NOTE: These are DRAFT documents that are for CUCREJ partners’ consideration only. |
Expansion of CUCREJ Web and Dissemination of Resources Over the past year, CUCREJ established an EJ website
(newarkww.rutgers.edu/~gelobter/cucrej/index.htmlsoon to be www.cucrej.rutgers.edu) with a pilot "Web-GIS". The Web-GIS's goal is to provide a simplified form of GIS for partners' organizing and
community-based enforcement efforts. The pilot has focused on implementing a community-friendly mapping system for TRI, air pollution data, and race/class socioeconomic data in Newark’s Ironbound community. This pilot
has utilized Arc/Info and a variety of Web-based data management tools to provide our partners with a neighborhood view of environmental conditions in their community. Such a view is useful for at least two
purposes. First, CUCREJ's community-based partners need ready access to environmental data for organizing purposes. As they work with community members and other organizations, the Web-GIS provides them with a simple
way to access, visualize, and communicate information critical to their day-to-day efforts to fight the contamination of their communities. Second, CUCREJ partners have already successfully exploited the citizen
enforcement provisions of the Community-Right-to-Know Act by bringing enforcement actions against industries that avoid TRI filing, or under-report emissions. Under these provisions, our partners have shared in over
$100,000 in Federal fines levied. The Web-GIS can serve as a simple tool to expand such activity to all of our partner communities, as well as to enable them to exploit new citizen enforcement provisions coming on-line
in the next few years. CUCREJ will continue to move forward in building the electronic research and information infrastructure for its partners. We have made significant strides in this area already, but
will seek funding to ensure that our EJ Web is maintained, and that each member organization can continue to build their capacity to contribute. We will also seek to expand the availability of simple GIS technology for
our partners. To accomplish these goals, we will focus on the following three areas: A.Further Development of the EJ Web GIS CUCREJ hopes to expand upon the pilot Web-GIS
developed over the past 18 months into GISs for each partner community. In addition, specific CUCREJ partners are planning major, community-specific GIS efforts over the next two years, and CUCREJ hopes to support these
as well:
To acquire the technology and training for these efforts, CUCREJ has applied for a Conservation Technology Support Program grant. Additional funding would be required for staff support to disseminate the
capabilities of the CUCREJ Web GIS. B.Development of On-line Case Studies Environmental justice organizations in New York, New Jersey and Puerto Rico have developed and
implemented a number of groundbreaking models for environmental protection and action. CUCREJ has assembled a Web-based documentary case study of El Puente’s struggle for environmental justice over the battle of the
incinerator at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. CUCREJ’s aim is to present similar case studies of other struggles undertaken by all of its partner communities. These Web-based case studies will allow CUCREJ
partners to share lessons learned about bureaucracies, institutions, and practices involved in increasing community participation in environmental protection and sustainability. Finally, CUCREJ partners will develop
curricula using the case studies as role-playing models for students to understand the complexity of environmental justice issues. C.General Web Support As mentioned above, CUCREJ
has made great strides in linking its partners to the Internet and assisting their creation of WebPages. Our goal for the next year is to continue offering development and troubleshooting assistance, while also
providing teacher training for schools nominated by CUCREJ partners. The training would work with schoolteachers on accessing the resources available both on the EJ Web and in other Web-based repositories. These
teachers will, in turn, help students use the collaborative elements of EJ Web to exchange information and research across the region as well. CUCREJ will thus also help extend environmental education further into the
middle and high school levels in EJ communities. A final training component will be advanced training sessions to be held at the computer training facilities of the Rutgers campus. First, youth from
nominated schools will participate in campus visits and workshops on EJ Web use. They will have the opportunity to follow up electronic contact with face to face collaboration. Second, group training will also take
place in conjunction with CUCREJ’s full board meetings. CUCREJ will take advantage of the twice-yearly gathering of the entire consortium to conduct group trainings on advanced topics in one of several multimedia
computer labs on the Rutgers Newark Campus. |