PROJECTS
UNDER CONSTRUCTION
Group Projects
Climate Impacts and Interconnections
The aim of this assignment is to expand the conversation about our climate crisis by drawing attention to how it is connected to (m)any of the other social, economic, political, environmental crises we are facing today: systemic racism & white supremacism in its many manifestations, severe biodiversity loss/6th Great Extinction, food insecurity/injustice/apartheid, homelessness, violence in its many forms (gender-based violence, police violence, war, structural violence, etc), chronic and infectious disease epidemics, environmental injustice, economic precarity and inequality, neocolonialism, the global refugee crisis, heterosexism/homophobia/transphobia, crisis of addiction & overdoses we’re seeing, etc.
The aim of this assignment is to expand the conversation about our climate crisis by drawing attention to how it is connected to (m)any of the other social, economic, political, environmental crises we are facing today: systemic racism & white supremacism in its many manifestations, severe biodiversity loss/6th Great Extinction, food insecurity/injustice/apartheid, homelessness, violence in its many forms (gender-based violence, police violence, war, structural violence, etc), chronic and infectious disease epidemics, environmental injustice, economic precarity and inequality, neocolonialism, the global refugee crisis, heterosexism/homophobia/transphobia, crisis of addiction & overdoses we’re seeing, etc.
Fenced in green space with litter in Southeast San Diego
Community Climate Resilience Mapping
Many tools and initiatives intended to measure the ability of local communities to withstand climate impacts stop at measuring vulnerability (e.g., having a low climate equity score, or high environmental injustice score resulting in being identified as a “community of concern”) without 1) an adequate explanation of the historical and structural factors that contribute(d) to that injustice; 2) a complementary assessment of all the good that is also present in that community and can be built upon (e.g., the existing resources and infrastructure, the array of talented, committed human beings who live there, the sense of cultural or historical pride that may exist and can be tapped into, the social and relational infrastructure that may exist, hidden from broader public view); and 3) clear, concrete and specific recommendations for what can be done (programs, policies, infrastructure investment, community organizing, etc) to strengthen community (climate) resilience. There is also a tendency, when talking about “climate resilience” to focus on adaptation and preparedness in the face of specific weather events (episodes of extreme heat, unusual precipitation events) or other specific dangers linked to climate change (coastal flooding, wildfires) without enough regard for the slower-moving crises (child poverty, extreme inequality, environmental racism, addiction, depression, houselessness, violence, health inequities, etc) that precede and are amplified and exacerbated by climate impacts. The project involves researching a local community in order to assess its 1) assets/strengths; 2) climate-related risks (including “pre-existing conditions” of structural injustices and their impacts); and 3) resilience in the face of those risks.
Many tools and initiatives intended to measure the ability of local communities to withstand climate impacts stop at measuring vulnerability (e.g., having a low climate equity score, or high environmental injustice score resulting in being identified as a “community of concern”) without 1) an adequate explanation of the historical and structural factors that contribute(d) to that injustice; 2) a complementary assessment of all the good that is also present in that community and can be built upon (e.g., the existing resources and infrastructure, the array of talented, committed human beings who live there, the sense of cultural or historical pride that may exist and can be tapped into, the social and relational infrastructure that may exist, hidden from broader public view); and 3) clear, concrete and specific recommendations for what can be done (programs, policies, infrastructure investment, community organizing, etc) to strengthen community (climate) resilience. There is also a tendency, when talking about “climate resilience” to focus on adaptation and preparedness in the face of specific weather events (episodes of extreme heat, unusual precipitation events) or other specific dangers linked to climate change (coastal flooding, wildfires) without enough regard for the slower-moving crises (child poverty, extreme inequality, environmental racism, addiction, depression, houselessness, violence, health inequities, etc) that precede and are amplified and exacerbated by climate impacts. The project involves researching a local community in order to assess its 1) assets/strengths; 2) climate-related risks (including “pre-existing conditions” of structural injustices and their impacts); and 3) resilience in the face of those risks.
Capstone Projects
The capstone project offers scholars the opportunity to 1) integrate lessons from the course series, 2) add in more insights and wisdom from personal research & inquiry, and 3) apply them to something concrete and useful for advancing climate justice, action, and/or resilience.
The capstone project offers scholars the opportunity to 1) integrate lessons from the course series, 2) add in more insights and wisdom from personal research & inquiry, and 3) apply them to something concrete and useful for advancing climate justice, action, and/or resilience.
Individual Projects
Atypical Teachers
Typical go-to sources of learning are books, lectures, google searches, instructional videos, etc. Atypical sources can be many things: ordinary people without fancy letters behind their names, non-human critters, places, experiences, even your own intuition and/or reflection on a particular situation. You might listen to a child, or pay attention to the story of an elder. You could observe a tree, a bee, a rock, a stream, a flower, a canyon, a cat, a colony of ants, the sky, the sun, the moon, mold, anything. Observe and reflect: what lessons can it teach us.
Typical go-to sources of learning are books, lectures, google searches, instructional videos, etc. Atypical sources can be many things: ordinary people without fancy letters behind their names, non-human critters, places, experiences, even your own intuition and/or reflection on a particular situation. You might listen to a child, or pay attention to the story of an elder. You could observe a tree, a bee, a rock, a stream, a flower, a canyon, a cat, a colony of ants, the sky, the sun, the moon, mold, anything. Observe and reflect: what lessons can it teach us.
