Data-Driven Community Intervention

Michelle Moore

Identify an environmental justice issue in your community (urban heat islands, tree inequity, air quality disparities, access to green space, etc.). Conduct community-engaged research including data collection, mapping, and community consultation. Develop a design intervention that addresses the issue while centering community voices, avoiding gentrification, and building on existing community assets.

5 weeks

Parameters

• Focus on the intersection of environmental and social equity

• Conduct original data collection (temperature readings, tree counts, surveys, etc.)

• Engage community members in the research process

• Examine historical policies (redlining, zoning) that created inequities

• Design must benefit existing residents without displacement

• Include both immediate interventions and long-term systemic change

Deliverables

• Environmental justice audit of chosen issue (data, maps, community input)

• Community engagement documentation (photos, interview transcripts, meeting notes)

• Design proposal addressing the issue at multiple scales

• Implementation plan with community partnership strategy

• Policy recommendations document

• Presentation suitable for city government or community board

• Reflection on positionality and ethical considerations (1000 words)
  

Resources

• Report: “Centering Equity to Address Extreme Heat”, Urban Institute

• Article: “Four Ways to Seed Climate Resilience and Equity in Tree-Planting Initiatives”, Urban Institute

• Tree Equity Score, https://www.treeequityscore.org/

• Article: “Study Maps Urban Heat Islands With Focus on Environmental Justice”, State of the Planet

• The Color of Law by Richard Rothstein

• American Forests, https://www.americanforests.org/

• EPA Environmental Justice Screening and Mapping Tool (EJSCREEN)

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Listen to this episode of Climify Season 4, episode 12 here.