Diveristy, Equity, Inclusion, & Justice
DIVERISTY, EQUITY, INCLUSION AND JUSTICE
The UC Environmental Stewards program is committed to making adult outdoor education accessible to all Californians. Written into our program's strategic plan are actions intended to eliminate barriers, foster relationships and to promote access to our program for the intentionally marginalized communities in California. If we are to create an informed network of environmental advocates, we must recognize past and current injustices as we strive to create equitable access and inclusive learning spaces for our Naturalists and Stewards. We would like to take a moment to thank those who have helped us in this work. We rely on a network of our organizations, instructors, participants, alumni and Program Advisory Committee (PAC) members to guide us through this ongoing work.
What we are doing to address DEIJ in the UC Environmental Stewards Program:
Partnerships: Through strategic partnerships with organizations serving intentionally marginalized communities, we are able to deliver our course to diverse pools of participants. We partner with workforce development organizations such as the California Conservation Corps as well as several Urban Conservation Corps, community colleges, and community service organizations who carry out this work.
Programmatic: Increasing inclusively is a Strategic Objective for our rolling 5-year program plan. This includes our 4 R's Framework: Relationships, Recruitment, Relevance and Responsibility. This framework is how we operational our DEIJ efforts as a team.
Fees: We offer a reduced rate to those who have a financial barrier to attending our partner’s courses. By reducing our program fee by 50% and asking our partners to do the same, we can offer the CalNat certification to participants who might not have otherwise been able to take the course.
Instructor Trainings and State-wide Events: As a part of our instructor trainings and quarterly instructor calls, we offer learning opportunities on cultural relevancy, safe learning spaces and alternative program delivery. Our state-wide events offer a needs-based equity pricing model to reduce cost barriers to attendance.
Diverse Audience Pools & Guest Speakers: By relying on person and professional networks within in and beyond the University of California, our staff encourages and supports our instructors and partnering organizations to intentionally include diverse speakers for their course and to seek out, engage, and support organizations who serve these communities.
Tribal Resources:
UC Environmental Stewards is under the umbrella of the University of California, a national land-grant university. UC Environmental Stewards acknowledges the Indigenous Peoples of California and beyond, and acknowledges that the University of California continues to benefit from a history and legacy of the subjugation, oppression, genocide, and marginalization of the Indigenous Peoples of California. For more information about this legacy and the work being done to address it, please take a moment to review the University of California Land Grab: A Legacy of Profit from Indigenous Land - Two Part Webinar Series.
As part of our collaboration agreement, each instructor must attend the UC Environmental Stewards Instructor training and participate in the syllabus co-design process with program staff. During this time spent developing each course, we support and encourage our instructors to reach out to their local Tribal organizations and to include local and Indigenous Knowledge in their course materials and presentations.
- Native Land Interactive Map: https://native-land.ca/
- CA State Parks Tribal Liaison
- Going beyond a land acknowledgment: https://nativegov.org/news/beyond-land-acknowledgment-guide/
Additional Resources:
Environmental Professionals of Color (EPOC)
Mentorship for Underrepresented STEM Enthusiasts (MUSE)