Lopez, 350PDX: Climate justice creates spaces for frontline communities & prioritizes their needs

In this episode of CivicSciTV’s The Perspective, host Diya Dwarakanath has an insightful and fun discussion with Denise Lopez on climate justice. Lopez is a environmental sociologist and works at 350PDX as their Organizing and Outreach Manager.

The episode begins with Lopez explaining what is climate justice, who are frontline communities, and how 350PDX approaches the three prongs of their work: climate policy, forest defense, fossil fuel resistance. “Once you’re in the door, it’s so much easier to share your ideas, your community perspectives that might differ from what is typically heard,” said Lopez.

Lopez also shared her role and that “inclusive engagement is a long process.” Besides a seat at the table, she ensures she gets to know her community and makes them feel welcome to give their input. For researchers aiming to work with frontline communities, Lopez offers advice. She explains some important do’s and don’ts, in addition to preconceived notions to leave at the door. “Often, there’s already a lot of expertise in the community,” noted Lopez.

They also discuss surprising lessons learned and actionable advice, and 350PDX’ staff collective, non-hierarchical model.

Chapters

0:00 CivicSciTV Intro

0:20 Program Overview

1:08 350PDX Intro

2:21 Climate Justice

6:22 Frontline communities

10:12 Reaching communities

12:18 Lopez mentions a study

14:08 Be inclusive

16:26 Preconceptions

18:08 Future Vision

20:23 Unique style

21:24 Actionable advice

23:10 Lesson learned

24:47 No executive director

Diya Dwarakanath

Host, CivicSciTV's 'The Perspective' | Website

Diya is an independent science and engineering journalist. She writes opinion-editorials,blogs, explainers, and feature articles on various topics. Based in Portland, Oregon, Diya is an insightful writer with "a minimalist approach and an eye for detail," said a professional writing colleague. Her unique skillset is combining her subject matter expertise with her interest in furthering science and engineering communication with the public.

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