Leveraging Ethnic Media and Communications to Drive Equitable Urban Greening Implementation in Los Angeles

All citizens should have access to information about key environmental justice issues in their communities. Yet a lack of communication on such topics through ethnic media channels remains a key source of inequity in the unfolding climate crisis.

LA’s immigrant communities are disproportionately affected by climate change, but information on the issue has primarily been disseminated through mainstream, English-language media channels. UCLA’s Laboratory for Environmental Narrative Strategies (LENS) aims to rectify by mobilizing a network of more than 40 ethnic media journalists to disseminate vital information about climate change and urban greening initiatives.

With support from the Bezos Earth Fund, the journalists working with LENS will produce approximately 160 stories on local issues related to urban greening, which will be translated into diverse languages and disseminated through appropriate media outlets. Through this initiative, residents will have the opportunity to become informed about environmental justice issues that directly affect their lives as well as how to advocate for their communities to ensure that urban greening initiatives serve them. LENS will also provide communications training for community-based organizations and build a website to aggregate project stories for wider reach.