Weaving Justice into Environmental Education

Winter 2006 Communicator "Extra"

Bunyan Bryant

“Private gain trumps public good every time,” said Keith Ellison, state representative of House District 58B in Minneapolis. Ellison and other panelists were attributing a broad lack of eco-justice to the fact that those in political and economic power believe that there is no such thing as “the commons.”

               Thursday’s panelists discussed potential solutions to this "attitude problem" in a session convened by NAAEE Board members J. Allen Johnson and Alison Austin and moderated by Dr. Bunyan Bryant, University of Michigan, School of Natural Resources and Environment.

Among them:

• using education to create future leaders with eco-justice values;
• enabling educators to teach such values without fear of retribution;
• politically empowering those who believe in eco-justice through a strongly united multiracial, multicultural coalition;
• working to change big business values;
• working for a truly participatory democracy; and
• learning to communicate our ideas in culturally appropriate ways, which invite mainstream Americans to engage in our dialogue without feeling like they are simply being told what to do.

Panelists believe that our youth are the key to solving these problems and it is the responsibility of environmental educators to teach them the eco-justice values and leadership skills necessary to rise to the occasion.

            At the closing “open space” event in the environmental justice strand, attendees formed a circle and discussed their long-term and conference-specific interests in collaboration between environmental justice, health, and education. Collectively, the group noted that more focus was given to environmental justice in the 2006 conference than in previous years.  Ideas were shared for furthering the role of environment justice in the core framework of NAAEE and future conferences.