RCE Greater Atlanta - 2019

Facilitating Communication in the RCE Americas Youth Network: A Presentation by RCE Greater Atlanta and RCE Borderlands Mexico-USA
Basic Information
Title of project : 
Facilitating Communication in the RCE Americas Youth Network: A Presentation by RCE Greater Atlanta and RCE Borderlands Mexico-USA
Submitting RCE: 
RCE Greater Atlanta
Contributing organization(s) : 
RCE Borderlands Mexico-USA
Focal point(s) and affiliation(s)
Name: 
Brittany Foutz
Organizational Affiliation: 
Salisbury University
Name: 
Yesenia Sanchez Garcia
Organizational Affiliation: 
La Salle University
Format of project: 
PowerPoint
Language of project: 
English
Date of submission:
Thursday, May 23, 2019
Geographical & Education Information
Region: 
Americas
Country: 
United States
Location(s): 
Borderlands, Salisbury, Atlanta
Address of focal point institution for project: 
Salisbury University, 1101 Camden Avenue, Salisbury, Maryland 21801 and Universidad La Salle Chihuahua, Prolongación Lomas de Majalca 11201, Labor de Terrazas, 31020 Chihuahua, Mexico
Ecosystem(s):
Target Audience:
Socioeconomic and environmental characteristics of the area : 
Chihuahua is best described as shaped as a large letter L, with plains to the north and hills on both sides, as well as the south; it is crossed east-and-west by Teofilo Borunda Avenue, which follows the natural flow of the Chuviscar River. The geography of the city is dominated by three hills that appear in the Coat of Arms: Cerro Grande, Cerro Coronel and Santa Rosa, the last of which is fully covered by the city. To the east and northeast, is the Sierra Nombre de Dios, across the Sacramento River from the city. Contained therin, off of Heroico Colegio Militar Ave, are the Nombre de Dios Caverns, a natural display of minerals and underground formations. Chihuahua has the largest amount of forested land in all of Mexico. Forty-four percent of Chihuahua's workers are employed in commerce and services, while a little over a third of the workforce is employed in mining and industry. In mining, Chihuahua state is the leading producer in the republic of non-ferrous minerals and zinc, and is second nationwide in silver extraction.
Salisbury is located within the Delmarva Peninsula. It is a delicate ecosystem with the Chesapeake Bay to the West and the Atlantic Ocean to the East. Due to the location, Maryland, Delaware, and Virginia’s Eastern Shore counties have faced great changes in recent years. Virginia, for instance, has a chain of 14 barrier islands that up until 1933 had an abundance of pine forest and small villages; however, a major hurricane caused the destruction of the villages, submerged the pine forests, and eroded dunes. A combination of the hurricane along with diseases greatly affected sea life by killing off the seagrass where wildlife, such as shellfish, flourish. The Eastern Shore began the twenty-first century with strong growth across multiple economic indicators. The region gained jobs at double the rate of the rest of the state from 2001 to 2007 while also outpacing the state in net business creation and keeping pace in wage growth. However, now there are more people experiencing poverty now than there were 30 years ago. Maryland’s poverty rate is 19 percent higher than it was in 1990 – a year that the U.S. economy entered a recession – and there are nearly 200,000 more Marylanders trying to get by on incomes below the federal poverty line.
Description of sustainable development challenge(s) in the area the project addresses: 
The justification and rationale for sustainable development challenges in the Salisbury region are:

SDG 13 – Climate Action
The first focuses on Sustainable Development (SDG) Goal 13 - Climate Action. The core area in the region constitutes the “shore counties” or those that reside either within or on the Chesapeake Bay (watershed) and along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean. This includes all of the counties in Delaware, all of Maryland and (especially thirteen of its the twenty-four counties), in Maryland and nineteen of the forty counties in Virginia. These physical locations are being subjected to the quickest increases in climate change activities and the poorest residents in these locales will experience severe detrimental impact on the quality of life. These shoreline counties are also part of the Chesapeake Bay and Delaware Bay watershed areas, all of which have low geographical elevations so the climate change impacts are being felt here first and hardest. The wetlands along the Eastern Shore are likely to be lost if the sea rises two feet, while wetlands in Dorchester County are already being submerged by rising sea level. Dr. Michael Scott, Dean of the Henson School of Science and Technology at Salisbury University, writes: “Over 60% of Dorchester County lies within the 100-year floodplain. Our analysis, done on behalf of the Eastern Shore Land Conservancy, shows that current sea-level in inundating properties when combined with higher-than-normal tides. Our conservative sea-level predictions put 1000's of homes and businesses in DoCo [Dorchester County] with wet foundations on a regular basis. There are chunks of the DoCo coastline eroding at 10-15 ft...per year. [clarification added]. Beaches also are eroding as the sea level rises. The United States Geological Survey estimates that Assateague Island is likely to be broken up by new inlets or lost to erosion if sea level rises two feet by the year 2100.

SDG 4 – Quality Education
Secondly, the citizens of the Delmarva Peninsula, by and large, have lower levels of educational attainment and lower incomes. The fourth SDG - Quality Education -RCE Salisbury will focus in part on communities in these areas that experience the highest high school dropout rates where the social reproduction of poverty is endemic. In particular, even with an emphasis on attaining basic vocational skills, unemployment is still high in these areas. Rates of success in achieving higher education of any kind in postgraduate institutions (community colleges and or universities) in these communities is a long-standing issue.

SDG 16 - Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
The most vulnerable members of this region are in the crosshairs of climate change and educational disadvantage. Both will lead to increased social conflict and with limited resources and limited planning the consequences are dire. This leads to the last rationale and justification for establishing an RCE in Salisbury; a focus on Sustainable Development GoalSDG 16 - - will be critical to any effective regional response to the disproportionate impact of climate change and educational advancement.

For Chihuahua:
The Migrant caravan
SDG 1 - No Poverty
SDG 10 - Reduced Inequalities

SDG 1’s Content and Intent United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 1: No Poverty (SDG 1) aims to eradicate all forms of poverty everywhere on the planet by the year 2030. In addition to insufficient income, ‘poverty’ includes other challenges, such as the lack of economic, social and educational opportunities; insufficient or non-existent basic services, hunger, exclusion, social discrimination and a lack of voice in decision making processes that impact on people’s lives.
A further cause of poverty is found in uneven wealth distribution between the rich and the poor within countries while, in the global arena, developing nations may remain locked into the subordinate role of providing raw materials and cheap labor for transnational industries, whose products flood local markets and whose profits are repatriated to the countries from which the finance capital has emerged. Corruption creates an ‘internal hemorrhage’ of sorts where wealth is redirected from its intended purpose into the hands of powerful actors, and of everyday swindlers who may overcharge, or fail to provide the quality of goods and services for which they have charged a client or a customer. The ongoing misuse of wealth and its misappropriation from its intended purpose weakens the overall economy within nations and localities, as well as harming the standard of living and the wellbeing of families whose lives are affected by the corrupt practices of others.

Summary of SDG 10’s Content and Intent United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 10: Reduced Inequalities (SDG 10) aims to reduce inequalities that continue to widen among various sections of the society and the community. The gap between the rich and the poor, the advantaged and the disadvantaged with regard to education, availability of resources and access to opportunities is widening in spite of urbanization, developments in science and technology, knowledge generation and the information explosion. In developing countries, inequality has increased by eleven percent if we take into account population growth. Sound policies are required to reduce inequalities and to empower the lower percentile of disadvantaged segments of local, national and global society.
Contents
Status: 
Ongoing
Size of academic audience: 
300+
Key messages: 
This project can have a significant impact for the RCE Americas Youth Network. The project will address barriers in collaboration among the RCE Americas locations. One way to overcome this barrier is through a social media campaign. The presenters will be addressing various proposals including their 30 day sdg challenge on Instagram, a book challenge for quality education, a proposal related to clean water and sanitation with sponsorship from Water.org sponsorship, and many more.

-for each one, need a hashtag in spanish and english
-30 day challenge on instagram:
Chain challenge related to the SDGs objectives
Emma Watson book challenge for Quality Education
Challenge a particular city: turn off light at certain time every day. Use this for sustainable cities, each month is a different city. Monsters, Inc. reference
Good health and well-being: #UNwellbeing, posting photos of salad, lettuce, etc. OR can do each month is a different city to run/bike a marathon. Can calculate all the miles to see how everyone in the entire world.
Clean water and sanitation: Water.org sponsorship. Some kind of competition to get clean water to more communities. Find communities that lacking water.
Funding: 
Melissa is applying for funding from UNU. Brittany will be seeking university funds from Salisbury University if possible.
UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
(https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdgs) and other themes of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD)
SDG 1 - End poverty in all its forms everywhere 
Indirect
SDG 2 - End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture 
Indirect
SDG 3 - Ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all at all ages 
Indirect
SDG 4 - Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all 
Direct
SDG 5 - Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls 
Indirect
SDG 6 - Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all 
Indirect
SDG 7 - Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all 
Indirect
SDG 8 - Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment, and decent work for all 
Indirect
SDG 10 - Reduce inequality within and among countries 
Indirect
SDG 11 - Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable 
Direct
SDG 12 - Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns 
Indirect
SDG 13 - Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts 
Indirect
SDG 14 - Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development 
Indirect
SDG 15 - Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification and halt and reverse land degradation, and halt biodiversity loss 
Indirect
SDG 16 - Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels 
Indirect
SDG 17 - Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalise the global partnership for sustainable development 
Direct
Theme
Disaster Risk Reduction 
Indirect
Traditional Knowledge  
Direct
Agriculture 
Indirect
Arts 
Indirect
Curriculum Development 
Indirect
Ecotourism 
Indirect
Forests/Trees 
Indirect
Waste 
Indirect
Global Action Programme (GAP) on Education for Sustainable Development – Priority Action Areas
Priority Action Area 1 - Advancing policy 
Indirect
Priority Action Area 2 - Transforming learning and training environments 
Direct
Priority Action Area 3 - Building capacities of educators and trainers 
Direct
Priority Action Area 4 - Empowering and mobilizing youth 
Direct
Priority Action Area 5 - Accelerating sustainable solutions at local level 
Indirect
Update: 
No