Implementation Grant: A Cultural, Learning, and Institutional Model to Accelerate Transformations for Environmental Justice (CLIMATE Justice)

有效和公平地解决气候变化问题将需要一支多元化的、有文化能力的地球科学工作队伍，他们在地球系统科学方面有坚实的基础、强大的技术技能和跨学科的专业知识。为了满足这一需求，加州大学欧文分校(UCI)的研究人员将跨学科合作，开发一种文化、学习和制度模式，以加速环境正义(气候正义)的转型。气候正义倡议的主要目标是通过建立一个学习生态系统，将环境正义和可持续性方面的实际挑战转化为地球科学研究和教育的核心，从而改变地球科学的文化。该项目将以一种全面的方式处理气候变化研究，将多个社区聚集在一起，解决气候影响和解决方案，以及社会和环境正义、系统性种族主义和贬低不同认识方式的知识帝国主义。计划活动将集中于培训不同的大学毕业生和博士生，学习核心气候和地球科学技能，以及社区参与的研究和环境正义。通过这个项目获得的知识联合制作的跨学科经验将使参与者处于独特的地位，无论是在学术界还是在其他领域，他们都可以成为他们职业生涯中的变革推动者。该项目将对教育、劳动力发展、扩大参与和建设应对气候变化的能力产生广泛影响。它将通过创建一个强调社区参与来解决紧迫的环境问题的制度变革模式，来提高地球科学研究的文化、有效性和经济效益。气候正义倡议将通过一种以地点为基础的方法，将UCI的全球规模气候研究置于当地社区的背景下，动员地球科学领域的文化转变。项目的具体目标是：1)培养和增强来自历史上被边缘化社区的大学毕业生和博士生接受研究生教育和从事与气候变化有关的职业的能力；2)增加来自传统STEM学科的科学家对环境正义和社区参与研究的参与；3)在地球科学家和社会科学等其他领域的专家之间建立强有力的跨学科合作；4)与以社区为基础的组织发展平等的伙伴关系；5)通过建立一个跨越传统机构、学科和等级界限的学习生态系统，改变地球科学文化。气候正义研究员将与社区组织共同开发研究项目，重点是解决南加州的气候变化和环境正义问题。通过具有文化意识的指导和真实的社区参与研究经验，代表性不足的少数群体和其他边缘化社区的成员将建立科学身份和归属感，增加学术界内外进入地球科学职业的人的多样性。通过其研究和能力建设目标，该项目将对应对气候和环境变化影响的社区产生广泛影响。此外，它将提供一个模式，以改变美国和其他地区学术地球科学部门的学术重点、研究文化和包容性。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的学术价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Effective and equitable solutions to climate change will require a diverse and culturally competent geoscience workforce with a solid foundation in Earth system science, strong technical skills, and transdisciplinary expertise. To address this need, researchers at the University of California, Irvine (UCI) will work across disciplines to develop a Cultural, Learning, and Institutional Model to Accelerate Transformations for Environmental Justice (CLIMATE Justice). The primary goal of the CLIMATE Justice initiative is to transform the culture of the geosciences through building a learning ecosystem that brings on-the-ground challenges of environmental justice and sustainability into the heart of geoscience research and education. The project will approach climate change research in a holistic way that brings together multiple communities and addresses climate impacts and solutions, as well as social and environmental justice, systemic racism, and knowledge imperialism that discounts different ways of knowing. Program activities will center on training diverse cohorts of postbaccalaureate and PhD student fellows in core climate and geoscience skills, as well as community-engaged research and environmental justice. The cross-disciplinary experience with knowledge co-production gained through this project will uniquely position the participants to serve as agents of change in their careers, whether in academia or other fields. The project will have broad impacts for education, workforce development, broadening participation, and building capacity for addressing climate change. It will improve the culture, effectiveness, and economic benefits of geoscience research by creating a model for institutional change that emphasizes community engagement to tackle pressing environmental problems. The CLIMATE Justice initiative will mobilize a cultural shift in the geosciences through a place-based approach that situates UCI’s global-scale climate research in a local community context. The specific project objectives are to: 1) Train and empower postbaccalaureate and PhD students from historically marginalized communities to pursue graduate education and careers related to climate change, 2) Increase participation of scientists from traditional STEM disciplines in environmental justice and community-engaged research, 3) Build strong cross-disciplinary collaborations between geoscientists and experts from other fields, such as social science, 4) Develop equitable partnerships with community-based organizations, and 5) Transform the culture of geoscience by building a learning ecosystem that spans traditional institutional, disciplinary, and hierarchical boundaries. CLIMATE Justice Fellows will co-develop research projects with community-based organizations focused on addressing climate change and environmental justice in Southern California. Through culturally aware mentorship and authentic community-engaged research experiences, underrepresented minorities and members of other marginalized communities will build scientific identities and a sense of belonging, increasing the diversity of people entering geoscience careers within and outside academia. Through its research and capacity-building goals, this project will have broad impacts for communities dealing with the impacts of climate and environmental change. Furthermore, it will provide a model for transforming the intellectual focus, research culture, and inclusiveness of academic geoscience departments across the United States and beyond.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.