3/19 Webinar with Alex Ghenis: Disability Equity, Nature, and Climate Justice

The Coastal Conservancy hosted a presentation with Alex Ghenis from the World Institute on Disability on March 19, 2019. You can view the recording here.

In the past several decades, people with disabilities (PWDs) have fought for – and achieved – civil rights across society, from living outside of institutions to requiring access to buildings to receiving accommodations in employment and more. However, the natural environment remains largely off-limits for a range of reasons. Outdoor trails are often inaccessible, adaptive recreation is hard to find, and the cost of travel and recreation is beyond many PWDs’ means. Even more, people with disabilities are facing new difficulties in a changing world: recent efforts to reduce plastic waste have taken away PWDs’ access to straws and other accommodations, while the dangers of climate change disproportionately impact the disability community. This Brown Bag will explore ways to improve the accessibility of natural environments – and reflect on strategies to live sustainably and build climate resilience while fully including people with disabilities. Bring an open mind and your thinking cap, because this will be an enlivening discussion.

For questions, please email Emely Lopez: emely.lopez@scc.ca.gov

About the speaker:

Alex Ghenis is a Policy and Research Specialist at the World Institute on Disability (WID) in Berkeley. Six years ago, he started the New Earth Disability initiative, which explores how people with disabilities will be affected by climate change and other environmental factors. Alex is largely focused on disaster readiness and improving transportation systems for people with disabilities, while inclusive climate resilience is a strong priority in all his work. He loves to get into nature, with several Bay Area parks on the bucket list.