Researchers at U-M’s Rogel Cancer Center want to build a movement to understand how exposures to toxic metals, industrial pollution and “forever chemicals” called PFAS, are impacting the health and cancer risk of residents across Michigan.
Empowering a more just and sustainable world requires interdisciplinary coalition-building and collaborative action. The University of Michigan is pursuing multidisciplinary approaches and initiatives built around social justice to ensure that work strengthens and supports Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) and all communities. No outcome is a true solution unless everybody benefits.
U-M was the first university to offer Environmental Justice as an academic field of study in the U.S., and remains on the forefront of educating leaders who make real impacts across the spectrum of EJ challenges. In partnership with communities throughout the region and world, U-M experts, from a wide range of disciplines, are pursuing inclusive, responsive, and equitable solutions to real-world problems. Some of our key initiatives in environmental justice include: the Tishman Center for Social Justice and the Environment, Poverty Solutions, the Center for Sustainable Systems, the Center for Local, State and Urban Policy, and the Sustainable Food Systems Initiative.
Researchers at U-M’s Rogel Cancer Center want to build a movement to understand how exposures to toxic metals, industrial pollution and “forever chemicals” called PFAS, are impacting the health and cancer risk of residents across Michigan.
"For more than four decades, Bunyan taught and mentored SEAS students, modeling for them how to be effective advocates for equity and justice in communities that face environmental racism. Thanks to Bunyan’s tireless passion for creating change, his legacy as an environmental justice pioneer will live on in future generations of advocates.”
A new data map showcasing diverse indicators of poverty and well-being throughout Michigan highlights the key challenges confronting residents in different parts of the state and suggests interventions for the state’s most critical needs.
U-M is marking late March and all of April with a series of events focused on sustainability and climate action, continuing a tradition that began with the first “Teach-In on the Environment” in 1970—which grew into what is now known as Earth Day.
What materials and methods will allow us to design and construct low-carbon buildings? How can architects and designers promote social justice through community ownership of land? Through its Pressing Matters grant program, Taubman College has funded five faculty-led research and creative practice projects that address these questions.
The global challenges posed by climate change are widespread, impacting various aspects of human life, with water resources at the forefront of these challenges. As climate change advances, it is projected to exacerbate water scarcity and access issues, given the intensification of water-related hazards (such as hurricanes and flooding) and rising temperatures that will lead to sea-level rise and saltwater intrusion.