by aleida, on November 23rd, 2009
The sixth and final education session was The Good Green Meme: Models of Citizen Engagement from the Streets of New York City. It was moderated by Gita Nandan from Thread Collective (so close to our own name that one person actually told us, “I saw one of your colleagues present!” 
) and the speakers were Miquela Craytor from Sustainable South Bronx, Aaron Yowell from GreenHome NYC, and a third person whose name I didn’t catch and who was there replacing the actual scheduled presenter.
The session started by defining the word “meme” as “passing ideas from one person to another by non-genetic means.” The speakers presented a few ways to get more people involved in the sustainability movement, such as:
- avoid making people feel guilty in order to get them to participate
- acknowledge lifestyle interests, and steer people toward solutions that will speak to those passions
- be productive and constructive, i.e. go beyond talk and actually get things done
- engage volunteers and give them freedom to pursue their interests (as one person put it: volunteers generate projects, and projects generate volunteers)
Craytor’s Sustainable South Bronx was a fascinating example of community-wide engagement. She spoke about the “Green The Ghetto,” “South Bronx Greenway Master Plan,” and job training programs, as well as the Oak Point eco-industrial park they hope to bring to fruition. Not only are these projects addressing the environment and the economy, but also equity. Craytor presented a staggering statistic: of all people in prisons around the world, the United States houses a total of 25%. SSB’s job training program takes in people who were formerly in jail, and that population makes up 30% of its graduates. They leave with proven skills such as tree climbing and green roof installation.
While we have a long way to go to get everyone involved, these seem like very positive steps towards general engagement.
Did you also attend this session? If so, what did you think?