Poster Session 3, 1:15 PM - 2:00 PM: Campus Center Auditorium [A58]

Presenter: Nicole I. Carmona Martinez

Faculty Sponsor: Adán Colón-Carmona

School: UMass Boston

Research Area: Sociology and Anthropology

ABSTRACT

Structural racism within urban environments continues to shape inequitable outcomes for colored communities along health, agency, and climate resiliency. This research explores the relationships between universities and community-based organizations (CBOs) in shaping equitable environments in historically marginalized US city areas, specifically neighborhoods within Boston. It seeks to explore the role of partnerships at the intersections of youth and community engagement, policy advocacy, and ways of strengthening partnerships. To investigate the role of partnerships, qualitative, semi-structured interviews were conducted of CBOs in Greater Boston. As well, findings were included from participant observations gathered during partnered educational workshops and programs. The interviews and participant observations have the following topics: 1. Community Engagement and Youth, 2. Project Process and Advocacy, and 3. Strengthening Academic Partnerships.  On-going results support a strong role that academic partnerships have in environmental social justice within advocacy areas of environmental decontamination, sustainability, and community stewardship. Additionally, partnerships were important for engagement, with emphasis on educational youth programs that were holistic in design and covered several life areas that impact outcomes and health along the life course. Youth were engaged in a host of social and environmental topics that prepared them to be resilient community leaders. Lastly, modalities of strengthening partnerships emphasize an importance of reciprocity as opposed to one-sided research extraction models to uphold community trust throughout project processes and sustain the longevity of relations. Initiatives at the organization level without partnerships included advocacy for infrastructure improvement and social policy advocacy in governmental assistance programs. However, interviews highlighted the educational and research value that university partnerships can bring.