Just Language in Ecology Education (Just Language) envisions a future in which everyone feels they belong within nature and are empowered to engage in ecological and culturally informed stewardship, whether in their own gardens, parks, or wild areas. This connection to nature has been systematically denied to many communities through socio-economic, political, cultural, linguistic, and structural barriers. We offer language and frameworks that can disrupt the status quo and help transcend these barriers.
Just Language is a community where you can connect with people who are lifelong learners committed to intentional language use. We create and hold space for these conversations and are working together to design and provide free resources about language use in ecology and environmental education.
Collaboration and Continual Learning
Just Language is a space to practice implementing values and new ideas. Language and culture are constantly changing as we learn and grow. We embrace new information and perspectives and reject the construct that perfection is possible.
Empathy and Inclusion
We seek to foster a welcoming environment for people from multiple disciplines and racial, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds. We recognize that each person has different experiences and responsibilities. Our use of the pronoun “we” is intended to be expansive – incorporating all people…and nature. Our we includes you.
Centering Historically Marginalized Voices
Just Language incorporates multiple methods (science, storytelling, creative arts, history, etc.) and perspectives of historically excluded communities. We aim to challenge Eurocentric views, and uplift multiple knowledge systems and ways of knowing and being.
Responsibility & Responsiveness
We all have something to learn from one another, and our work moves at the speed of trust. Just Language honors our responsibility to those who have been and continue to be dehumanized, including but not limited to Black, Indigenous, people of color, Latine, Asian, immigrant and refugee communities, LGBTQ+, people with disabilities, marginalized religious groups, and all communities who have experienced barriers to carrying out their relationships with and responsibilities to the more-than-human world. This responsibility also extends to future generations and to nature itself.
Scientific Integrity and Transparency
Just Language recognizes that science is a human process, bound by cultural and historical conditions. As such, science is political. We strive for transparency when referring to and presenting evidence, and to recognize and acknowledge the ways knowledge production interacts with systems of power.
Danielle Bunch
Eli Caref
Sam Cramer
Lisa Fink
Jo Jaczkowski
Jonah McDonald
Skye Pelliccia
Neha Savant
Chris Widmaier
Celeste Williams
Michael Yadrick