Working Group on Environmental Justice With support from the Harvard University Provost's Fund for Interfaculty Collaboration, the University Committee on Environment and the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for Afro-American Research James Hoyte and Timothy C. Weiskel                    Program Directors                         http://ecojustice.net

      Issues of environmental justice are growing in importance in several areas. On the domestic front it has long been recognized that environmental amenities on the one hand and toxic waste sites on the other are not uniformly distributed in reference to income group, class or ethnic communities. On an international scale as well there are marked and increasing disparities in the world community between those who have access to clean and safe resources and those who do not. Disparities of this nature may be the result of historical circumstance, contemporary economic and trade relations or simply inadequate or inappropriate governmental regulation. Whatever their source, it is clear that an interdisciplinary approach is needed both to understand and ameliorate these problems.

      With joint support from the university Provost's Fund for Interfaculty Collaboration and the University Committee on Environment the interfaculty Working Group on Environmental Justice has been created as an interdisciplinary and university-wide effort to examine issues of environmental justice both within this country and around the world. The Law School, the Kennedy School, the School of Public Health, the Divinity School, the Business School, the School of Education and various departments within the Faculty of Arts and Sciences all contain people and resources devoted to exploring problems of environmental justice in one form or another. Our attempt in this university-wide effort is to bring together faculty members from these schools and departments to meet monthly and share their understandings and perspectives on these matters. It is anticipated that through these exchanges we can better assess what Harvard's various departments, faculties and schools might contribute to analyzing and resolving some of the problems in this important new area of public concern and policy consideration.

      The Working Group has three specific objectives. First, the it will convene regular meetings of Harvard faculty and invited guests engaged in research in this realm to exchange information and views on important issues in this realm.

      Second, the Working Group will develop and maintain a web-site to serve as a means for circulating a Research Bibliography Series, a Papers In Progress Series, a Document Archive & Reference Series -- containing environmental justice reference materials -- as well as an AudioVisual Gateway, providing access to news reports, interviews and documentary material on existing or emerging problems in environmental justice. The intention is to provide participating faculty and graduate students with a facilitating infrastructure to carry out collaborative work and extend their personal research in this realm. Material presented in this context is developed in conjunction with the Environmental Ethics & Public Policy Program of the Center for the Study of Values in Public Life at the Harvard Divinity School.

      Finally, the Working Group intends to build upon its faculty meetings and its emerging web-site infrastructure to organize periodic Workshops on Environmental Justice. The first of these was held at the Gutman Conference Center of the Harvard Graduate School of Education from 11-13 April 1999 (See the Harvard Gazette Report). For further information about this past Workshop consult the Workshop Schedule of sessions. Similarly, on 28 April 2000, the Working Group co-sponsored a public debate: "The Genetic Revolution and Its Role in Developing Countries," in order to promote public understanding of the environmental justice issues involved in the use of agricultural biotechnology in the developing countries. In an effort to inform and expand the public debate on these important issues, the Working Group has dedicated an explicit web page to present and refer to documents and news stories related to environmental justice and biotechnology issues. (See, "Biotechnology and Environmental Justice"). Nearly a year later, the Working Group co-sponsored a further public lecture by Dr. M.S. Swaminathan, the winner of the Indira Gandhi Award for Peace, Disarmament and Development for the year 2000. His talk entitled, "Toward a Sustainable Future: Our Food and Water," was free and open to the public.   In the Fall semester of 2002, the Working Group sponsored a reception in honor of Sir Crispin Tickell, the former British Ambassador to the United Nations and the Inaugural Senior Visiting Fellow at the Harvard University Center for the Environment.

      The Working Group also seeks to draw attention to other programs and events relating to environmental justice issues. For example, The Community University Consortium for Regional Environmental Justice in Rutgers, New Jersey is conducting, "Workshops from the Field 2000: Community-Based Research for Environmental, from May 19th-21st, 2000 in Rutgers University, Newark, NJ. In addition, the Royal Geographical Society of the United Kingdom is sponsoring a forthcoming conference entitled, "Towards Sustainability: Social and Environmental Justice" at Tufts University from 31 May to 2 June 2000.

      Further information about the Working Group can be obtained by completing an Information Form and sending it or FAXing it in to the address indicated or by attending a meeting.

["Next Meeting" Announcement: 9 March 2001 ]

Those interested in further information about the Working Group may contact the
Program Directors, James Hoyte or Timothy C. Weiskel.