staff knowledge and awareness regarding diversity and environmental issues. (From pre- to post-program questionnaires) Engage with other units to promote diversity values for sustainability endeavors. • Contact the Rock Ethics Institute and Sustainability Institute to propose an event. Contact at least two student groups to propose an event. Contact at least two other Green Teams to propose an event. • Fall semester: 1 collaborative event • Spring semester: 1 collaborative event •Outcomes: 2 collaborative sustainability events per academic year. To promote events and opportunities to participate/ contribute, highlight accomplishments of Ed. Equity members and others in the GT community. •Monthly Meetings. • Meeting Agendas/Minutes provided and made accessible via share drive. • Green Team Website. • Green Team pulse surveys. • Monthly updates of meeting minutes, website information and timely email notifications. •Outcomes: Provide easy accessibility and use of tools and resources (website, email notifications, meeting minutes). Office of the Vice Provost for Educational Equity

11. How does this apply to you? You@PSU Core Competencies & Behavior Example Teamwork and Leadership Goals • Level I - Participate as a team member in a collaborative environment within a diverse workforce • Level II - Seek out diverse opinions and ideas before making decision • Level III - Value opinions and ideas from a diverse population and recognize the impact of actions on different groups and the environment • Level IV - Mentor other staff with an emphasis of • Level V - Evaluate and enhance current practices and outreach efforts to ensure optimal support of diversity and the environment http://ohr.psu.edu/recruitment-and-compensation/job-responsibilities-worksheet/core-competencies-non-management/ Office of the Vice Provost for Educational Equity

12. You@PSU Core Competencies & Behavior Office of the Vice Provost for Educational Equity

13. Office of the Vice Provost for Educational Equity

14. Videos • Poverty (The business of) http://www.povertyinc.org/ • The Story of Stuff http://storyofstuff.org/ • Shelter in Place http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/shelter-place/ • Poison Fire http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/poison-fire/ • A River of Waste http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/river-waste/ • Tapped http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/tapped/ • Money Talks: Profits Before Patient Safety http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/money-talks-profits-before-patient-safety/ Office of the Vice Provost for Educational Equity

15. Activities • Social justice and Environmental justice: • Make 3 dice and on each surface, write social justice issues and environmental issues (e.g., Food Security, Poverty, Industrial Agriculture, Race, Risk Society, Deforestation, waste pollution, Infectious Diseases • So, say a student rolled: Poverty, Race, and Food Security, they would explain the connection between all of those topics and how social justice and sustainability are interrelated • Racism, Consumption and the environment: • Bring in different kinds of chocolate bars (Hershey, Fair Trade, Endangered Species. etc...) and discuss how people would make a decision on what to buy (cost, flavor, convenience, social and environmental costs) • Watch “The Story of Stuff” and/or part of “The Dark Side of Chocolate” • Discuss the impacts of labor, manufacturing and waste disposal laws • Objective: similar lessons with any product that we buy and many other factors could go into consuming that we may have to make visible for ourselves. Office of the Vice Provost for Educational Equity

16. Literature, Papers & Reports • Ciocirlan, C. & Pettersson, C. (2012). Does workforce diversity matter in the fight against climate change? An analysis of Fortune 500 companies. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 19(1), 47-62. • Friedman, T. L. (2008). Hot, flat, and crowded: Why we need a green revolution--and how it can renew America. Macmillan. • Mann, M. E. (2013). The hockey stick and the climate wars: Dispatches from the front lines. Columbia University Press. • Pearson, A.R. & Schuldt, J.P. (Dec. 2014). Facing the diversity crisis in climate science. Nature Climate Change, 4, 1039-1042. • U.S. Census Bureau. (2008). US population projections. US Census Bureau: Washington, D.C. Retrieved from http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/29429/title/The-Coming-Health-Crisis/ • U.S. Environmental Protection Agency [EPA]. (n.d.). Environmental Justice. Retrieved from http://www.epa.gov/environmentaljustice/basics/ejbackground.html • Jarvis, D. (2013). Environmental Justice and Social Work: A Call to Expand the Social Work Profession to Include Environmental Justice. Columbia Social Work Review, 4(1), 26-45. • Dorceta, E.T. (Jul. 2014).The State of Diversity in Environmental Organizations Report.University of Michgan, Office of the Vice Provost for Educational Equity

17. Penn State electrical engineering alumnus’ kiosks bring clean water to India Advait Kumar, a Penn State electrical engineering alumnus, saw something that changed his life. "One day I went to the backyard and I saw all these house workers queuing up to get their turn to fill water from our home," Kumar said. "I didn't understand why they were there." Office of the Vice Provost for Educational Equity

18. Thank You! Any Questions? Office of the Vice Provost for Educational Equity

19. Questions? Please type your questions into the chat box.

20. sustainability.psu.edu/greenteams

21. Resources • Videos • Presentations • Guides

22. Thank you for attending!

23. Discussion Questions • Feel free to use any of these questions, or ones that your Green Team creates. • Did your understanding of “sustainability” and “diversity” change after hearing the presentation and if so how? • What goals and action items does your unit plan to include in your strategic plan? • Does your unit Green Team have a strategic plan and if so, are you meeting progress goals? • What outcomes and evaluations do you employ to measure the success of your goals?