Workshop 5
Equity in Natural & Nature-Based Solutions
About the Workshop
On January 18, 2023 the Nature-Based Exchange held its fifth workshop on St. Helena Island, SC at the historic Penn Center. In this workshop, we explored the role of equity in natural and nature-based solutions and considered how we can each do our part to enhance equity in the state of South Carolina. Led by experts, we learned ways to make nature-based solutions more equitable; we heard what limitations can hold communities back from utilizing nature-based solutions; and we explored some of the work that is being done to enhance the capacity and voice of forgotten communities. This workshop aimed to educate, inspire, and prepare attendees to better incorporate equity into nature-based projects and we hope that the ideas shared will make a lasting impact in our state. Many thanks to Biohabitats, Inc. for sponsoring the beautiful venue and the food (catered by local caterer, R&B Catering).
Agenda
Speakers
Continuing Education Credit Information
Compendium
Key Takeaways:
There are many barriers to equity, but there are also opportunities for solutions, particularly around infrastructure, environmental issues, and education.
Relationships matter – how we relate to each other and to nature. Equity recognizes that imbalances exist in these relationships. If we can find a balance between us and nature, then nature-based solutions will follow.
To improve the imbalances inherent in equity issues, we must also grow our collaborations, resilience, and capacity building. We must plan effectively for all communities before disasters strike and we must respond and rebuild promptly after the disaster passes in both high- and low-wealth communities.
Resilience is more than just water and flood mitigation. Resilience is recognizing the inherent strengths of a community and restoring and enhancing those strengths in the face of adversity.
Social and economic characteristics – including housing and education - must be considered when we do resilience work.
When we talk about nature and how it makes us feel, we must also think about access and location.
Environmental education must be connected to cultural education.
Community engagement should be done in a meaningful way where we educate, empower, and engage. We must learn from community members as they learn from us.
Building knowledge and trust is key to improving equity. Accomplishing this requires spending time with individuals within their community - observing what their lives are like, learning about the problems they see, and learning what solutions they support.
It’s important to understand how a community sees their space and their place. As outsiders, we need to learn how they value their community before we start offering solutions. If we truly value their input and ideas, we must offer ways for them to fully participate by considering the time, location, childcare needs, and cost of attending a community meeting. If we consider them experts, we should pay them like experts.
We cannot have economic justice without environmental justice.
We must be patient. This kind of work does not happen on a rigid timeline, nor does it happen overnight.
We must consider our roles in the systemic injustices within our society, from the organizations we work for to the type of work we do, as well as our role as individuals. What learning can we commit to and actions can we take, both as an individuals and as members of society?
As we work in the realm of equity, we should ask ourselves these questions: Am I the person meant to do this work? Is this a story I’m supposed to tell? Or am I supposed to pass the mic to someone else?
Resources
OCM/NOAA: Green Infrastructure and Gentrification Bibliography
Toolkit - Greening in Place: Protecting Communities from Displacement
Workshop Materials for Facilitated Discussion
Presentations
A Brief History of the Penn Center
Dr. Marie Gibbs started off the fifth Nature-Based Exchange workshop by providing a brief history to the Penn Center, the first school in the south for formerly enslaved West Africans.
Morning Session | Equity in Action: Uniting People and Nature
Nature-Based Economic Resilience
The morning session kicked off with Marilyn Hemingway (CEO and President, Gullah Geechee Chamber of Commerce) who focused on the economic side of resilience. Marilyn’s presentation reminded us that we cannot have economic justice without also having environmental justice.
Nature-Based Solutions & Equity
The second speaker of the morning was Cheryl Cail (Vice Chief, Waccamaw Indian People, and American Rivers) who looked at equity and nature-based solutions through the lens of Indigenous people and Indigenous culture. Cheryl reminded us that environmental education and cultural education must walk side by side and that relationships are key to achieving equity.
View the video Cheryl references in her presentation: A Circle by the River: Ricardo Levins Morales
From Land Divided to Land Sustained
The third speaker of the morning was Steve Patterson (Director of Forestry, Center for Heirs’ Property Preservation). Steve explained the Center’s role as a connector and trust builder with heirs’ property owners and reiterated the power and benefits that land ownership plays in the discussion of equity.
EJ Strong
The fourth and final speaker of the morning was Keisha Long (Environmental Justice Coordinator, SC Department of Health and Environmental Control). Keisha talked through the EJ Strong program, highlighting its objectives and the work that is being completed under the program. She stressed the importance of planning for hazards in advance and the paradigm shifts that must occur to enhance equity.
Explore the Food Access Map that Keisha mentioned in her presentation:
The Food Access Map is a detailed, extensive resource, but it is by no means complete. It will remain a work in progress as more sites are added and the resource is kept up to date. Any agencies not currently represented on the map that would like to provide their information for inclusion should email foodaccessmap@clemson.edu.
Afternoon Session | Enhancing Community Capacity
Community Capacity Building & Nature-Based Flood Resiliency
The afternoon session began with Omar Muhammad (Executive Director, Lowcountry Alliance for Model Communities) providing a case study on the community of Rosemont. Omar explored the inequities experienced by the community and the work that has begun to try and rectify it. He asserted how important it is to understand how a community sees their space and their place before offering solutions; how environmental justice includes offering community members opportunities for meaningful engagement; and how we must empower communities and tap into the power that already exists within their people.
Call to Action
The closing speaker of the day was Latria Graham (journalist and seventh generation South Carolina farmer). By sharing her own story with us, Latria showed us that telling stories is important no matter what industry or role you’re in. She also reminded us of the need to think about access and location in our work. As she closed, Latria posed a question that is important for us to consider as we work in the realm of equity: Am I the person meant to do this work? Is this a story I’m supposed to tell? Or am I supposed to pass the mic to someone else?
Check out the poem Latria mentioned in her talk by Jericho Brown.
(Due to technical difficulties, the first few minutes of Latria’s talk were not recorded. Please forgive us for the missing content.)