Washington University in St. Louis
IN-25: Innovation B

In Spring 2016, the Office of Sustainability established the Environmental Justice (EJ) Initiative. Three student interns were hired and a faculty mentor was engaged to begin an inventory and networking process to gather information on current EJ partnership, projects, research, courses, and student activism on campus. A similar approach (inventory and networking) was initiated for the St. Louis community as well. As part of this work, several focus groups have been convened and events have been held to encourage collaboration and provide context and guidance for the role the EJ Initiative, the Office of Sustainability and the University could/should support current EJ work, encourage greater collaboration and cooperation, and connect the resources of the university with areas and organizations with identified need. A network mapping project is underway and a Steering Committee of faculty, staff and students is convening regularly to guide the effort. In addition, the EJ Initiative has launched a website to serve as a central location for connecting and profiling staff, faculty, current projects and research, student organizations and community groups. To create greater awareness about EJ as a framework for understanding the intersection of social and environmental justice issues, EJ Initiative coordinated a large speaker event (featuring Van Jones), as well as a community-focused work session in which Van Jones spoke to launch the effort.