January 12, 2023 - 4:00pm
The UO’s Environment Initiative celebrates the Pacific Northwest Just Futures Institute for Racial and Climate Justice (JFI) who received a national award by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE).
JFI is the second winner of the AASHE’s Racial Equity and Sustainability Collaborations award. They received this award for successfully integrating racial equity and social justice with sustainability, and by fostering community-based collaborations that advance racial equity and social justice.
During the international virtual awards ceremony in December 2022, JFI was acknowledged as a seedbed for applied, publicly engaged research that addresses the intertwined issues of racial inequality and climate crisis in innovative ways.
Alai Reyes-Santos and John Arroyo were present to accept the award. They acknowledged the Kalapuya lands, the JFI team, and the Mellon Foundation to sustain their work. They thanked the faculty, staff, students, and community partners across 8 core themes at UO and noted that JFI is a partnership between the University of Oregon, Whitman College, University of Idaho, and Heritage University.
“Our team’s strength in teaching and community initiatives is essential for sustainable futures,” said Professor Reyes-Santos.
She proceeded to mention the environmental justice fellows, their projects, and collaboration with community partners that have advanced the mission of the institute, including building a K-12 environmental justice curriculum, documenting black environmental leadership in communities, and research into how global warming affects melting glaciers that are essential for the livelihood of indigenous people.
“All these projects are possible through respectful relationships between people in a variety of fields from literary studies to library science to administration and history,” said Arroyo. “All of us will work to learn from mistakes and always ask ourselves how we can be more inclusive, more accessible, and more just as we imagine climate together and racially just futures for all.”
With over 430 nominations for their slate of awards and only 12 universities selected as winners, this was a monumental award for PNW Just Futures Institute.
The award also represents an example of several of the key guiding principles of the UO’s Environment Initiative, including the policy-relevant, data-driven, and evidence-based by doing applied work and rooted in and focused on issues of equity and environmental justice.”
“The work of JFI under the leadership of John Arroyo and Alai Reyes-Santos represents precisely the kind of community-engaged, justice-focused, problem-centered work that is possible in higher education as we respond to the urgency of our climate crisis and help our students prepare for the work ahead,” said Adell Amos, Environment Initiative Executive Director, “I am so proud to have them as colleagues and thrilled for this recognition of their leadership.”