ERIC Number: EJ1407253
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2024
Pages: 11
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1045-1595
EISSN: EISSN-2162-4070
'One Person Cannot Change It; It's Going to Take a Community': Addressing Inequity through Community Environmental Education
Wendy Griswold; Meera Patel; Edith Gnanadass
Adult Learning, v35 n1 p23-33 2024
Environmental injustice is often an intersection of economic, social, and environmental disparities. Addressing the inequities borne by communities overburdened with such disparities requires local learning opportunities. Exploring how and what participants learn during community education projects can help inform and improve practice, which was the focus of this study. This study reports on a larger community environmental education project involving participatory action research, which involved community residents in Chicago learning to monitor local air quality using low-cost air sensors. The experiences of 14 volunteer air monitors were collected using focus group interviews and analyzed using Braun and Clarke's (2006) approach to thematic analysis. Participant learning focused on new and existing skills related to science/technology, interpersonal communication, and local environment. Volunteers built skills in using low-cost air sensors, taught other community members about air monitoring and local air quality, and devised strategies for improving community air quality and health. This exploration of the experiences of community residents learning to use low-cost air monitors has three applications to community education practice related to addressing inequity: utilizing community members as educators, developing community capacity to engage with science, and normalizing equitable processes. The study's findings mark a contribution by the field of adult and community education to both Critical Science Agency and low-cost air monitoring literature, in addition to the Education for Sustainability literature by addressing the lack of focus on sustainability and equity by highlighting a community-based PAR project focused on developing local capacity of marginalized communities to address air quality issues.
Descriptors: Community Involvement, Volunteers, Adults, Pollution, Environmental Education, Social Justice, Community Education, Interpersonal Communication, Local Issues, Technological Literacy, Scientific Literacy, Sustainability, Community Change
SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: https://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2993
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Illinois (Chicago)
Grant or Contract Numbers: RD83618201