During the development of the Tscion (501c3) program Larn, the main concern of the program during 2021-2024 was the lack of implementation of “Environmental Justice” standards, that at the time was the principal focus for environmental discussion. This topic was being implemented within US school systems, without a solid framework of environmental pedagogical content knowledge (EPCK).
“For me, Environmental Justice, did not clearly focus on highlighting injustices of the under-served populations of youth. I view the “justice” as a right to be equally informed, as a means of understanding emergency expectations and the social responsibility that comes with living in our unpredictable ecosystem.”
– Margaretann G. Connell, Ph.D., Executive Researcher, Tscion/Larn
The area of environmental awareness had become increasingly politicized during 2020-2024, making it difficult to promote action over activism. For some, the mention of environmental literacy became an unclear platform for civic discussions unrelated to its scientific value. For other’s in farming regions, the innovation of environmental education was frowned upon due to weak science-based, pedagogical content standards, not fully addressed within many school district curricula.
Action Over Activism
In 2020, Tscion Earth was the principal program developed to encourage Colorado youth to better engage with emergency response during COVID-19. As outdoor activities increased with the end of the Post COVID-19 shutdown, there was a clear deficiency in how to better prepare youth for environmental learning and emergency related issues. Tscion Earth, redefined Larn from an online platform, to become a hands-on vehicle for presenting youth friendly activities to improve environmental engagement, simple enough for youth-retention, yet detailed enough for curricular developers.
The environmental education action for Larn entailed activities that were culturally-aligned with regional environments for participating youth.
Larn Lab, 8-Week Summer Activities Curriculum Support
Larn Lab, Identifying Healthy Groceries
Larn Lab, Safety Week Enrichment
During the ten month program design, volunteer educators contributed towards developing enrichment and environmental education activities, that were presented to youth participants from under-served areas. These activities involved learning more about regional environmental culture, community stewardship, and provide learning tools that aid cultural innovation needed for building sustainable State and Local operations.
At least 30 participants, ages 5 to 18 years, were offered training scenarios that focus on improving environmental equity and emergency preparedness.
Misconception of Larn
Those objectives of the Larn program design were not measurable for EPA or environmental justice standards to receive expanded funding. Despite not meeting the activism requirements of local and federal stakeholders, Larn continued to increase activity feedback from participating teachers and volunteers by including, English As Second Language (ESL) learners, Colorado’s disability service for access and functional needs (AFN), and training young adults as a conduit for older, uninformed community members about environmental concerns and awareness.
The EPA’s current definition of Environmental Justice:
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defines environmental justice as “the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies.” – [Source]
The standard activist definition for environmental justice, as stated within 4 principals:
“…environmental justice sets forth a four-part categorization of environmental justice issues: 1) distributive justice; 2) procedural justice; 3) corrective justice; and 4) social justice.” – [Source]
The EPA standardized educational priority for Environmental Justice, did not aligned with Tscion Earth (Larn) stance of assisting under-served youth to be equally informed about ecological and emergency expectations. The standard activist definition for environmental justice focuses more on civic awareness rather than observational awareness necessary for ecological youth engagement.
Larn’s definition for Environmental Justice is described as:
Providing adequate environmental literacy by including ecological awareness that takes observation as the real first response in the event of eroding climate instability, knowing how to prevent ecological issues, and how to responsibly inform the community of methods to adjust for disasters.
Most youth participants are not of voting age to engage in adult civic duties that affect environmental policy or law. For youth engagement in Environmental Justice, the need for feasible participation is strongly considered for applicable and effective outcomes, regardless of political alignment.
Larn’s goal is to improve youth engagement with increased environmental literacy that allow its participants to confidently observe ecological marvels, issues and emergencies that contribute to community awareness. This consist of informative environmentally specific regional needs, such as:
- Identifying animal migration patterns before a storm
- Observing water-quality concerns for potable water
- Understanding wildfire evacuation duties
- Balancing garden soil pH to offset city pollution pattern
- Learning about air and space patterns
- Reviewing social climate for mental health and safety
Environmental Education is More than Stewardship
When describing climate change, stewardship is discussed. When describing environmental justice, stewardship is discussed. When describing keeping our planet clean, stewardship is discussed. And when environmental education is implemented in schools, stewardship becomes the sole curricular activity.
Stewardship by Environmental definition:
“The term environmental stewardship has been used to refer to such diverse actions as creating protected areas, replanting trees, limiting harvests, reducing harmful activities or pollution, creating community gardens, restoring degraded areas, or purchasing more sustainable products.” – [Source]
While Larn sees environmental stewardship as a tenant of ecological awareness and waste prevention, it was not sustainable to allow youth under 13 years old to engage in waste clean ups. As environmental cleanups allow communities to be responsible for its surroundings, for young children, Larn’s framework saw these environments as unsafe and dangerous, making it difficult to present activities in fear of youth participant injury.
The principal focus of stewardship in regards to gardening are also noble exchanges of environmental engagement but, soil amendments and pollution placed youth in danger of chemical contamination. To solely focus on gardening or lot cleanups without preliminary safety precautions, this creates additional challenges. Furthermore, current stewardship standards in under-served areas presented minimal education engagement for environmental learning. While stewardship practices should always be included regarding environmental justice, there is a systemic disconnect on how to appropriately engage youth in these experiences.
As Larn continues its research to develop better youth engagement of environmental education, observational awareness has shown to be the strongest facilitator for youth take a productive action towards environmental justice.
References
Connell, M and Tscion Research, “Tscion Research Environmental Education, Enrichment, and Stewardship (TREEES).” The Sustainable Desk, vol. 1, no. 1, 3 Apr. 2022, https://doi.org/10.58525/tsd.v1i1.9.
James Madison University. “Environmental Stewardship and Sustainability.” Www.jmu.edu, 2023, www.jmu.edu/stewardship/what-is-environmental-stewardship.shtml.
Kuehn, Robert R. “A Taxonomy of Environmental Justice.” Papers.ssrn.com, 1 Dec. 2004, papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=628088.
“NJDEP| Environmental Justice.” Environmental Justice, dep.nj.gov/ej/.