Collaborating to regenerate the social and ecological interconnections in our social-ecological systems
Migrant Ecological Relationships
Contribute to connecting, documenting, and celebrating the sustainability efforts and ecological knowledge of migrants.
Connecting
Equity and Sustainability wants to celebrate and connect migrant voices in sustainability and environmental fields, so we can learn from each other and amplify our voices. We invite you to join our monthly conversations meetings happening every second Wednesday 12:00 - 1:00 pm EST. Sign up to attend our meetings by filling out this form: bit.ly/migrantsustainability.
The sustainability fields have been making strides in working to advance justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion in North America. Across scales, efforts are working to better engage and serve communities that are marginalized, oppressed, underrepresented, and underserved. Likewise, the efforts that have long been advanced by these communities to improve their interconnected social and environmental conditions are increasingly getting support.
Migration is natural.
While this support has been targeted to diverse communities in North America, migrants (immigrants, undocumented, DACAmented, refugees, foreign workers, and expats) continue to experience lack of visibility and inclusion. It is not common for migrants to be explicitly included in discussions over the equitable impacts of conservation, sustainability, resilience, or climate action. Moreover, while efforts on climate justice are increasing, it is common that they lack adequate representation from migrants. This can be connected to how migrants, and especially those that are undocumented, inherently face many barriers to participation and often they have been disconnected from their home towns and lands, ot to mention that the current political climate is actively marginalizing them.
Migration is a human right.
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It is important for migrant leaders and family members working in sustainability fields to have a voice in impacting the sustainability solutions that are being created in these catalytic times. Migrant perspectives are inherently important because our communities need active and unique representation in the green future that is coming. We also offer important insight because we bring a global perspective informed by our lived experiences and struggles, which are directly linked to the global processes impacting climate, environmental, and social issues. Moreover, many of us bring ancestral and cultural connections to our home lands, and we have important knowledge for caring for Mother Nature. This is specially a pivotal time for centering migrant voices because the coming climate changes will create millions of migrants, and we need to plan for resilience and adaptation with the experience of current migrants.​
Documenting and Celebrating
This is a catalytic time for equity and diversity in environmental, conservation, and sustainability efforts. In the past four years, there has been a growing attention to the need of challenging historical disparities and reducing barriers to participation in order to advance benefits to more people. As a result, a plethora of cross-scale organizations have been working to engage a more diverse group of landowners in sustainable agriculture, restoration, and conservation.
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There have been strides made in honoring and supporting ancestral Indigenous connections to land as well as uplifting the needs of environmental justice communities that are being harmed alongside their ecosystems. It is important to note that these efforts are contextualized within the reality that people of color own at most 4% of land in the U.S.A. That means that efforts working to engage diverse landowners will inherently be focused on a small group of people and communities with more resources and power.
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There has also been a significant lack of attention to the connection migrants have to the environment. Because they are newcomers to a place, they predominantly have less access to resources and land, and this may be related to their exclusion from the aforementioned efforts. However, many migrants have arrived with important ties to the environment as they have often participated in agriculture and conservation in their home countries. Not to mention that many migrants are Indigenous people in their homelands and have maintained ancestral social-ecological relationships. Because of the distance to their homes and communities and lack of access to land, the ecological knowledge of migrants is threatened with disappearing, especially with the common pressure of assimilating to a new country in order to succeed.​
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Equity and Sustainability Co. is leading the Migrant Ecological Knowledge Project project in order to celebrate the ecological knowledge of migrants that has often been marginalized. It hopes to contribute to documenting their knowledge and ecological experiences of their home and current countries, so it is not lost and can be accessible to diverse communities, including the descendants of migrants. Through uplifting the international narratives of migrants, the project will also shine light on the interconnected global forces impacting our communities and environments in our global social-ecological system as well as the priorities of migrants for changing these conditions. Because of the cultural background of the project lead, this initiative will begin by working with migrants from Southern American countries to the U.S.A.​​​
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If you are interested in learning more, please email Katia at equityandsustainability@gmail.com. If you are interested in sharing your story, please fill out this form bit.ly/migrantknowledge.
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