Check our recent open-access article on the development of the Environmental Justice Index for Peterborough in Canadian Geographies.

This article recounts the development of an ongoing community-engaged research project that maps environmental injustice in Peterborough/Nogojiwanong, Ontario. Drawing insight and inspiration from the activism and scholarship in environmental injustice in Canada and a specific understanding of environmental injustice as slow violence, this project seeks to understand how community members experience environmental risk. In this article we explore two spatial methods we undertook to understand the landscape of environmental inequality in Peterborough: the development of an environmental injustice index using GIS mapping, complemented by participatory mapping with community members. In presenting the results of these interlinked mapping efforts, we make the argument that while both methods centred community needs, either taken alone would be insufficient to understand the complexity of environmental injustice in Peterborough. Instead, we call for environmental justice projects that combine both big and small data for research that is critical, community-engaged, and focused on justice.

Check out the youth-oriented profile of the project! You can access the full article here and download an activity sheet for students!

This article was produced by Futurum Careers, a free online resource and magazine aimed at encouraging 14-19-year-olds worldwide to pursue careers in science, tech, engineering, maths, medicine (STEM) and social sciences, humanities and the arts for people and the economy (SHAPE). For more information, teaching resources, and course and career guides, see www.futurumcareers.com