Building a neighborhood environmental college in Chattanooga, Tennessee

The Neighborhood Environmental College (NEC) is a central strategy and structure of the Alton Park/Piney Woods Environmental Health and Justice Collaborative in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Through NEC courses, the Collaborative works to expand 1) connections with neighborhood adults and youths about environmental health and justice issues, 2) participatory, environmental-health focused research about industrial and commercial chemical contamination in neighborhood water, air, and soil, and 3) neighbor involvement in policy decision-making processes and action to reduce risk and exposure.

The NEC is based on the Neighborhood College system of the St. Louis Grace Hill Settlement House in St. Louis, Missouri and in the Collaborative's community-based participatory research approach. Collaborative organizational partners, neighbors, and other community partners together prioritize, develop and implement courses. Each 40 hour course includes three essential components of information exchange among neighborhood participants and course facilitators, leadership development, and outreach/service/advocacy activity. Half of each course is spend in a classroom setting and half in outreach. Participants receive a stipend upon graduation from each NEC course. Graduates may take other NEC courses and may move into other leadership and employment opportunities linked through the NEC and the Collaborative.

This presentation describes origins, development, implementation, outcomes, and future plans of the NEC, with focus on two courses, “Contamination in the Chattanooga Creek” and “Environmental Health Risks, Effects & Wellness”. Session participants will receive a resource packet that includes guidelines for College and course-specific development, sample NEC course syllabi, schedules, evaluative tools, facilitator training materials, and related references and resources.