AGENDA

Friday April 22, 2022 Agenda

9-9:15am
Opening and Introduction

9:15-10:30
Keynote “Somos de la tierra: We are nature”
Rocío Villalobos, Immigrant Affairs Program Manager at City of Austin Equity Office
This workshop will explore themes of environmental justice and healing in the outdoors and highlight examples of community organizing to address environmental racism in East Austin. The presenter will share some of her transformative experiences with the environmental justice organization PODER (People Organized in the Defense of Earth and her Resources) and the ways those experiences shaped her understanding of nature as well as the roles she currently plays in the community.

10:30 -10:45 Break

10:45-12:00
Climate and Environmental Justice: Frontline perspectives to Inform Allies in Social Work
David Cortez, Sierra Club Lone Star Chapter
Dr. Tane Ward, Consultant and Community Organizer
Andy Escobar, CEER Houston

A core component of the climate crisis through the lens of climate justice is that those least responsible for the crisis are burdened most by its impacts. For any activist, politician, government worker, social worker and others to be genuine and effective in their work, it is critical to understand the intersecting struggles and hardships faced by frontline residents in the climate crisis and residents living on the fencelines of industrial pollution. This means engaging with communities burdened by poverty, daily toxic pollution, unsafe or insecure housing, little agency to repair housing as renters, a lack of access to quality healthcare, transit, schools, work, and food, and most critically, almost zero inclusion nor consultation in spaces where decisions about climate change and pollution are made. With tens of millions of dollars directed toward non-profit organizations charged with addressing climate and environmental justice issues, a major gap exists in terms of resourcing trained social workers to play critical roles in broadening community engagement with frontline communities in an authentic way. Our panel will provide insight into both the lived experiences and the ways in which communities are organizing to combat the climate crisis and the intersections of race & class.

12:00- 1:00
Break for Lunch (on your own)

1:00 – 2:15
Redefining Resilience: Equity & Climate Justice
Carmen Llanes Pulido, Go Austin Vamos Austin (GAVA)
Kizzy Hanibal Xolani, Co-founder and Program Manager at EcoRise

Carmen Llanes Pulido and Kizzy Hanibal Xolani will discuss modern movements in Climate Resilience in the context of Environmental Justice, collective action and :herstory:
This panel will speak to the importance of education (and the power of Each One Teach One), that there is a space for everyone in this movement, and that collaboration is Queen.

2:15-2:30 Break

2:30 – 3:45
“Nature Heals: Reflections on Indigenous Practices & Ecotherapy for Well-being”
Starla Simmons, LCSW
Marika Alvarado, Indigenous Medicine Woman

This presentation will discuss nature-based approaches to health and well-being. Participants will be engaged in critical conversation around the indigenous roots of modern ecotherapy and its impact on social work practice.

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