Community organizing and academic research: A winning combination

East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice (East Yard CEJ) is a community based environmental health and justice organization located 5 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles. East Yard CEJ addresses the environmental health and justice disparities in the City of Commerce/East Los Angeles, an area home to chemical manufacturing, lead smeltering, refuse incineration, 4 railyards and 47 thousand diesel trucks a day, mixed with thousand of residents. Solutions to sustainable land-use must be deployed if we are to protect the public's well being.

In our work for a healthier future, we found that academic research and data is pivotal to leveraging support for health protective policies. Research allows for well-informed policy advocacy and decision-making. It also informs community organizing necessary to shift public opinion and drive political will to forge public policies that address sustainability and health protection. These collaborations between community organizations and academic research Institutes make a winning team.

Two such collaborations are:

T.H.E. Impact Project - Trade Health and the Environment, consists of two academic research institutions and four community-based organizations that have collaborated to frame the policy debate on goods movement and public health at the regional and state level.

Cumulative Impacts Collaborative in the South East LA Region. This Collaboration consists of three academic institutions and five community based organizations. Together this team has identified communities with significant impacts of toxins. Through GIS mapping and community based "ground truthing" the collaboration is poised to develop land use planning and policy solutions in addressing environmental injustice.