Historically marginalized communities have been at the forefront of experiencing the consequences of, and responding to, environmental degradation and climate change. Within these communities, young people are particularly impacted by these circumstances, but they also stand to offer imaginative interventions.
Planning with the Future: Environmental Justice Through Youth Photovoice in Pharr documents a research-practice partnership that seeks to better understand the environmental burdens that youth in frontline communities experience; identify and strategize around their ideas for the pursuit of a just climate transition; and support environmental improvement through coalition-building. This partnership emerged from Planet Texas 2050, and includes a team of UT Austin researchers — led by the book’s coeditors Miriam Solis and Carmen R. Valdez — and community members in Texas’s Rio Grande Valley. Together, they collaborated with local youth on a series of exercises using “photovoice,” a participatory research method that amplifies participant voices and drives change.
The book describes their collaborations and is illustrated by youth photographs and narratives, offering unique insight into how youth understand environmental inequalities while also identifying areas and strategies for needed action.
ISBN: 978-0-934951-45-6
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Youth and Environmental Action, by Miriam Solis
Photovoice In Pharr, by Carmen R. Valdez
Youth Engagement and Environmental Justice, by Ana Chatham, with interviews by Elizabeth Rodriguez and Marisa Oliva
Priorities for the Built Environment, by Tasha Banks
Priorities for Park Planning and Care, by Katherine A. Pérez-Quiñones
Future Impact, by Ana Chatham, with an interview by Lourdes Flores
Exhibitions
Contributors
EDITORS
Miriam Solis and Carmen R. Valdez
MANAGING EDITOR
Bridget Gayle Ground
ASSISTANT EDITOR
Emilio Sanchez
DESIGN
10/HALF studios
