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In Episode 3, The Crowd & The Cloud explores how citizen scientists are taking action to affect change in their communities. Scroll down to learn more about the people and projects featured in this segment.
Empower informed citizens about pollution in the community.
Episode 3 of THE CROWD & THE CLOUD features the West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project (WOEIP), a grassroots, community-based environmental and social justice organization. WOEIP is dedicated to achieving healthy homes, healthy jobs and healthy neighborhoods for all who live, work, learn and play in West Oakland, California. Through Community-Based Participatory Research projects,WOEIP aims to empower their community and help residents achieve their own visions for healthy neighborhoods. Their projects center around air pollution and air quality, climate change adaptation, recycling, and more.
By providing local leadership, WOEIP builds grassroots capacity for positive change. Their work aids residents in understanding the political, social and natural forces that impact their lives. As seen in Episode 3, WOEIP has already had considerable success in demonstrating the power of citizen science in their neighborhood. By rerouting commercial trucks around their neighborhood, they have effectively improved air quality and reduced particulate matter that they were previously breathing. WOEIP believes that informed community members who are empowered and involved can bring about both redevelopment and economic revitalization to West Oakland.
Co-founder and Co-director of WOEIP, Margaret Gordon, was named a “Champion of Change” by the White House, under former President Barack Obama.
https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/champions/citizen-scientists/margar...
Read the WOEIP’s Truck Survey, outlining citizen led efforts to record industrial traffic in their neighborhood.
http://www.baaqmd.gov/~/media/files/planning-and-research/care-program/f...
Citizen produced research from WOEIP. Their Community Based Participatory Research projects engage residents in environmental science studies.
By Robert D. Bullard, this article discusses the connection between social justice and the environment.
https://www.jstor.org/stable/3132626?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents