Environmental equity - Jeff Merrell

Lone individual sitting in a beach chair on Lake Michigan beach

Environmental equity

Creating neighborhood solutions to neighborhood challenges

One of the bits of wisdom I learned as an educator was to think about the design of a course as guided by a kind of story. The basic arc of the story in my case always started by first defining a big, complex challenge, then exploring some ideas, each

CTA L train in motion, blurred image at night.

Community listening

2026: Community listening and environmental equity in Evanston

Note: This is a long post - much longer than I usually write. But it lays out the full current state of the work I am doing, and how I think about community listening, co-creating local solutions, and learning what those activities mean for environmental equity in my home city.

Black and white photo of a CTA L train crossing an overpass.

Thinking out loud

Thinking about: Environmental equity curriculum (part 2)

The end game for this curriculum: Folks have the power and resources to invent their own ways to create healthy neighborhood communities. I started thinking about this curriculum as involving two types of folks: Those who live in the neighborhoods impacted by historical injustice and environmental inequities. And those who

Winter beach scene on Lake Michigan. Snow and solitary figure walking.

Thinking out loud

Thinking about: Leadership curriculum for Evanston environmental equity

At the upcoming April 2026 meeting of Environmental Justice Evanston I am due to propose a curriculum for leadership development. The desired outcome is to increase the number of people who can lead environmental equity efforts in Evanston. This need comes together for a couple of reasons. The Evanston environmental

CTA Purple Line Train leaving station after snowfall.

Environmental equity

Update on Evanston environmental justice. And folks who give a f*ck.

A lot has happened in the past several weeks on the environmental justice front and I want to document the moment as we move deeper into 2026. But I also do not want to ignore the current state of life as the US devolves into an autocracy. Minneapolis is under

Community listening

Community listening, environmental justice and writing in 2026

I'm going to take a break from this writing routine until early January. During 2025 I posted almost every week - 49 posts, amounting to 52K words - and it's been a great positive experiment. I plan to continue writing in 2026. But I want to

Couple walking a dog on a Lake Michigan lakefont park, covered in snow.

Community listening

The story of 2025

I'm sitting here today contributing work on several things with the environmental justice folks in Evanston: A grant application, comments on a draft report from the Evanston Environmental Equity Investigation, and communications plans with a subcommittee team of a new coalition. It's a long way from

Environmental equity

Update: Evanston environmental justice

This is my updated effort to craft an overview of environmental justice - what it is, what it means in Evanston, and potential paths for the future. What do we mean by environmental justice? Environmental justice recognizes that our history of racial discrimination leads to current and on-going environmental, health

Evanston Dempster beach with lone person sitting in beach chair.

Environmental equity

Three ways of framing the environmental justice problem, by the folks who know.

I recently attended two half-day working sessions of the Evanston Environmental Justice (EJ) Coalition. The sessions were designed to inform a strategy for this new organization as it moves into 2026. I was geeked for a number of reasons. This was front-row observation of community coalition building with folks who

Man walking under CTA train tracks bridge

Environmental equity

'Why is this happening to us? We know why it's happening.'

Yesterday I had the opportunity to attend the Evanston Environmental Justice Conversation Series, co-sponsored by a coalition of civic and religious organizations (including Environmental Justice Evanston, a group which I am now supporting). Keynote speakers and panelists were folks with deep personal and professional experience in the impacts of racial

Close of up apartment building with shadows forming patterns.

Thinking out loud

Notes and quotes

A few notes and quotes from recent readings and research. The thread here is the power - and necessity - of connectedness. Environmental justice pioneer Hazel Johnson The arc of the story of environmental justice pioneer Hazel Johnson is instructive. As is the maturity of the organization she founded in

Environmental equity

Monthly update (September): Environmental equity, community listening and pedagogy that rhymes with design practice

I took a step back during the past month to reflect on what I am learning about environmental equity and community listening, and what each means to me. All of this is a learning work-in-progress. I am starting to frame environmental equity as a challenge consisting of two types of