The Environmental Justice & Community Resilience Program (EJCR) is a new, interdisciplinary and community engagement initiative sponsored by the Lang Center for Civic and Social Responsibility, the Environmental Studies Program, and the Office of Sustainability. The EJCR program will provide a gathering space and support network facilitating action research partnerships grounded in environmental justice and committed to forging diverse campus-community collaborations.
Many years of lively conversations linking environmental justice curricula with engaged scholarship reached a pivotal convergence in 2015 with the convening of Swarthmore’s first “Sustainability Charrette,” a campus-wide, strategic visioning workshop that brought together students, faculty, staff, board members, alums, and community partners to learn from invited experts in the field and to collectively brainstorm ideas for moving the college forward.
A key recommendation that emerged from the Charrette was to establish a “center dedicated to environmental sustainability aligned with the advancement of social justice.” The EJCR represents the newest constellation of these historical commitments and aspirations. In alignment with the College’s mission to advance critically-engaged scholarship, racial and gender justice, and purposeful, campus-community collaborations with local partners and beyond, Giovanna Di Chiro, Professor of Environmental Studies and former Lang Visiting Professor for Issues of Social Change will serve as the EJCR program’s first faculty coordinator.
Professor of Environmental Studies and Coordinator of Environmental Justice
Coordinator of Environmental Justice and Climate Resiliency Program
Environmental Studies
Dr. Giovanna Di Chiro teaches and researches the intersections of environmental science and policy, with a focus on social and economic disparities and human rights.
Prof. Giovanna Di Chiro, who started at Swarthmore as a Lang Visiting Professor has continued participatory action research on environmental justice in Philadelphia and Chester. In 2020, the Philadelphia Citizen wrote about the community impacts, including creating jobs and green energy solutions in Philadelphia and Chester. Prof. Di Chiro also advised the student group, Serenity Soular, a Project Pericles Fund project. This short video describes the work of Serenity Soular. Since then, Prof. Di Chiro, Chester leaders, and students -- including a Lang Scholar, Ariza Nanji '24 -- are working to replicate and extend the model to the City of Chester.
Led by Prof. Giovanna Di Chiro, the EJCR programs provides student groups with mentoring, connections, and support. For instance, Prof. Di Chiro advises and mentors the student group, Campus Coalition Concerning Chester (C4). C4 is a student-led coalition supporting the Chester-based organization Chester Residents Concerned for Quality Living (CRCQL, pronounced "circle"). C4's recent progress report highlights accomplishments, including an environmental justice march in the City of Chester.
