“To pay attention, this is our endless and proper work.” Mary Oliver, American poet
Paying attention. What an almost overwhelming thought at this point in 2020. And yet, we are generally in this line of work because we do pay attention to things that are unseen for many: movement of organisms and constituents; presence or absence; how many and of what type; when and where. But, between protests against systemic racism to the social ramifications related to the COVID-19 pandemic to the invisible virus itself, the times have illuminated things once invisible to many of us. There is a set of things to pay attention to, unseen for way too long, a new set of glasses to see the world, and new terms to describe what we see. While previously we may have recognized that our success at restoration depends on gathering the largest and most diverse set of perspectives, innovation, and solutions, and applying them in a just and equitable manner, the vision might have been a bit blurry. This year has shone a bright light on why that is not only important, but mission-critical. We need to pay attention.
Part of the difficulty has been a confusion of language and terms; it is hard to pay attention when the edges of the picture are fuzzy. An excellent recent training on “Cultural Humility”, led by the consultant Skeo Solutions, provided some useful definitions:
- Diverse/Diversity – The demographic mix of a specific collection of people, taking into account elements of human difference. For example: racial and ethnic groups, income, spectrum of built environment settings (rural to urban), faith communities, LGBTQ+ populations, people with disabilities, gender, relationship to the natural environment. (Skeo, adapted from the D5 Coalition)
- Equity – Improving equity is to promote justice, impartiality and fairness within the procedures, processes, and distribution of resources and rewards by institutions or systems. Tackling equity issues requires an understanding of the underlying or root causes of disparities within our society. (Credit: D5 Coalition)
- Inclusion – Refers to the degree to which diverse individuals are able to participate fully in the decision-making processes within an organization or group. While a truly “inclusive” group is necessarily diverse, a “diverse” group may or may not be “inclusive.” (D5 Coalition)
- Justice – The quality of being just, impartial, or fair. (Merriam Webster) Directly dismantling barriers to resources and opportunities in society so that all individuals in communities can live a full and dignified life. (Avarna Group)
An important distinction is that diversity and inclusion describe those around the table, while justice and equity have to do with policies, procedures and systems.
So let’s start with getting the necessary diversity of perspectives. Individuals from underserved and underrepresented populations have long comprised a disproportionately smaller percentage of degree recipients in the STEM fields, with underserved and underrepresented minority (URM) groups (African Americans, Hispanics, American Indians, Asian/Pacific Islanders, and Alaska Natives) collectively forming 28% of the U.S. population, but accounting for only 13% of the science and engineering workforce (NSB 2020). Equally important, the government agencies and non-profit organizations within the Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP) partnership face similarly dramatic levels of under-representation, especially in leadership positions. A baseline (2016) survey conducted by the CBP’s Diversity Workgroup, established in 2014, revealed that only 13.7% of members and 9% of leadership in the CBP Partnership self-identified as people of color (CBP 2016), despite the population of people of color in the watershed being 35%. As a related finding, a 2013 national survey of environmentally related government agencies (Taylor 2015) found that <16% of the agencies’ workforce identified as people of color, compared to 36% within the U.S. population. The proportion was lower still (<13%) for people employed by environmental NGOs and foundations. This Streamline shares some of the approaches and innovations by our member institutions, in the hope that we can accelerate our progress on this most basic of dimensions.
How do we ensure that the benefits and costs of restoration are justly shared? EPA defines environmental justice as, “The fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income with respect to the development of environmental laws, regulations, and policies.” The operative words of “fair treatment” and “meaningful involvement” were unpacked a bit for us in last week’s CRC Roundtable, and they give us a line of sight towards embodying the principle of environmental justice as foundational to our notion of success. We have some catching up to do, but tools are being developed and refined to assist us, such as EPA’s EJSCREEN and the soon-to-be-released Chesapeake Bay Environmental Justice and Equity Dashboard.
What is our challenge, then? We cannot be lulled by our recent actions into paying less attention. While the recent adoption of the DEIJ statement by the Executive Council is laudable and a long time coming, let it not be just a “virtue signal” without the long-term commitment necessary to make restoration synonymous with, “the right to live and work and play in a clean environment” (Robert Bullard). To pay attention, this is our endless and proper work (Mary Oliver).
All the best,
Denice
References:
- National Science Board. 2020. Science and Engineering Indicators 2020. NSB-2020-1. Alexandria, VA: National Science Foundation. Available at <https://ncses.nsf.gov/pubs/nsb20201>
- Chesapeake Bay Program 2016. Chesapeake Progress: Diversity. https://www.chesapeakeprogress.com/engaged-communities/diversity
- Taylor, D. E. (2015). Gender and racial diversity in environmental organizations: Uneven accomplishments and cause for concern. Environmental Justice, 8(5), 165-180. doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/10.1089/env.2015.0018