Launching and managing a grounded, equity-centered, and scalable sustainability curriculum for communities in Northeastern Illinois and beyond

Together for Nature would like to engage underserved and environmental justice communities as well as learn from and lift their perspectives to inform and develop long term community-driven sustainability work. The ideal result of this work will be to distribute grounded and lived-in environmental and sustainability knowledge that is more actionable and equitable than previous educational efforts in the region. The primary goal of the project is the completion of the Changemakers curriculum to support the upcoming rollout, testing, and adaptive management of the Changemakers curriculum over roughly the next year, with a secondary goal of adapting the curriculum and workshops into ally training/organizational equity trainings. 

The audience for the primary goal is members of underserved and environmental justice communities who are high school-aged and older, with the aim of a truly multigenerational audience. The deliverable here will be interactive lessons conducted as virtual workshops, with each lesson being 2 hours long. The TEX community scientist will assist in the drafting of the lessons but does not need to be present for the workshops themselves (but is welcome to assist depending on availability and logistics).  Each lesson has a section for introduction/definitions, connections to NE Illinois, equitable analysis of current solutions, community feedback, sustainable lifestyles tips, leadership tools, and priorities survey. 

The secondary goal of creating ally trainings builds on the ability for the community feedback received during the launch of the curriculum (as well as the wealth of knowledge contained in the lessons themselves) to be adapted into material that can help other organizations in the region improve their equity work and influence action in the region to be more community-informed and equitable.

Community Lead

Katia Carranza is the co-founder of the Together for Nature nonprofit in NE Illinois. Together for Nature is focused on equitably empowering NE Illinois communities to improve the social and environmental conditions through education, leadership, and advocacy. Over the past ten years, she has been a community organizer that has mobilized my communities for environmental justice, equity in sustainability, fair trade, and immigrant rights. She is currently a graduate student in Natural Resource Sciences, and collaborates with Buffalo Nations Grasslands Alliance to conduct research focused on supporting the socioecological resilience of Indigenous people, and she is serving a grasslands Indigenous Kinship Circle in compiling their priorities into strategy and implementing equitable engagement across North America. Katia is committed to continue collaborating with her underserved, migrant, Indigenous, and frontline communities to advance their vision for equitable sustainability that heals our social and environmental relationships.

Community Science Fellow

Anne Hylden has loved science since elementary school, when her mom led after-school Hands on Science programs for the kids in her class. Anne followed her curiosity to a Master’s degree in Chemistry and taught math and chemistry to high school and college students for twelve years. Wanting to expand her communication skills for broader audiences, she went back to school and is now finishing a Master’s degree in Science Writing. She is building a business as a freelance scriptwriter for video and audio projects.

Anne enjoys talking science with just about anyone—scientists and non-scientists alike. She believes in the power of open, respectful dialog for collective problem-solving. And she is excited about facilitating conversations between people who do necessary research and people whose communities can benefit from that research.