Skip to main content

Environmental Justice & Community Resilience

protest

The Environmental Justice & Community Resilience Program (EJCR) is a new, interdisciplinary and community engagement initiative sponsored by the Lang Center for Civic and Social Responsibility, the Environmental Studies Program, and the Office of Sustainability. The EJCR program will provide a gathering space and support network facilitating action research partnerships grounded in environmental justice and committed to forging diverse campus-community collaborations.

Many years of lively conversations linking environmental justice curricula with engaged scholarship reached a pivotal convergence in 2015 with the convening of Swarthmore’s first “Sustainability Charrette,” a campus-wide, strategic visioning workshop that brought together students, faculty, staff, board members, alums, and community partners to learn from invited experts in the field and to collectively brainstorm ideas for moving the college forward.

A key recommendation that emerged from the Charrette was to establish a “center dedicated to environmental sustainability aligned with the advancement of social justice.” The EJCR represents the newest constellation of these historical commitments and aspirations. In alignment with the College’s mission to advance critically-engaged scholarship, racial and gender justice, and purposeful, campus-community collaborations with local partners and beyond, Giovanna Di Chiro, Professor of Environmental Studies and former Lang Visiting Professor for Issues of Social Change will serve as the EJCR program’s first faculty coordinator.

Environmental Justice & Community Resilience Contact

Giovanna Di Chiro

Professor of Environmental Studies and Coordinator of Environmental Justice

Coordinator of Environmental Justice and Community Resilience Program

Environmental Studies

Contact

  1. Phone: (610) 328-8345
  2. Parrish Hall 217W

Dr. Giovanna Di Chiro teaches and researches the intersections of environmental science and policy, with a focus on social and economic disparities and human rights.

Photo of Giovanna Di Chiro
Solar install in the Village, North Philadelphia 

Solar install in the Village, North Philadelphia 

Just transition now! sign

Just transition now!

Solar install at the Serenity House, North Philadelphia

Solar install at the Serenity House, North Philadelphia

Peoples Garden
Serenity Soular Team

Serenity Soular Team

Peoples Garden, North Philadelphia 

Peoples Garden, North Philadelphia 

Penn's Landing Environmental Justice Tour

Penn's Landing Environmental Justice Tour

Solar install in the Village, North Philadelphia 

Photo /
1 of 7