Environmental Concepts, ConsideredThe Buzz Words blog series explores concepts that are critical to the environmental movement, and to the world at large. This series does not offer definitions or proclamations. This is our chance to think about, and bring to light, some tricky and timely concepts. We may not have the answers, but we're here to ask the questions, and to offer our thoughts. Climate justice. Food justice. Environmental justice. In the age of increasing income inequality, growing prison populations, and #blacklivesmatter – where does the environmental movement stand on this profound and tricky issue? Well … it’s complicated. Justice is a firmly human concept, and it’s almost entirely based on subjective experience. Remember the last great nature video you watched? Remember when that beautiful cheetah, mother of 3 cubs, was sprinting her heart out to catch a baby caribou to sustain her and her babies? And that caribou family who’s newborn calf had just set foot on his wobbly legs? Who are you rooting for? What’s justice in this scenario? What is a just outcome? I suppose that if we had to stretch the concept to apply, justice could only be understood on a systems level – such that justice is the balance that both species experience in the opportunity to hunt, and run. But what about natural disasters? What about the earthquake that devastated Nepal? How could the concept of fairness and justice apply? And zooming still further out, how do we understand the 6th extinction as “man-made” and deplorable, when the five extinctions that preceded it were simply acts of god / time / geology / scientific forces / random events? Is this current extinction spree wrong because we’re the culprits? And our violence is distinct from the violence of nature? What is it about justice that’s so particular to us human animals? There is, of course, no universal justice. A horrible act of violence and terrorism for one is an act of the utmost justice and right for another. Injustice, inequity, unfairness for some is quite alright for others. So how do we navigate the murky waters of justice and use it as a tool for good, without oversimplifying and falling back on familiar slogans and dominant myths? The environmental movement, with its ideology rooted in both worlds – the world of people and the world of nature - can offer some important insights into the fuzzy realm of justice. Certainly, it’s not fair that some people take on the environmental burdens of our industry and economy – and of course these “some people” are often poor people of color. When people demand justice, as they demanded in the antebellum south, as they demand today in Baltimore, and tomorrow in your back yard, they are proclaiming their right to a great many number of things – most generally, the freedom for self-determination. The freedom from violence, unjustified and systematic; the freedom from imprisonment of the body and mind; the freedom to live and let live. And therein lies the key to understanding environmental justice. At the end of the day, justice is about Freedom and Oppression. A single act of violence, conservation, generosity, or dissent can only be understood through the lens of justice if it creates or restricts space for freedom in the world. It’s not whether or not the cheetah kills the caribou that determines justice, it’s that the cheetah gets to hunt at all, that both animals have a chance at survival, and that both species have the opportunity to thrive. Justice is about securing access and opportunity to the means for surviving and thriving for all species. There's no guarantee that a drought wont come and damage our material reality, but it's the knowledge, skills, and personal connections that all living things rely on for survival that are our most powerful tools for justice. The environmental movement, and any movement for that matter, must commit itself to freedom, liberation, and profound agency if it is to proclaim its allegiance to justice. - Eugenia Manwelyan 5 Questions for Liz SarnoLiz Sarno is a recent graduate from American University with a degree in environmental science and minor in Chinese language. She lives in Arlington, Virginia where she works at a consulting firm that works directly with the federal government. After going abroad to Beijing in undergrad, Liz developed a love for traveling and trying new things. She also spent a month doing trail and campsite restoration in the Rocky Mountains, which developed her love for camping, backpacking and Colorado. As an environmentalist, Liz has a real appreciation for spending time outdoors, health and fitness, and locally grown food. What work do you do and what lessons from Eco Practicum do you apply at your job?
As a consultant, I help solve problems for the Federal government. Eco Practicum helped me develop my communications skills with my peers-a trait very useful in a large consulting firm. Additionally, Eco Practicum developed my passion for agriculture and experimental, hands-on learning. This drew me to work for a firm that has a large presence at the USDA, as well as get involved in initiatives that are student and youth led. What are the most fulfilling and most challenging parts of what you do? The most fulfilling part of this job is knowing that your work directly affects people living in this country. The most challenging parts would have to be time management and meeting the client’s, the firm’s and your own expectations. Describe a moment or situation that helped you realize your passion? Honestly, participating in Eco Practicum really developed my passion and knowledge about the agricultural crisis in this country. It was a great way to supplement my education outside of the classroom. Additionally, the Rocky Mountain class I took really developed my passion for Public Lands Management. What advice do you have for people looking for meaningful work? Think about what kind of work makes you happy and try to identify what job will enable you to do that. You can also get involved in activities outside of work that will feed your passions-be creative! And there’s no harm in trying something, not liking it and switching jobs. It happens to the best of us. What’s one thing you think everyone should know how to do? Everyone one should know how to stop a running toilet. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve struggled with this—youtube and wikihow are life savers! 5 Questions for Eco Practicum Program Director, Eugenia Manwelyan, About Education What’s the difference between formal and informal education?
This isn’t the most technical answer, but the biggest difference I’ve observed is that at school, from elementary school through college, even if students like the class, they would still rather not be there. Face it: even in the case of an engaging interesting class, it’s good news when class is cancelled. We have to remember that education as it is formalized and standardized in the United States is deeply ideological, in that it's designed to reflect and recreate the dominant sociopolitical paradigm. Informal education, on the other hand, is not one formal thing, so its structures reflect the goals of the educators and participants, which makes it a much more varied and creative category. Informal education is a choice. It requires more conscious buy-in on the part of the students, because they’re called on to participate in their learning in an entirely different way. What is learning? I’m learning a lot about learning from my two year old son. I'm convinced that learning and exploring is our natural state. In fact, we couldn’t survive without this urge to learn. The world around us and within us is just so interesting. We’re naturally called upon to mine it, engage with it using all our many senses, and try to figure it out. Since learning is a survival tool, what and how we learn is deeply impacted by how we survive in our society. Today, in this country, survival is linked so deeply with participation in the economy, that we often don’t see the distinction between the two. So, school teaches us how to participate in this particular economy, in part by stratifying us according to class, and by our ability to sit still and take instruction from authority figures. You didn't just learn math in school, you learned that math is important (more important than farming, for instance), you learned that knowledge was held by some (the teacher, the textbook) and transmitted to others (the students), and that it was the people with the knowledge that had the power to determine how much and how well you learned, and that this series of evaluations (your report card) was a permanent record of your intellectual abilities. WHAT you learn and HOW you learn it are equally important. How does Eco Practicum do education? We’ve pieced together an educational method borrowing principles from critical pedagogy, place-based learning, as well as democratic and experiential education. This means that we focus on deepening understanding through hands-on engagement, and we honor the knowledge and experiences that our participants bring to the table by creating a horizontal classroom, where the person implementing the curriculum is part teacher, part mentor, and part facilitator. Who’s the best educator you've ever had or worked with? That’s easy, that would be my partner, Tal Beery. He has an amazing ability to keep calm and confident when things get uncomfortable, and he is extremely observant. He’s creative in his lesson planning, he is versatile in his teaching methodology, and he’s charismatic. There are some things you can teach, and he’s spent a tremendous amount of time learning how to be a great educator, but I also think he was born with a certain talent for teaching. What is the most useful thing you've recently learned, and how did you learn it? I feel like I’m learning something new every day – how to be a partner, a mother, an artist, an educator, a decent person … and those lessons generally involve some painful and humbling experiences. But the one distinct useful thing I’ve recently learned is how to roast a whole chicken, and I learned it through a connection with an incredible farmer in the Catskills who gifted me one of his chickens and inspired me to experiment and try something new. It was the best chicken I’ve ever had. 5 Questions for Jacob ClydeAfter graduating from the School of Architecture and Planning at SUNY Buffalo in 2013, Jacob Clyde was ready to explore more of what the world had to offer. He spent the next year and a half in the beautiful city of Charleston, South Carolina where he found his new passion: Home Energy Retrofits. The friendly folks in the City of Charleston taught Jacob a lot about the delicate balance between the preservation of existing buildings and their surrounding environment. When he headed back to Upstate NY Jacob began working fulltime as an Energy Advisor at Halco Energy where he currently helps homeowners lessen their carbon footprint and live healthier lifestyles. What work do you do and what lessons from Eco Practicum do you apply at your job?
I currently work as an Energy Advisor for Halco Energy. As an Energy Advisor I meet with homeowners all across Central NY where I provide free home energy audits in collaboration with NYSERDA. From my experience with Eco Practicum, I certainly gained a respect for all parties involved in the effort to decrease our carbon footprint at the local, state and national levels. What are the most fulfilling and most challenging parts of what you do? The most fulfilling part of my job is when a homeowner can take full advantage of the numerous opportunities we provide and finally realize the comfort of a warm, energy efficient home. The deep energy retrofits performed on these homes last forever and eventually pay for themselves in energy savings! The most challenging portion of this job is when homeowners only look at renewable energy as a means of saving money. I regularly spend a lot of time explaining the numerous benefits of renewable energy, because although it is a large investment, the benefits largely outweigh the cost. Describe a moment or situation that helped you realize your passion? I realized my passion for what I do when I was down south doing something I hated. I was working for a construction company that did not consider sustainability in any part of their process. This is when I began visioning what I wanted to do with my knowledge, passion and drive. What advice do you have for people looking for meaningful volunteer opportunities? Follow your heart! Seriously. Although this is one of the biggest clichés, I wouldn’t be enjoying every day of “work” if I didn’t. I hated what I was doing before; I didn’t agree with the company philosophy, so I moved on. I would also say just get out there and try something, go fail at something, because I found that when I was at my lowest I looked to what made me happy and went right after it. What’s one thing you think everyone should know how to do? I think everyone should know how to talk to people, how to socialize. They say it’s not what you know, but who you know. Having the ability to converse and share ideas gets the ball rolling and before you know it you’re on to something you didn’t even know about 5 minutes prior. This can open up a world of opportunity! |
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