Communities for Environmental Justice Network
Status: Active
Operational Plan: 2023
Project Duration: 18 months
Start date: April 3, 2023
Since April 2023, the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) has supported the creation of a trinational network to facilitate the exchange of community-based expertise, lessons learned, and practical guidance between network participants through the Communities for Environmental Justice Network (CEJN) project. The Network aims to strengthen the capacity of North American Indigenous, local, vulnerable, disadvantaged, and/or underserved communities to address environmental justice concerns in the context of climate change.
The initial development of the Communities for Environmental Justice Network is supported by the CEC, with the long-term goal that it will become a self-sustaining, member-driven structure that fosters collaboration and knowledge exchange across North America.
To find out more about this project, here is the complete project description.
The CEJN hosted a trinational workshop from 16–18 November 2023, in Oaxaca, Mexico. The event was attended by representatives from thirteen organizations and communities from across North America that have environmental justice concerns. Workshop participants emphasized that creating a trinational Network to connect members with needed resources, advice for overcoming project barriers, and encouragement from others was vital to help advance environmental justice initiatives across North America.
Trinational workshop participants agreed to continue to work together to create an online story map featuring participant profiles and resources, and hosting knowledge-sharing webinars with the public.
To find out more about the workshop, please view this page and the workshop executive summary.
Issues
The project “Communities for Environmental Justice Network” (CEJN), aims to create a network of Indigenous, local vulnerable, disadvantaged, and/or underserved communities that have environmental justice concerns, in order to increase local capacity through the amplification and dissemination of community-based expertise, lessons learned, and guidance in the context of climate change.
Aim
Through the Network, participating members will contribute to the facilitation of learning and knowledge exchange processes, in particular traditional knowledge and practices, and develop a virtual resource library with the goal of strengthening the climate adaptation, mitigation and other capacity building of Indigenous, local, and vulnerable communities in Canada, Mexico and the United States.
Deliverables
A Network of environmental justice communities that have actively participated in trinational workshop and identified culturally and contextually relevant strategies, methods and tools for addressing climate adaptation and mitigation in North America.
Project Deliverables
Tools and Resources
The project’s deliverables include a collection of tools, resources, and strategies shared by communities and organizations focused on climate change adaptation and resilience. The community-based expertise put forward has the potential to strengthen the capacity of North American Indigenous, local, vulnerable, disadvantaged, and/or underserved communities to address environmental justice concerns in the context of climate change.
CEJN story map
The story map is a product of the CEJN project and its content is created by the Network members.
The story map features profiles of communities and organizations that have environmental justice concerns and allows the sharing of resources and solutions that have been implemented at the community level in North America.
The profiles are submitted directly by Network members and featured in the original language provided. The story map is hosted on Google Maps and offers the ability to automatically translate the content. It can be done by selecting the text to be translated and right-clicking to access the offered translation option.
You can consult the CEJN story map here.
Knowledge Dialogues
As part of the CEJN project, events, webinars and presentations were organized to encourage the exchange of knowledge with and among communities and organizations. Can be found below the recordings of these events that highlight the importance of collaboration, knowledge sharing, and community-driven actions in advancing environmental justice and climate resilience.
The CEC and its Public and Community Engagement Mechanisms
13 June 2024
This webinar presents the CEC’s history, mission, structure and strategic priorities. It emphasizes Indigenous engagement and the vital role of Indigenous Knowledge in projects and through the work of the Traditional Ecological Knowledge Expert Group. It also features CEC public engagement mechanisms, including the Joint Public Advisory Committee, the Submissions on Enforcement Matters process, and community science and youth engagement opportunities.
The webinar provides an overview of the work undertaken by the CEC to strengthen environmental justice through its grant programs to support community environmental action and climate resilience across North America.
You can watch the recording here.
The EJ4Climate Grant Program and Communities for Environmental Justice Network
26 June 2024
Day three of the 31st annual Council Session included a CEC presentation in which EJ4Climate community grant projects in the three countries were featured, as well as a presentation on the Communities for Environmental Justice Network project.
Six grant recipients and two CEJN trinational workshop participants had the opportunity to share their stories with the public about their work related to environmental justice.
You can watch the recording here.
Impactful Storytelling for Environmental Justice and Climate Resilience
21 November 2024
This webinar is designed for people, communities and organizations interested in better understanding the power of storytelling and integrating this into their practices. The speakers share tips on how to tell impactful stories and support others in their storytelling journey, particularly to advance environmental justice and climate resilience.
This webinar provides concrete examples of storytelling initiatives in Canada, Mexico and the United States that were developed to amplify people’s voices and community engagement, particularly in advancing environmental justice in the context of climate change. Those examples present local stories that put forward the perspectives of Indigenous Peoples, youth, and women.
You can watch the recording here.
Contact
Learn more about our work on Environmental Justice.
For more information about this project or to partner with us, contact: ej@cec.org