A Rochester nonprofit wants to connect environmental groups. Learn about its new directory
When Chris Widmaier talks about the greater Rochester area’s environmental community, he’s looking at a broader picture than preserving open spaces or particular species.
Instead, the nonprofit Rochester Ecology Partners are taking an intersectional approach to addressing the environment and climate, highlighted by the latest effort: a directory of organizations self-identified as “dedicated to improving community well-being and the environment for all in the Greater Rochester area.”
There are 119 organizations in the directory, featuring the expected organizations like local Audubon Society chapters, but also the Breast Cancer Coalition, Foodlink and Roc City Rotary.
“We wanted to do something that was going to be useful to the community beyond writing a report,” said Widmaier, executive director of Rochester Ecology Partners.
Building a database for environmental justice
Bringing together such disparate groups was a major point of emphasis for the directory and an accompanying analysis which will be formally introduced during an open community meeting at Phillis Wheatley Library at 4 p.m. Feb. 15.
About 60 of the organizations featured in the directory did a short survey, with about 30 doing an interview with Rochester Ecology Partners, as part of the analysis.
The definition of an environmental organization for the modern day is intersectional, Widmaier said, with a goal of protecting people and the planet. Traditional environmental organizations have a more narrow focus and Rochester Ecology partners wanted a broader view of the challenges facing the region.
“I think that there is a desire for more connections, but there isn’t the resources and infrastructure and even models for effective collaboration in our community,” Widmaier said. “And I also think that there are a broad range of people doing a broad range of things that really illuminate some of the ways that people may not think of environmental connection in the work people are doing, but it really is there.”
Forging connections in the Rochester area
The directory and analysis are funded by the Rochester Area Community Foundation and Emil Muller Foundation. The team was joined by students in an RIT sustainable communities course and a St. John Fisher University community writing course.
Widmaier said he hopes the recent work by Rochester Ecology Partners and their collaborators will lead to more connections and engagement between different groups with broader common goals. He highlighted topics like government collaboration and community education as potential areas of growth within the environmental justice landscape.
“One of our hopes is that we really serve as a facilitator and a connector,” Widmaier said. “ … We want to find ways that for people who are trying to connect around common issues or causes … our directory makes it easier.”
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— Steve Howe covers weather, climate and lake issues for the Democrat and Chronicle and he had a binder full of Franklin Mountain Hawkwatch data as a kid. Share with him at showe@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Rochester directory of environmental groups seeks to build connections
