Analyze

Favelas in RJ state are often located on hills, which served as refuge for enslaved people - after the abolition of slavery (1888) - and immigrants, who worked for downtown citizens. The Law of lands (1850) prevented unoccupied lands to be owned through labour and provided government subsidies for the arrival of foreign settlers to be hired in the country, further devaluing the work of black men and women. As a result, favelas today are mostly composed of a black population, surviving decades of persecutions and low incomes while defending, preserving and creating a unique culture rooted in African origins that reverberates into music and the arts. Children in favelas, due to social and economical inequality and racial discrimination, have less possibility of personal development and professional realization. They attend public schools where in 2021, according to SAEB, students do not reach a satisfactory level in Portuguese language (69%) and math (95%).

They hardly have access to after-school courses and do not tend to see themselves represented in the academic community. This produces a disadvantage in access to higher education and consequently in opportunities for decent employment. The project Closer to the Sky aims at co-producing scientific knowledge in collaboration between astronomers and artists/educators living in the favela of Cantagalo Pavão Pavdosinho (PPG, RJ, Brazil), for children, teenagers and young adults of the community. We will work in close collaboration with the social project Ninho das Aguias, where classes and night sky observations will be held.
Offering extracurricular courses and cultural experiences to students in the PPG, we wish to enrich their school curriculum and strengthen the chance they wish to stay in education after secondary school. A key element of the courses is providing positive role models of scientists from Afrodescendant backgrounds, reinforced by the presence of local artists and educators, thus endorsing their role within the academic community. The project also creates just work opportunities for local artists and educators, who will offer workshops rooted in favela culture, while at the same time creating novel, decolonial courseware based on contextualized science, i.e materials that use the context of marginalized societies as examples where we can understand, learn and make science. The material developed within the project will be shared as Open Educational Resources in several languages.

Barbosa Araujo, Claudio Alberto. 2023. "Closer to the Sky." In 4S Paraconference X EiJ: Building a Global Record, curated by Misria Shaik Ali, Kim Fortun, Phillip Baum and Prerna Srigyan. Annual Meeting of the Society of Social Studies of Science, Honolulu, Hawaii, Nov 8-11.

EEC is the writing team for 10Strands,  CCEJ project for 8th grade curriculum.

EEC is organized as a collaborative (initially they were made up of over 75 organizations that include School District representation) with a board of trustees (13 members). Mary Walls, who is on a 10S writing team, is the chair of this org. In addition they have an Advisory Board. Their website lists 13 sponsors and 3 "grantors' including SoCal Edison. They describe themselves as a grassroots alliance.

The EEC seems to have officially started in Feb 2015 with their first EEC Symposium although planning meetings began in 2014 following the Stanford University Collaborative Impact Model.

On their website the EEC thanks the iecf Inland Empire Community Foundation a non-profit, public charity

The EEC offers piad workshops--their most recent on in Winter 2022 features Mary V and Mary Walls (Board Chair of EEC) as Workshop leaders on Land Acknowledgements and Decolonializing educaiton.

The EEC's websites lists many resources (organizations, guides) focused on Environmental; Agricultural, Professional development

In addition, they sponsor a bilingual art/writing and video contest annually seemingly for school age children. Recent topics include: Air and Justice (2021); Water & Water Justice (2022)

Mission statement:  Creating a sustainable and just future through environmental learning experiences for all.

They execute their mission through funding, policy and program resources In Riverside and San Bernardino Counties

In addition they envision communities where a) every person can experience nature everyday; b) teachers and envied providers have resources; c) enviro literacy is an essential component of child development

The policy is a disaster relief act aimed to provide governmental aid/ assistance at the local, state, and national levels for emergency preparedness and response in the event of a major disaster. 

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) drafted the policy. 

All levels of government and Indian tribal government in the United States.

The policy was created in 1988; it was created to support previous legislation, such as the Disaster Relief Act of 1970, which was amended in 1974 by President Nixon. 

The policy addresses public health in Title IV as part of the Major Disaster Assistance Programs. Section 42 states that the President may provide assistance for and coordinate emergency response to affected areas.