The Environmental Justice and Ecotherapy Organization is a student-led group that started in 2019. This organization seeks to expand awareness and promote engagement and action around ecotherapy practices and environmental justice issues within the field of social work, our school, and our broader communities. We do this by bringing in speakers from the UT campus and the larger Austin community.
To learn more and get involved in EJET, follow us on instagram, join our facebook group, and email us at utejet@gmail.com to request to be added to our communication.
ARTWORK by Jazz Bell
Jazz Bell (they/ them) is a multidimensional professional based in Austin, TX who values Social Justice and Interconnection. Their work focuses on the promotion of Disability Justice, Access, and LGBTQIA+ Justice through consulting, education, and artistry.
Artist statement: So much is possible when we prioritize commitment to the land, our wellness, and to each other. The circle in the middle represents the inherent interconnectedness of these concepts. Part of caring for each other requires that we center the people most affected by Environmental injustice. In particular I wanted to portray Black and Indigenous communities (represented by the top right hand and the two bottom hands) who have been the target of nonstop environmental racism. I also wanted to portray disabled communities (represented visibly by the top left hand but with the understanding that disability extends beyond visible disability and any of the other hands can also belong to disabled bodyminds) as we are disproportionately affected by climate change and neglected in policies and conversations involving environmental justice. These groups of people have also been denied access to the healing and wellness that can be found through the abundance of our Earth. I wanted this design to help prompt imagination of a future where we understand this crucial reality: our individual wellness cannot be separated from the wellness of other people and the Earth.
