Project Clearinghouse

Research about Inclusive Sustainability at UCSC

Sustainability Problem and Proposed Solution: 

The field of Environmental Justice has highlighted the intersections between race, ethnicity, class, and environmental degradation, demonstrating the disproportionate burden that certain sectors of our society bear in terms of pollution, food deserts, unwanted land uses, and lack of green and open space. Institutions of higher learning can and should foster inclusive sustainability among their students, exploring issues of white privilege and the hegemony of mainstream environmentalism.

Jump to: Contact | Project Description | Funding Sources | Metrics for Success | Results
Project Categories: 
Awareness, Education & Engagement
Social Justice
Project Status: 
In Progress
Project End Date: 
12/31/2016
Campus Organization: 
Colleges Nine and Ten
People of Color Sustainability Collective
Sustainability Office
Affiliated Department, Unit or College: 
Colleges Nine and Ten
Project Location: 
On campus

UCSC campus


Stakeholder Contacts: 
Contact NameEmail AddressContact NumberDepartment
Flora Lu
floralu@ucsc.edu
831-459-3214
ENVS, C9/C10
Rebecca Hernandez Rosser
rrosser@ucsc.edu
831-459-2881
American Indian Resource Center
Adriana Renteria
arenter1@ucsc.edu
831-459-2427
Ethnic Resource Centers
Funding Sources: 
Campus Sustainabilty Plan Grant

Project Description: 

The limited research we have about students’ perceptions and involvement with the UCSC campus environmental movement (a 2014 senior thesis by ENVS graduate Cheslea Pack advised by Flora Lu) points to a gap in participation by students of color and low-income students, despite their significant concerns about environmental issues. Through this project, we seek to continue and expand our efforts to better understand the diversity and disparities of opinions and behaviors in regards to sustainability on campus by: 1. undertaking more survey research to expand, compare, and improve upon the earlier study; 2. training interested students in data collection, entering, cleaning, and analysis; 3. implementing focus groups to assist in the interpretation and elaboration of survey results; 4. disseminating the results to the campus community and beyond (e.g., through a campus presentation; ENVS Department Seminar talk; working paper for UCSC administration and article for publication). Objectives 1 and 2 will be undertaken in Winter and Spring 2016; data write up will occur over the summer; and objectives 3 and 4 will take place in Fall 2016. Anecdotally, many of us on campus are aware of the uneven participation and engagement of our student body in the sustainability movement on campus. This project seeks to make that understanding more rigorous, to explore the underlying causes, and, armed with this information, to inform plans, policies and programs for more inclusive efforts in the future.

Metrics for Success: 

Some of the metrics include: acceptance of the paper coming resulting from this research in a peer reviewed journal; additional funding support for the PoCSC; curricular and/or programmatic changes in the ENVS Department (e.g., such as the founding of a diversity committee); media attention and coverage; and greater attendance and attention to the environmental justice and inclusive sustainability programs and events on campus. Less tangible metrics include: the discourse with which the EVC and other administrators use to address the issue; the sense of accomplishment among our students from conducting this research; establishment of greater connections between units who have not partnered in the past.

Result Categories: 
Behavior Change
Policy
Education/Outreach
Data Collection & Analysis
Results: 

This proposed research project resonates strongly with the Campus Sustainability Plan Campus topic objective of “Awareness, Education and Engagement.” Specifically, it addresses goal #3: to “promote and support sustainability research and teaching,” and the objective of “engaging faculty to identify and implement strategies to support sustainability research and teaching.” It is vital that faculty, administrators, and staff have a more nuanced understanding of how students of different backgrounds understand sustainability at UCSC—this is particularly important given the rapidly changing demographics of our university. The current, predominant approach that is based on making these diverse members of our student body aware about sustainability (as an institutionalized concept) must be complemented by efforts that ascertain, validate, and incorporate the manifold ways that students experience and engage with the concept of sustainability. Paying attention to their socio-cultural and economic positionality, including race, ethnicity, class, and gender, helps us to better understand what sustainability activities students undertake, what patterns emerge, and why.

Research is the cornerstone of UCSC, and this project trains students to undertake and disseminate research, an important skill not just for a future of academia, but as critical thinkers and problem solvers in general. We will create internship positions for undergraduates, and will actively recruit members of underrepresented groups to fill them—sparking not only awareness, education and engagement, but also student retention and success. Our contributions to the understudied scholarship about race, class and sustainability leadership in higher education, further places UCSC at the cutting edge of environmental issues. The overdue “self-study” that this project constitutes will foster a greater understanding of diverse perceptions and definitions of sustainability, with an end towards promoting more inclusive sustainability on campus. Additionally, it will develop sustainability leadership among students, staff and faculty, many of whom have been underrepresented in such efforts in the past.