Recorded on February 14th, 2023, Renée Mazurek, Resilient Communities Manager for River Network and team member of the Urban Waters Learning Network, interviews Maria De Jesus, the Housing Justice Organizer for Ironbound Community Corporation (ICC), and a member of the Urban Waters Learning Network Equitable Development and Anti-Displacement Collaborative.
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Brenda Brinkhous-Hatch has been planning and facilitating youth development opportunities throughout her career and continues on that path in her current role as Green Team Coordinator for Groundwork Northeast Revitalization Group (NRG).
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Paulina López is a volunteer, organizer, advocate, and mother of three boys. Originally from Ecuador, she has made Seattle her home for 19 years. Presently, she is the Executive Director for the Duwamish River Community Coalition (DRCC), advocating for communities to have a voice in complex decision-making processes. Paulina has over 20 years of experience working to advance civil rights, social justice, equity, education, and diversity.
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Communities can’t exist without good housing, solid housing development that is fair, equitable and just. That’s where I see us moving.
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As the nation faces not only a global pandemic but also a long-overdue reckoning with systems of racial oppression, the urban waters movement is not removed from either. While the intentions of wanting to help vulnerable communities become more resilient … Continued
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Cover photo from Heal the Bay water quality monitoring program. This post is also available on the River Network website blog. We at the Urban Waters Learning Network (UWLN) and River Network know that many of our members who do … Continued
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Carrie Merson is the Education and Engagement Specialist at the San Antonio River Authority. She has had one foot in the education field and one foot in the wildlife sciences field for over 20 years. Her role at the San … Continued
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Groundwork Denver youth used the curriculum to identify and discuss a range of local environmental justice issues, including housing instability, water quality, food deserts, outdoor inaccessibility for youth, and pedestrian safety. Ultimately, they chose to work together to address the inaccessibility issue, and developed an outdoor recreational program for area youth.
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The various Groundwork Trusts comprise a network of community-based nonprofits. They work at the intersection of the environment, equity, and civic engagement by making tangible improvements to the natural and built environment, mainly in underserved and environmental justice communities.
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The impacts of Living Cully’s work reflect the recurring theme that strong partnerships and effective community engagement are key strategies to addressing the impacts of gentrification and anti-displacement – a theme I’ve uncovered again and again during my research.
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As a network of grassroots organizations, Groundwork USA is deeply involved in environmental justice, both at the community and national levels. As an environmental organization that centers people and the places where they live, work, and play, we are continuing to develop educational tools and resources to aid other organizations in advancing their environmental justice work.
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Every year, Groundwork USA attends River Rally and, as a partner and organizer of the Urban Waters Learning Network (UWLN), offers scholarships to Groundwork Trusts and other organizations with urban waters programs so they can benefit from all that River Rally has to offer.
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Much of the world’s population lives in coastal regions that are vulnerable to rising sea level and storm events. After the impactful 2017 hurricane season, many urban waters practitioners are asking: How do communities effectively respond to devastating storms? And, … Continued
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Since 2007, the Alice Ferguson Foundation (AFF) has partnered with community members, local jurisdictions, non-profits and businesses to prevent litter through a community-based social marketing campaign…
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Through the Groundwork program, the students become stewards in their communities, reconnecting with nature and learning new aspects of themselves. To truly understand one’s place in this world and in nature is to experience it firsthand — to go outside and watch the sunset and see the mountain views. But if you can’t do that because you don’t have access or don’t know how, seeing it through a photograph is the next best thing. And viewing someone familiar who you can relate to, being a part of nature, connects you to nature as well.
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Growing up in Savannah, GA, I always felt a strong tie to water. There was the Savannah River I would see when I would walk down River Street, the many bike rides to the marsh close to my house, and the countless trips to the beach for fun and with my school. These experiences created the foundation for me to pursue a career in water management. With each additional experience, I gained a greater appreciation for what was happening around me – much like a river’s flow increases with each tributary. Such powerful experiences can shape, not only who you are as a person, but who you become. They can shape how water resources are managed and conserved.
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As a community-based grassroots organization, We The People of Detroit (WPD) aims to inform, educate, and empower Detroit residents on imperative issues surrounding civil rights, land, water, education, and the democratic process. WPD has worked tenaciously with its network of volunteers to provide water to Detroit residents and advocate for a sustainable water future.
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Gentrification. Those of us who work in water cities and towns inevitably encounter it. As a result, we must discuss what it means, analyze our own role in the process, and come up with solutions.
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Once, on a road trip with friends from New York to California, I kept a list of every river and stream we crossed, starting with the Hudson.
After the Delaware and the Susquehanna, we found ourselves crossing the Cowpasture River and Salt Sulphur Springs, Clinch River and Bog Swan Creek, Poor Hollow, Rio Puerco, Cottonwood Wash and Moore Gulch. Though I probably dozed off and missed a few, and many remained unidentified by signs, by the end of the trip there were 113 on my list.
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You may have heard the terms point and nonpoint source pollution. To demystify these terms a bit, a point source is a known source of pollutants, such as a factory or a sewer treatment plant. Nonpoint sources are everything else: lawns, roofs, construction sites, driveways, and roads. Pollution from these sources can take a variety of forms, including mud, bacteria, fertilizers, and toxic waste like oil and paint. Stormwater collects these pollutants from multiple sources, then introduces them directly into our streams, rivers, and lakes.
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DRCC/TAG takes the time and energy to build relationships, listen to the communities’ interests and needs, and collaborate with them to develop action plans that focus on empowering their voices and actions. This, in part, has enabled DRCC/TAG to leverage a $60,000 EPA Urban Waters Small Grant into close to $1.5 million invested in Duwamish Valley community priorities.
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