Planning Photovoice Exhibit Investigates Equitable Green Job Pathways in Austin
Just after COVID hit in Spring 2020, the City of Austin created the Austin Civilian Conservation Corps (ACCC) to employ Austinites affected by the pandemic. Inspired by the original New Deal-era Civilian Conservation Corps, which enlisted people to work on land conservation and park development projects during the Great Depression, ACCC has since transitioned to become a program that helps Austinites earn income, serve their community, and gain skills to build more equitable pathways to green career opportunities.
This semester, students in Assistant Professor Miriam Solis’ Community & Regional Planning Practicum “Jobs and Climate Action in Austin” partnered with the city and ACCC to explore the current state of green jobs in Austin. Working at the intersection of climate action and economic justice, students were tasked with investigating the extent to which the ACCC program supports its participants to pursue green job pathways.
Utilizing “photovoice,” a participatory action research method meant to amplify participant voices and drive change, students asked 11 ACCC participants to respond to prompts via photos taken during their everyday lives. The result of the effort is an exhibition of photos on display in the Atrium / Lobby area of Austin City Hall this Friday, May 20 through Friday, May 27. The photos tell the story of the ACCC’s successes and challenges and illuminate opportunities for such workforce development programs operating within Austin’s green economy.
The city will celebrate the opening of the exhibition on Friday, May 20 from 4:00-7:00 p.m. at City Hall, featuring remarks from Mayor Pro-Tem Allison Alter, Solis, and representatives from both ACCC and the American YouthWorks – Texas Conservation Corps Program.
Along with the exhibition, students performed a broader review of civilian conservation corps-type programs across the country and generated recommendations that the ACCC and similar programs within the city could take in their future. Recommendations include things like: More closely integrating ACCC workforce pathways and job experience with the City of Austin’s hiring needs; developing deeper partnerships with other key workforce development institutes to create specific transitions for participants; empowering participants to have more input on which projects they participate in to ensure equity goals are met, and more.
The exhibition is a preview of a larger study led by Community & Regional Planning Associate Professor Michael Oden in collaboration with Solis and Assistant Professor Katherine Lieberknecht titled Expanding Pathways to Quality Jobs in Austin’s Growing Green Economy. Set to be released this month, the report outlines ways the city could better seize upon the economic development opportunities offered by green economic growth while opening new and equitable pathways to high-quality jobs and careers.
“A “green city” can be a deeply unequal one,” Solis said. “Frontline communities have priorities for, and concerns about, Austin’s climate action goals. This photovoice project synthesizes some of those insights, allowing us to think more critically about and act upon the intersection of environmental justice and workforce development in these greening efforts.”
In addition to the Photovoice Exhibit and the larger Expanding Pathways study, the Community & Regional Planning Program has a track record of successful research-practice partnerships with the City of Austin, other municipal entities, and Central Texas nonprofits. Solis, specifically, has another ongoing research project with the nonprofit EcoRise to establish the Building a Green Texas initiative. Building a Green Texas works with high school students in Central and Gulf Coast Texas communities to develop the knowledge and skills needed to address community climate issues. Additionally, Solis’s Fall 2020 Planning Practicum partnered with Austin Water to provide recommendations for how the municipal water utility could advance racial equity through the agency’s policies and programs. The project received the 2020 American Planning Association-Texas’ Award for Advancing Diversity and Social Justice.
Community & Regional Planning students who developed the ACCC Photovoice Exhibit include Tony Bissiri, Kayla Jones, Matt Skawin, and Ottila Willis.