Environmental Justice
Environmental Justice Network in Action (EJNA) is a partnership between Seattle Public Utilities, community based organizations (CBO), non-profit and government agencies.
EJNA Project Goals
- To develop reciprocal relationships with Community Based Organizations (CBO), non-profit and government agencies.
- To jointly conduct needs assessments that identify what are the top environmental and environmental health concerns for low income, people of color, and immigrant and refugee communities.
- To research and identify public engagement strategies that work best and share with others.
- To increase the capacity of CBOs, non-profit and government agency partners design, deliver and evaluate programs and services.
What is Environmental Justice?
Environmental Justice means equally distributing the risks and benefits of actions that affect the health of people and the environment. It includes involving the affected parties in the decision making process.
What are we doing?
- Building Capacity
We are building reciprocal relationships between CBO, non-profit and government agencies. All project partners contribute to the design, implementation and evaluation of EJNA. - Community Assessments
We are asking people in groups and through questionnaires, what are the big environmental health problems in their neighborhoods, what are their cultural and family norms related to the environmental health, and how they prefer to be communicated to. - Making Connections
We have learned that many of the communities we partner with respond best to visual and hands on activities. Community partners receive relevant training and are supported in doing outreach in their and other communities. For example, when we do community presentations about solid waste we try and pair them with a field trip to the transfer station landfill or reuse/recycling facility to make the information more relevant. When we set up outreach booths at events and festivals, we incorporate hands on activities as much as possible.
For more information contact:
Michael Davis, michael.davis@seattle.gov (206) 615-1376
Marcella Wilson, marcella.wilson@seattle.gov (206) 386-4016
Sheryl Shapiro, sheryl.shapiro@seattle.gov (206) 615-1443