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Kevin Slovinsky  and Madison Mooney  presented the results of LiKEN’s research for a collaborative project led by the Southern Rural Development Center at Mississippi State University  focused on heirs’ property in the American South. LiKEN’s Community Engagement Coordinators conducted semi-structured interviews of heirs’ property owners and local leaders (lawyers, property valuation administrators, surveyors, etc.) in Harlan, Martin, and Letcher counties. Kevin Slovinsky , Madison Mooney , and Deborah Thompson  analyzed the interviews to determine how heirs’ property owners  and their communities understand their own personal and communal wealth as well as the opportunities and barriers to building wealth. They found that both the cause and effects of heirs’ property are conflated by the historic and contemporary domination of extractive industries in eastern Kentucky. You can view the slides for our presentation, titled “Family-Land and Love Amidst Extraction: Perspectives on Heirs' Property in Eastern Kentucky,” on the Resources page on our website here . Kevin presented at the Dimensions of Political Ecology 2024  conference at the University of Kentucky in Lexington. The presentation explained what heirs' property is, how it affects landowners and communities in Eastern KY, and how the Appalachian Heirs' Property Coalition  seeks to address it. Crossing over from analytical research to a vision of fostering economic justice in Central Appalachia, the presentation’s conclusion sketches out an organizing strategy that positions heirs’ property as the portal through which communities can build a kinship-based cooperative economy that can challenge the existing land regime in Central Appalachia. You can watch the presentation, titled “Dimensions of Political Ecology 2024,” on the Resources page on our website here . Kevin also presented at three seminars in Ohio, Fleming, and Franklin counties for University of Kentucky and Kentucky State University cooperative extension officers. You can watch the Franklin County presentation, titled “Navigating Kentucky's Heirs' Property” on our Resource page here . These seminars were the last of  “Navigating Kentucky’s Heirs’ Property,” an eight-part traveling seminar funded by Alcorn State University designed to train cooperative extension agents on heirs’ property. Participating cooperative extension agents are eligible to apply for a mini-grant offered by Kentucky State University to organize a community-level information session. Kevin has been working with participating agents in Eastern Kentucky to utilize the mini-grant to hold “Free Will-Writing Clinic and Heirs’ Property Information Sessions.” Organized by LiKEN in collaboration with AppalReD Legal Aid  and hosted by Cooperative Extension offices throughout eastern Kentucky, our Free Will-Writing Clinics offer local residents an opportunity to meet with a lawyer and write a simple will for free. Attendees can also take the time to  speak with LiKENeers to learn more about heirs’ property, the Appalachian Heirs’ Property Coalition, and our other programs and partners. “I have two months to live [...] I am so thankful for this event today. I feel more comfortable now with my life and passing because of this event today. I wouldn’t have been able to afford this on my own. Thank you so much for having this opportunity for our community.” -Wills Clinic Participant Heirs’ property is typically created when landowners die without writing a will (intestate) or when their will does not sufficiently parse the property into separate parcels for their children. By offering a free will-writing service in collaboration with AppalReD Legal Aid and other volunteer attorneys, LiKEN is preventing the creation of heirs’ property and the fractionalization of existing heirs’ property in Eastern Kentucky. Moreover, each clinic and its concurrent information session provide residents with an opportunity to start a conversation about heirs’ property in their community, the steps they can take to acquire a clear title, and how the Appalachian Heirs’ Property Coalition can assist them along their title clearing journey. Kevin has prepared a PowerPoint that runs continuously throughout the event that provides attendees with straightforward answers to their most common questions about heirs’ property. You can find that resource, titled “Heirs’ Property in Eastern Kentucky: Services & Mythbusting,” on our Resource page  here. At the time of writing, LiKEN has organized three Free Will-Writing Clinic and Heirs’ Property Information sessions. We held a clinic in Harlan County in March, Martin County in May, and Leslie County in June. We have helped dozens of local residents acquire a will for free and are looking forward to holding monthly clinics across Eastern Kentucky. Check out our schedule below! The following clinics are scheduled for 2024: July 18 - Johnson County, KY - 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. August 8 - Breathitt County, KY - 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. September 17 - Harlan County, KY - 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. October 9 - Perry County, KY - 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. November 19 - Floyd County, KY - 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Read the full Spring 2024 newsletter from the LiKEN mailing list !

Heirs' Property Updates: Land and Revenues Spring 2024 Recap

LiKEN has organized three Free Will-Writing Clinic and Heirs’ Property Information sessions so far and have five more scheduled!

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June 28, 2024

Under LiKEN’s Water Climate Equity  project, we are analyzing and synthesizing lessons learned from stakeholder listening sessions, using LiKEN’s Collaborative Coding & Analysis Dance , developed by our Commons Governance Fellow, Dr. Maria Bareli  and other LiKENeers. Along with Community Engagement Coordinator Madison Mooney , Maria present this ‘dance’ to Dr. Julie Maldonado ’s class “Social Research for Social Change” at Future Generations University . This was a wonderful opportunity to inspire graduate students and open them up to the strengths and challenges of coding and analyzing as a collective ‘hive mind’. Our partners at Rural Community Assistance Partnerships (RCAP)  and Pacific Institute (PI)  presented our findings at the AWWA ACE conference June 10-13, 2024. Community Engagement Coordinators, McKensi and Madison, created a video to introduce and explain our new Community Engagement Guide  for the conference that will soon be available online. The Mountain Drinking Water Project  continues to collect samples from community scientists in Martin and Letcher counties. The sample collection period for the community scientists will come to a close in November 2024. The next goal of the Mountain Drinking Water Team is to work on individual report backs for the community members who have been collecting samples, along with full community report backs for each county. Read the full newsletter from the LiKEN mailing list.

Water Project Updates: Water Collaboratory Spring 2024 Recap

Under LiKEN’s Water Climate Equity project, we are analyzing and synthesizing lessons learned from stakeholder listening sessions, using...

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June 27, 2024

LiKEN completed a strategic planning process for its Stories of Place  program, directed by Mary Hufford . The program consists of five initiatives, including County-based Story Catching projects, for which Martin County Stories of Place , directed by Karen Rignall , is a model. The other four initiatives include: Communities Telling Their Stories Through Art; Naturecultures and Ecologies of Care; Revitalizing Green Infrastructures, and Collaborative Reworlding in the wake of disaster. Details will soon be posted to the Stories of Place web pages , now under reconstruction. Hufford gave the closing keynote at the " Appalachia, Betwixt and Between: Folkloristic Perspectives on a Region in Flux " conference, held in April at Harvard University . The conference convened folklorists whose research is focused on the Appalachian region. Hufford’s talk, entitled “ Appalachian Forest Farming, Then and Now ,” explored the relationship between the historical practice of forest farming in the coalfields and the present day forest farming movement.  Historically, in coalfield communities, the integration of field and forest in an annual round of gardening, fishing, hunting, and foraging ensured access to forest commonables by many who did not own land. A crucial legacy of that commons-based forest farming system survives in living collective memories of forest composition and cycles of succession and renewal.   In the present time of post-industrial transition, Hufford asked , how might folkloristic perspectives support community-led documentation of collective memory to guide ecological restoration and planning for sustainable livelihoods in Central Appalachia’s headwater communities? LiKEN Community Engagement Coordinators Madison Mooney  and McKensi Gilliam  worked with around 90 students at Martin County High School  during their normal school day for a weeklong Stories of Place  residency. Dr. Karen Rignall  and research assistant Jamari Turner  joined the first day. During the residency, Madison led a program adapting George Ella Lyon's "Where I'm From" poem, resulting in 88 unique poems reflecting the students' connections to their home, Martin County. The team is now compiling these poems into a book, which Jamari is typesetting for publication. Copies will be available in the high school library and the LiKEN office in Martin County.

Changing the Narrative: Stories of Place Spring 2024 Recap

Highlighting projects that amplify local voices, sharing stories connected to the place they come from.

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June 27, 2024

LiKEN’s proposal “ Community Wealth from Healthy Rivers and Forests ” was awarded 3.1 million dollars from the Inflation Reduction program  by the U.S. Forest Service.  In Partnership with two watershed organizations, Friends of the Tug Fork  and Kentucky Riverkeeper , LiKEN will facilitate community-led ecological restoration at the headwaters in 26 coalfield counties on the Kentucky-West Virginia border.  The grant will fund several more Community-Engagement Coordinators (CECs) based in the service area along with a director for LiKEN’s Forest Farming Program .  Initial listening sessions convened by CECs will document collective memories of species and habitats that have traditionally supported local livelihoods, and that could be incorporated into restoration planning that is economically, ecologically, and culturally regenerative. Over a period of three years, communities will work with LiKEN to design and implement forest farming plans that connect communities with emerging markets.  Ethnographers on LiKEN’s staff will train CECs in ethnographic and documentary practices that can facilitate storytelling that collectively models, and reflects on, historical interactions with the region’s “ mixed mesophytic forest ” habitats. How can emerging markets for non-timber forest products and carbon-sequestering woodlands support livelihoods based on traditional knowledge and skills found throughout headwater communities?     Kevin Slovinsky  represented LiKEN at the Eastern Kentucky Farmers Conference  organized by Community Farm Alliance . He met with leaders in agroforestry technical assistance and educational programming. With presentations from the University of Kentucky  and Kentucky State University  Cooperative Extension Services, Grow Appalachia , Community Farm Alliance , the Kentucky Center for Agriculture and Rural Development , and more. The conference connected farmers to service and grant-providing organizations. The case studies and scenarios resulting from LiKEN’s Sharing Successes in Agroforestry   project were published to LiKEN’s website, along with a video produced by Daisy Ahlstone  and Mary Hufford  on Ruby Daniels’ Afrolachian Agroforestry practice in Lanark, WV .   Mary Hufford attended “ Gather to Grow ,” the Appalachian Forest Farmer Coalition  conference in Roanoke, at which many of LiKEN’s partners in agroforestry presented. Participants from emerging forest farming networks throughout the U.S. worked in regional groups to inaugurate what conferees agreed is now the American Forest Farming movement.  A mighty context within which Central Appalachian Forest Farming may flourish.

Agroforestry Updates: Forest Farming Spring 2024 Recap

Updates on Community Wealth from Healthy Rivers and Forests, Sharing Successes in Agroforestry, and more.

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June 27, 2024

The 12th Annual Rising Voices Workshop  was held at the NSF-National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR)  in Boulder, Colorado, from May 6-8, 2024. The theme, "Co-creating Research, Policy, Practice, and Action: The Rising Voices of Indigenous Peoples and Partners in Earth Systems Science," brought together a diverse group of participants to learn from where we’ve been and to grow into where we’re going. The workshop brought participants together to consider: How can we work to better advance science and remove the boundaries between science and society? How can we  create innovative partnerships among collaborators with diverse disciplinary and cultural backgrounds to support adaptive and resilient communities? How can we  achieve culturally relevant and scientifically robust climate and weather actions? Building on over a decade of recommendations, the event aimed to move from dialogue to actionable commitments, emphasizing relationship-building for successful collaborations. The work focused on developing adaptable guidelines and principles for place-based Earth systems science research and climate actions. The Rising Voices Workshop remains a cornerstone in weaving Indigenous knowledges and science with other Earth systems science to foster culturally relevant  and scientifically robust  climate and weather actions. The "Learning from Indigenous NCA Authors & Future Involvement Opportunities"  webinar held on May 28, 2024, hosted by the Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals (ITEP), in collaboration with Rising Voices , LiKEN, and the US Global Change Research Program  (USGCRP), included about 90 participants in attendance. Allyza Lustig (USGCRP) gave an overview of NCA6 and announcements about upcoming opportunities, including the Call for Authors and Public Comments on the Draft Prospectus . Dr. Kyle Whyte (Univ. of Michigan, NCA5 Indigenous Peoples chapter lead author) shared about the history of engagement and Indigenous Peoples’ leadership  in previous NCAs. Melissa Watkinson-Schutten (Lotus Innovations & Rising Voices, NCA5 Social Systems & Justice chapter author) presented on the first tribal consultation in the context of an NCA and her experience as an author. Nikki Cooley (ITEP, NCA5 Human Health chapter author) shared about her authorship experience and challenges and recommendations for diverse author recruitment. LiKENeer Dr. Julie Maldonado (NCA5 Human Health chapter author) joined the group to share about visions for NCA6, including building off storytelling work done for NCA5, featuring video-interviews  with Louisiana Tribal leaders working to uphold sovereignty and self-determination in their climate adaptation actions following hurricane damage. The event fostered robust dialogue and engagement, including opportunities for participants to ask questions and engage with the speakers on their contributions to the National Climate Assessment and opportunities for involvement in NCA6.

Rising Voices: Climate Resilience Spring 2024 Recap

Updates from the 12th Annual Rising Voices Workshop and the "Learning from Indigenous NCA Authors & Future Involvement Opportunities" webina

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June 27, 2024

Heirs' property is land that is owned by multiple people who have inherited it from a deceased relative. When a property owner dies without a will (intestate) or with a will that deeds their property to all of their children without dividing the property, their heirs become co-tenants with one another, each owning an undivided interest in the property, and the title to the property becomes "clouded." Charlie and Della Shepherd are residents of Letcher County -- a historically coal-producing county in southeastern Kentucky -- and their property used to be heirs' property. Over 40 years, Della purchased the fractional interests owned by her family members until she owned 100% of her property. Her husband, Charlie, grew up on heirs' property but his father bought out the interests of his co-tenants, like Della, and so Charlie inherited his father's property with a clear title. As Charlie and Della explain in this testimonial, owning in property in heirship can severely limit its' capacity to generate wealth for the owning family. Families can, however, turn their "clouded" titles into "clear" titles by working with a lawyer to create a family LLC or a family Trust, both of which protect the land from being aggressively acquired by corporate interests and makes the land eligible for government programs designed to increase the economic productivity of land. Contracting a lawyer can be expensive though. That is why LiKEN has started the Appalachian Heirs' Property Coalition, a team of social workers, lawyers, agroforesters, and organizers who work together to offer heirs' property owners in Eastern Kentucky and select counties in West Virginia with free legal services to obtain a clear title to their multigenerational land.

[WATCH] The Shepherd Family Tell Their Appalachian Heirs' Property Story, Going from Clouded to Clear Titles

Heirs' property is land that is owned by multiple people who have inherited it from a deceased relative. When a property owner dies...

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January 23, 2024

RICHMOND, Ky. – As of July 11, 2023, in an extraordinary stride towards a safer world, the last of the United States’ once-vast chemical weapons arsenal has been eliminated, marking a watershed moment in global disarmament history. While this journey has been decades in the making, it highlights the power of community advocacy and steadfast commitment to environmental safety. The final chemical weapons were stored in military compounds, including the Blue Grass Army Depot in Richmond, Kentucky. Their safe and methodical destruction is largely attributed to relentless activism, with community leaders like Craig Williams and the Kentucky Environmental Foundation (KEF), a node in the Livelihoods Knowledge Exchange Network (LiKEN), leading the charge. Williams and KEF were featured in a recent New York Times article about the final destruction of the United States’ supply of chemical weapons. When Williams discovered the nearby storage of these deadly weapons in 1984, he began a tireless campaign for their safe elimination. KEF formed the Chemical Weapons Working Group in 1991 a coalition of Madison County residents, to engage in grassroots organizing, policy development and advocacy to mandate legislation to develop safer disposal methods. Through a collaborative effort with KEF and LiKEN, Williams and other members of the community worked towards creating a safer community, a goal achieved through dedicated  advocacy, education, and commitment to alternative, safe disposal technologies. KEF director Craig Williams walks with Martin Luther King III in an anti-incineration march in Anniston, Alabama (2002). Local and international partnerships throughout the process ensured transparency and community involvement, offering a blueprint for effective community action and environmental safety. We applaud the efforts of Craig Williams, KEF’s Chemical Weapons Working Group, and all the activists who contributed to this historic achievement.

Celebrating a Historic Moment in Disarmament: The Crucial Role of Activism and Collaboration

RICHMOND, Ky. – As of July 11, 2023, in an extraordinary stride towards a safer world, the last of the United States’ once-vast chemical...

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August 16, 2023

The Central Appalachian Folk and Traditional Arts (CAFTA) Survey and Planning Project is a project of Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation in cooperation with the Livelihoods Knowledge Exchange Network. The project included a 15-month study of folk and traditional arts in the central Appalachian regions of Ohio, Virginia, and West Virginia. This Comprehensive Program Proposal (CPP) is a product of the Central Appalachian Folk and Traditional Arts (CAFTA) Survey and Planning Project, a project of Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation (MAAF) in cooperation with the Livelihoods Knowledge Exchange Network (LiKEN). This CPP serves as a roadmap for a multi-state grant-making program designed to increase the understanding, recognition, and practice of the living folk and traditional arts practices present in central Appalachia. (click image below to view the PDF report) #CAFTA #CentralAppalachianFolkandTraditionalArts

Central Appalachian Folk & Traditional Arts: Comprehensive Plan

The Central Appalachian Folk and Traditional Arts (CAFTA) Survey and Planning Project is a project of Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation in...

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November 30, 2021

The Central Appalachian Folk and Traditional Arts (CAFTA) Survey and Planning Project is a project of Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation (MAAF) in cooperation with the Livelihoods Knowledge Exchange Network (LiKEN). The project included a 15-month study of folk and traditional arts in the central Appalachian regions of Ohio, Virginia, and West Virginia. This report includes a summary of project activities and research methods, as well as a presentation of findings based on CAFTA’s specific learning objectives. Summarizing trends and identifying opportunities, this document guided the creation of a comprehensive program proposal for a multi-state grant-making initiative designed to increase the understanding, recognition, and practice of the living traditions currently present in Central Appalachia. (click image below to view the PDF report) #CAFTA #CentralAppalachianFolkandTraditionalArts

Central Appalachian Folk & Traditional Arts: Final Report

The Central Appalachian Folk and Traditional Arts (CAFTA) Survey and Planning Project is a project of Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation (MAAF)...

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November 30, 2021

LiKEN has completed a study that evaluates the efficacy of a major law that seeks to protect families that own heirs’ property. Heirs’ property is created when land passes without a will to two or more descendants who become “tenants in common”. This kind of “tangled title” can make families vulnerable to predatory land grabs. Across the Cotton Belt of the U.S. South, heirs’ property correlates with low wealth and land loss in African American communities and is common in other regions with entrenched poverty (Central Appalachia, the colonias in southern Texas, and Native American communities).. As an effort to help preserve family wealth and reduce the likelihood of forced sales and inequitable land grabs, the Uniform Partition of Heirs’ Property Act (UPHPA) was drafted in 2010. It has since been passed in 18 states and introduced in seven others. In 2012 and 2014, Georgia and Alabama, respectively, passed the UPHPA. The act was introduced in Kentucky in early 2021. LiKEN just completed a 10 month study to see how well this law has worked in Georgia and Alabama, and what its benefits might be in Kentucky. The full report can be downloaded here. Our findings  (click here or the image below to view full size PDF) We welcome your suggestions and hope that if you are interested in learning more about this project, please contact Carson Benn cbenn@likenknowledge.org. If you are an heirs’ property owner, you may assist this research by agreeing to an interview with one of our researchers, or by making and sharing your own photographs and video recordings. This research was supported by funds from the Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers Policy Research Center.

LiKEN publishes report about heirs’ property in Kentucky, Georgia, and Alabama

LiKEN has completed a study that evaluates the efficacy of a major law that seeks to protect families that own heirs’ property. Heirs’...

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November 16, 2021

Request for Proposal To develop popular education materials about pipeline safety Livelihoods Knowledge Exchange Network (LiKEN ) is seeking a social innovation and user-experience/user-interface design contractor (individual or firm) to develop a creative series of digital and non-digital, on-line and off-line education and engagement products, materials, and prototypes. These products, materials, and prototypes will utilize existing gas and hazardous liquids pipeline safety information, education, and public outreach materials that have been collected during research projects conducted over the past twelve years by Pipeline Safety Coalition (PSC) . The contractor will be responsible for facilitating ideation, design, prototypes, user-testing, and final product and material development using environmental justice and public health models of prevention principles and approaches. These principles and approaches require a commitment to understanding and working with local community experiences, different types of existing knowledges, perceptions of risk, and institutional and informational power imbalances in order to ensure that all products, materials, and prototypes are developed and disseminated in information rich, culturally relevant, and broadly inclusive and accessible formats. The design focus will be on collaborative and integrated, iterative processes to assist in meeting the challenges of both designing and disseminating a series of products and materials that can be immediately used by local communities as well as a series of prototypes that will be available to organizations, local communities, researchers, educators, and designers for future development. The design contractor will report to and work closely with LiKEN and core team members from both PSC and Arizona State University (ASU). The contractor will be expected to collaborate with a cross-sector Advisory Group composed of local community residents, pipeline industry personnel, federal government staff, and educators. All designs and prototypes produced will be user-tested in at least two rural and urban low-income and/or digitally isolated communities in Arizona, Georgia, Kentucky, or Pennsylvania. The distribution and disposition of final products and materials and the prototypes from all design work will be coordinated with ASU’s School for the Future of Innovation in Society (SFIS) and the Civic Futures Lab . The estimated contract period will be 9-10 months. RFP sent: 11/08/2021 Responses due: 12/03/2021 Send any questions to: Simona Perry, sperry@likenknowledge.org Send proposals to: Simona Perry, sperry@likenknowledge.org Total Project Budget: $100,000 Available for Design Services: $50,000 – $60,000 Expected delivery date: 9/30/2022 Organizational background LiKEN is a not-for-profit link-tank for policy-relevant research to steward place, culture, and land. From its formal incorporation in 1990 under the name of Kentucky Environmental Foundation (KEF), the organization has evolved into a link-tank (now called LiKEN) connecting wide webs of communities, scholars, practitioners, and government agencies. From the beginning, LiKEN’s work has been about building collaboration across sectors— linking grassroots community mobilization and popular education, with the best available science while working closely with government agencies. Type of audience for this proposal The primary audience for this design work will be communities living in rural and urban low-income and/or digitally isolated parts of Arizona, Georgia, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania where natural gas and hazardous liquids pipelines are located. Part of the contractor’s work will involve conducting a community analysis of at least two of these communities in which LiKEN and partners already have relationships to better understand the local pipeline safety context, information seeking behaviors, cultural and linguistic and other barriers to information seeking and acquisition, and establish realistic outcome expectations around increased awareness, increased engagement, and greater access to different types of pipeline safety information and knowledge. Design objective: Pipeline Safety KEEs The objective of this design work is to design, prototype, conduct user testing, and develop a set of innovative and locally relevant knowledge guides, educational resources, and engagement toolkits on pipeline safety information and knowledge (“Pipeline Safety KEE content modules” or “Pipeline Safety KEEs”) that are specifically for local communities in both rural areas and in lower-income urban locations within Qualified Opportunity Zones (QOZs) in Arizona, Georgia, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania, USA. Due to budget and time constraints this is considered a pilot design and development project, with future plans for continuing this design and development work under the guidance of organizational and research partners. The outcomes from this project are expected to strengthen, support, and broaden public awareness, access to information, and local community engagement around the safe operation of rural and urban gas and hazardous liquid pipeline networks across the United States. Present state of information The raw materials and basic information of the Pipeline Safety KEEs are currently in the form of digital powerpoints, webpages, pdfs, surveys, technical reports, image files, maps, and archival files that were collected and created over the past eleven years through PSC’s outreach, education, and research activities on community pipeline safety. In order to meet the information gaps and challenges of delivering relevant, timely, and accurate pipeline safety information that involves complex laws and technical knowledge to rural and urban low income and digitally isolated communities, these raw materials will be provided to the design contractor in three categories: 1) Pipeline Safety Public Information and Communication K nowledge Guides: current and emerging research and information about pipeline safety topics of importance and interest to the public, tips and best practices for the public in communicating their pipeline safety concerns, and how to locate accurate and current information on pipeline safety from trusted and reliable sources. 2) Basics of Pipeline Safety Public E ducation Series: public education and training resources about gas and hazardous liquids pipeline infrastructure and safety concepts, regulations, and policies. 3) Pipeline Safety Public E ngagement Toolkits: tools to get the public engaged in pipeline safety within their own community, including creative ideas about how to develop, incorporate, adapt, and customize pipeline safety best practices into existing local community planning processes. These raw materials will serve as the Knowledge, Education, and Engagement content for the design of the Pipeline Safety KEEs. Types of products and materials expected To ensure the accessibility of the KEEs to everyone regardless of internet access and technology available, it is important that the design of all guides, resources, and toolkits be flexible enough to be used via several different formats or distribution channels: Non-digital (e.g., posters, letter-sized print materials, postcard-size print materials, etc.) Digital off-line (e.g., CDs, USBs, videos, etc.) On-line (e.g., story maps, website portals, web pages, etc.) Once user-testing (via two community design workshops) is complete and further refinements made towards the end of the project, it is anticipated that there will be KEE modules (based on the three categories of raw materials designated above) that will be fully tested and ready for public use immediately and KEE modules that will still require further prototyping and testing. Both the pilot-tested public-ready KEEs and the prototyped-only KEEs will be made freely accessible to everyone through a publicly available information repository for use by communications experts, social innovation designers, and local communities across the United States. This repository will be housed at Arizona State University’s (ASU) School for the Future of Innovation in Society (SFIS) and the CivicFutures Lab. The goal of the pilot project is that all KEE Modules, whether fully tested and ready for use or still at the prototyped phase, be made widely and freely available for immediate use to rural and low-income communities and for further development as open-source content and designs. All KEE Modules will be developed with a central focus on creative outreach and education, improving transparency and access to information on pipeline safety, increasing public understanding, and strengthening the depth and quality of public participation and engagement in the safe operation of pipelines in and around communities of concern today, and into the future. Outline of project activities & deliverables Project activities are divided into three chronological task areas: Task 1. Design and Develop Content for KEE Modules Task 2. Prototype of KEE Modules and Community Testing Task 3. Finalize and Launch of Pilot Pipeline Safety KEEs Design contract Deliverables that should be considered within these three task areas: Deliverable 1 (Task 1) County Selection & Community Analysis (with LiKEN and Advisory Group) Deliverable 2 (Task 1) Testing & Evaluation Plan (with LiKEN and Advisory Group) Deliverable 3 (Task 1) Initial KEE module prototypes for review by Advisory Group Deliverable 4 (Task 2) Modified KEE module prototypes, products, and materials developed after community design workshops (workshops co-facilitated with LiKEN and ASU) Deliverable 5 (Task 3) Final KEE module prototypes, products, and materials for dissemination to communities and roll-out with ASU and Advisory Group Deliverable 6 (Task 3) Plan for dissemination and communication of KEE prototypes, products, and materials We anticipate there will be at least three virtual LiKEN-facilitated meetings of the Advisory Group and design contractors, and two in-person community design workshops in two different states (either Georgia, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, or Arizona) organized by LiKEN and co-facilitated by LiKEN or ASU and the design contractor. Design dissemination details All final content from this pilot project will be digitally housed at ASU’s Civic Futures Lab where it will be freely available for anyone and become a focal point for on-going community-engaged and academic research related to the public understanding of technology and science and energy infrastructure. The design contractor will be expected to work directly with the ASU partner to decide on appropriate platform(s) for housing and making accessible all products, materials, and prototypes developed from this project. Budget details and criteria for selection The budget for this design is not to exceed $60,000. The criterion for selection is the most favorable offer from the vendor who can demonstrate they have completed similar work to this RFP within budget and on time. Vendors that can offer additional expertise in environmental justice and public health models of prevention approaches, linear projects, risk education and outreach, and/or collaborative design in rural and low-income urban communities, will have an advantage. All invoices for this project must be billed before 9/30/2022. Respondent requirements Please incorporate the following in your proposal response: Your professional and/or company background. If applying as a company, provide the names, qualifications, and roles of top members of your team who will work on this project. Provide examples of your completed work that applies most closely to this RFP in terms of: 1) scope, 2) creative approach, 3) collaboration approach, 4) types of community engagements and ethics, 5) budget, and 6) timeline. Describe in detail your approaches and ethics related to collaboration with clients and historically and geographically marginalized and/or disadvantaged communities that make you stand out from the competition. Describe in detail your approach to designing and developing creative solutions to communicating complex or technical information that make you stand out from the competition. Provide an estimated number of days to complete each activity/deliverable outlined in the RFP and the rate and/or fee per deliverable. At least one reference from a community or user group you have worked with. At least one reference from a client you have worked with. Where to send proposals All respondent requirements and complete proposal materials should be sent to Simona Perry via email, sperry@likenknowledge.org , with the Subject Line “Pipeline Safety KEEs Design Proposal” RFP & Project timeline details RFP sent: 11/08/2021 Questions from respondents due to Simona Perry, sperry@likenknowledge.org : 11/17/2021 Answers to questions sent to respondents: 11/19/2021 Responses due: 12/03/2021 Finalists selected: 12/07/2021 Winner selected: 12/10/2021 Estimated project start: 12/15/2021 Final UX deliverables: 9/30/2022 Thank you for your interest in responding to this RFP with a proposal for the Pipeline Safety KEEs. We look forward to your response!

Social Innovation & User-Experience Design

Request for Proposal To develop popular education materials about pipeline safety Livelihoods Knowledge Exchange Network (LiKEN) is...

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November 12, 2021

By Julie Maldonado The climate crisis is ravaging communities nationwide and disproportionately affecting Black, Indigenous, and People of Color, who are losing their homes and livelihoods due to more severe and frequent storms, rising seas, erosion, flooding, extreme heat, wildfires, and various other climate events. These communities are further disenfranchised through inadequate and inequitable public policy responses to our climate crisis, including extreme weather events, which further exacerbates and even creates the unfolding, accumulating disasters. To motivate action to advance community-led solutions to climate-forced displacement in the US, the Legal Justice Coalition (facilitated by the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee and the Lowlander Center) and the Rising Voices Community Relocation & Site Expansion Working Group issued policy recommendations earlier this year. The set of recommendations is designed to guide policymakers to address the shortfalls of official current responses to the threat of climate-forced displacement but also challenges them to launch a concerted effort to respond to this urgent crisis. At the heart of these policy recommendations is the need to center the agency, leadership, and self-determination of frontline communities in addressing climate-forced displacement. The policy recommendations for both Congressional and Executive Action include the need to:  Increase resources for frontline communities Grant government funds directly to communities Make FEMA more equitable Establish a just response to support adaptation-in-place and/or relocation Create a human rights governance framework The US Government Accountability Office identified that “unclear federal leadership is the key challenge to climate migration as a resilience strategy.” Currently, there is no lead federal agency tasked with managing and coordinating the federal government’s climate crisis response, nor is there dedicated funding to support community relocation efforts and/or adaptation measures to prevent communities from forced relocation, instead of adaptation in place. As detailed in the full policy brief , while the need for dedicated funding for adaptation in place and relocation is clear, it is critical that government programs and policies and the process of disaster planning, response, and recovery should go beyond only financial support for material upgrades to homes and infrastructure. The entire process must account for the true costs to a community, including loss of sacred sites, cultural values, burial sites, health and social well-being, and other intrinsic values—which frontline communities, and in particular Indigenous Peoples, experience when separated from their ancestral lands and subsistence way of life. This is why it is even more imperative that Tribes and community representatives are included in disaster planning at the state and federal levels. The federal government should establish a governance framework for climate-forced displacement that protects the rights and dignity of communities and provides them with financial resources and effective support. This process calls for a better partnership between science and governance grounded in principles of justice, and for that partnership to jointly explore pathways that put relocation in the context of a larger set of adaptation measures to better understand the tradeoffs across these options over time. To achieve a response to climate-forced displacement in the United States that centers justice and equity, the UUSC and Rising Voices-Working Group coalition offers a summary and topline recommendations , along with the full policy brief . This coalition of community leaders, legal advocates, researchers, and allies invites you to join in urging our elected officials in the Biden Administration and in U.S. Congress to center equity, justice, and human rights in addressing climate-forced displacements in the United States. Please refer to the initiative webpage to read the recommended policy solutions and to sign-on. We looking forward to working with you to #SupportClimateJustice. Julie Maldonado, Associate Director Julie Maldonado is a cultural anthropologist and serves as LiKEN’s Associate Director. As part of this role, she is Co-Director of the  Rising Voices: Climate Resilience through Indigenous and Earth Sciences  program, in joint partnership with the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research/National Center for Atmospheric Research (UCAR/NCAR), and is the lead for the LiKEN-produced  PROTECT  film, in partnership with Paper Rocket Productions. She also works with the  Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals  to facilitate and support the development of tribes’ climate change adaptation planning and vulnerability assessments. Julie is a lecturer in the University of California-Santa Barbara’s Environmental Studies Program and for Future Generations University. She is also a founding member of the  Culture and Disaster Action Network  (CADAN).

Addressing Climate-Forced Displacement in the United States: A Just and Equitable Response

By Julie Maldonado The climate crisis is ravaging communities nationwide and disproportionately affecting Black, Indigenous, and People...

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July 16, 2021

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