Please join us on October 20 for a talk by Hartford advocate Sharon Lewis, Executive Director of the CT Coalition for Environmental and Economic Justice. Local and federal environmental policy decisions disproportionately harm CT’s BIPOC and poor communities, and systemic racism means our already vulnerable populations are unfairly burdened by the effects of accelerating climate change. Sharon will teach us about these ongoing inequities and how to be part of the solution.
When: Thursday, October 20th from 12:15 – 1:15
Where: Engelhard Reading Room on Level 1 of the Raether LITC
A sustainable lunch will be provided. Please bring a reusable water bottle and/or coffee mug for beverages.
Sharon Lewis is the recipient of the EPA’s 2022 Environmental Merit Award. As the Executive Director of the Coalition for Environmental and Economic Justice (CCEEJ), she leads a statewide coalition of diverse organizations that share the vision of abolishing the systemic and institutionalized rules, policies, and laws that give rise to unequal environmental burdens borne by low-income and people of color. Sharon was instrumental in developing the “Citizen’s Guide to the Permitting Process,” a curriculum that taught state agencies to better communicate with those in Environmental Justice Communities. This became the cornerstone of CT’s 2009 Environmental Justice Law. Sharon currently serves on numerous statewide committees and coalitions, and promotes a Zero Waste economy as key strategy to help ensure the human right to clean air, water, and lands.
This talk is inspired by the 2022 International Open Access Week theme, Open for Climate Justice. When pursued in an inclusive manner, Open Access publishing systems “can create pathways to more equitable knowledge sharing and serve as a means to address the inequities that shape the impacts of climate change and our response to them.”
Sponsored by the LITS Libraries & Digital Learning department.