Transcript
Amanda Moore McBride:
Welcome to the second episode of the Brave Ideas for Social Change podcast series, produced by the University of Denver Graduate School of Social Work. The series draws on GSSW faculty expertise for fast moving discussions on emerging research, practice and policy innovations to spur social change.
Amanda Moore McBride:
Today's faculty expert is Associate Professor Lisa Reyes Mason, who studies climate change as an urgent social justice issue. Her scholarship includes the health and financial impacts of weather extremes, social equity aspects of technological solutions for the climate crisis, and clean energy for all. She is co-lead of the Grand Challenge to Create Social responses to a Changing Environment, and co-edited the recent book People and Climate Change: Vulnerability, Adaptation and Social Justice. In observance of Earth Day, she wrote an op-ed for New Social Worker magazine about the connections between climate justice and social work. She also is teaching a new graduate-level special topics course on creating a regenerative future, the topic of today's discussion. Welcome, Lisa.
Lisa Reyes Mason:
Thank you so much, Amanda. I'm so happy to be here.
Amanda Moore McBride:
You know, not everyone recognizes environmental and climate justice as within the purview of social work. Why should social workers be concerned about these areas?
Lisa Reyes Mason:
Absolutely. Great question. So I like to say, show me a social worker and I can probably show you a way that environmental and climate justice relates to their work. So on the one hand, we really need more environmental or ecological social workers who are dedicated, full time, to this work. And of course that's a specialty that we excel at here at GSSW. At the same time, I'd love to see all social workers really connecting the dots about how the climate crisis connects to their work or the lives of people they work with. For example, maybe you ran an after-school youth development program, but say your center is in an urban heat island in the city with little access to parks or shade. Or say your center is right near a polluting industry, putting the kids in your program at greater risk of asthma or health problems.
So climate and environmental justice are very much youth development and health issues as well. Or imagine that maybe you work with immigrants and refugees. And you've noticed that when extreme weather like summer heat waves, or winter storms, or heavy rains, when these kinds of events happen, you notice that the people you work with have greater needs for help paying their utility bills or knowing where to go or what to do during an emergency. So these kinds of climate and environmental justice issues are also immigrant and refugee rights issues too.
Amanda Moore McBride:
I love how you have framed this issue for social work. Let's bring it in to day-to-day. Why and what are the ways social workers and advocates can engage in this type of environmental and climate justice work in their practice?
Lisa Reyes Mason:
Absolutely. So part of the why is that it's in our code of ethics to take action, to pursue social justice. And it's also in our Council of Social Work Education competencies now to pursue environmental justice. On how to take action, there are so, so many ways to take action. And this is where I do hope to inspire people to pursue action and change, even if it's in small ways at first. So you could, for example, start where you work. You could be the one who notices these intersections between climate and environmental justice, and the mission of your organization. And then be the one to take initiative, to generate ideas for how programs and services might be adapted. So here in Denver, for example, I'm thinking of Sydney Hunter, with EarthLinks, who recently got in touch with me because she's concerned about how climate change is already affecting people who are homeless, who are the people whom EarthLinks serves.
Lisa Reyes Mason:
So Sydney is an example of someone who's at this leading edge of exploring what new collaborations or coalitions could be formed here in Denver, bringing people together around homelessness and climate. Another way that social workers can take action around this is to pick a policy issue, especially at the local or state level, something that's at the nexus of climate and well-being. For example, expanding access to health insurance or mental health care and then advocate, or if in line with your organization, lobby about this issue.
Again, trying to think of an example here in Colorado, we currently have House Bill 1258 under consideration, which would provide youth who are 18 and younger with free behavioral health screening, and three free visits with a therapist. This bill is born from the COVID-19 crisis and its impacts on young people. But this is also very much an issue that connects with weather and climate because we know that that weather and climate affect mental health too. Finally, for a new and exciting area to get involved in. You could also learn about how you or your organization can be part of creating a regenerative future locally, where you work and live
Amanda Moore McBride:
A regenerative future. This is a new concept. It's certainly a new concept to me and I think it will be to many of our listeners. Let's drill down on that. Tell us more about what that means.
Lisa Reyes Mason:
Yes. In fact, you can probably hear the excitement in my voice. I'm very excited about this as well. I'm still new to it, learning as I go, and loving it. So, to describe what a regenerative future is, let's first look back. Our economies today are extractive and destructive to the health and wellbeing of people and the planet. So Christiana Figueres and Tom Rivett-Carnac were two of the architects of the 2015 Paris Agreement. And they have a wonderful recent book out called The Future We Choose. And in there they write, "Our planet can no longer support one directional growth. We have to come to the end of humanity's extraction road."
So regenerative future. Regenerate. What are the roots of this word regenerate? In its essence, it means to create again. And what is it that we are creating again? We're creating a healthy, thriving world for all, in which humans and all elements of the natural world are in healthy, mutually supportive, balanced relationship with each other. So in a regenerative future, our economies are no longer extractive. Our approach to development isn't just human focused. Instead we're embracing holistic processes, thriving ecosystems of which we humans are a part. Meaningful community participation, if there's excess resources, then we reuse and reabsorb those. And there's deep consideration for local contexts. And so if these aspects of regenerative future don't resonate with social work values, I don't know what does.
Amanda Moore McBride:
I love this. I love new concepts. I love new frames on problems. And I will say that social workers many times are ... We're downstream, right? We're catching the problems as they already exist. But it sounds like that this concept of regenerative future actually moves us upstream to the headwater, if you will, in our problem-solving.
Lisa Reyes Mason:
In some ways. Definitely. So regenerative futures work is very much about identifying what isn't working and fixing that in these new and different and really life-sustaining ways. So, for example, we know that climate change is caused by human-produced greenhouse gas emissions. Climate change is already wreaking havoc on people's lives. And we need those downstream social workers, like you mentioned, who are the ones providing care and services and relief as these climate crises are enfolding. It's an essential part of what social work does. Meanwhile, we also need social workers, kind of taking your analogy, heading upstream, to collaborate on how to urgently reduce those greenhouse gas emissions. And how to do that in ways that also support the lives of people who historically may have depended on them.
So for example, there might be work on the just transition away from coal and gas and other fossil fuels, but transitioning away from those in ways that is very thoughtful about potentially new green economy opportunities for those coal and gas workers and the communities that have relied on those industries for generations. So that could be one part of regenerative futures work. At the same time, regenerative futures work asks us to imagine and work to create a world that we haven't known in our lifetime. So maybe it's a future that's around that riverbend, site yet unseen, but we're pursuing the journey.
Amanda Moore McBride:
I've so appreciated the examples and how you've made this tangible for us. And it's made me think that this work could so easily become the territory of disciplines like engineering, biochemistry — the hard sciences, if you will. Why is it critical to take an interdisciplinary approach that also includes social work?
Lisa Reyes Mason:
It is critical because as social workers, we bring our ethics to the table, our commitment to social and racial justice, and our embrace, our seeking out, our deference to community voice, to interdisciplinary teams, like the ones you mentioned. I've been on countless collaborations, for example, where as the social worker, I've been the one raising issues about equity, community, power and privilege, of looking around and saying, who's at the table and who's not? And who really needs to be and how are we going to make that happen?
One of my academic joys was when a colleague in engineering said some time into our work together, they said, "You know, Lisa, I've been thinking about our work together and I just can't get social vulnerability out of my head now. And that's all I'm thinking about is how I think about what to do next." So I give that little anecdote just to say that this contribution of ours, as social workers, to interdisciplinary work, it can't be understated. Like so much of our work in the academy at times, we don't always know where or how it will ripple out. Another analogy, speaking of being at the table, I often get asked by social workers, "Why aren't there more of us at the table? How do we get there?" And my response is always the same, "Don't wait to be invited. Go out, find a table, see if it's one you want to join. If not, make a new one. Let's get going."
Amanda Moore McBride:
Lisa, this has truly been fascinating. And I just personally appreciate so much how you've shared insights and ideas, but also a vision around the possibilities where we can all find a role in a regenerative future. I also want to congratulate you for being named to Denver Mayor Hancock's Sustainability Advisory Council and appointed as co-chair of the Science and Research Committee. This is truly an incredible professional accomplishment. But as dean of the school, I so appreciate your leadership and public impact in all its forms. Thank you for being with me here today.
Lisa Reyes Mason:
Thank you so much, Amanda. It's truly been a pleasure and it's an honor for me to be part of our community here. Thank you.
Amanda Moore McBride:
Please subscribe to our Brave Ideas for Social Change podcast, for more conversations, just like this, including an upcoming discussion related to housing and homelessness. Learn more at socialwork.du.edu/change.
