“Here for a Better Life”: Community-Based Participatory Action Research to Advance Environmental Justice for South Asian Immigrant Communities in Canada
Time: 12:30pm to 1:20pm
Location: Beaty Museum Allan Yap Theatre
No food or drinks allowed in the Beaty Museum. Only water in sealable containers are allowed.
If you would like a Zoom link, please contact Bonnie Leung (bonnie.leung@ubc.ca) or Hannah Wittman (hannah.wittman@ubc.ca).
Talk summary:
In Canada, South Asian immigrants face higher job, income, food, and housing insecurity due to racism/xenophobia. They often have to rely on hazardous jobs and rent cheaper residences (which are located closer to roadways/industry), overall exposing them to more environmental pollutants/toxins than others. Despite this, they are not a priority population being consulted as part of the development of Canada’s new national environmental justice strategy aiming to address such environmental racism. This study will capture the experiences and needs of South Asian immigrants in Ontario and BC, where a majority live, to help inform policies to better protect their health.
Bio:
Manvi (she/her) is an activist-scholar with over 15 years of community organizing experience. She is recognized as one of Canada’s ‘Top 25 Under 25’ environmentalists, ‘Top 30 Under 30’ sustainability leaders and was honoured with the ‘Youth Eco-Hero of the Year’ award in 2022. She co-founded Shake Up The Establishment, a national nonprofit dedicated to climate justice & political advocacy, alongside missINFORMED, a nonprofit focused on health promotion for women and gender-diverse people. Alongside her advocacy work, Manvi is a published health researcher, frequent public speaker and guest lecturer who works to centre anti-colonial approaches. During her MSc, she investigated barriers towards climate action within the public health sector. Presently, she is a PhD student at University of British Columbia with SSHRC Doctoral Fellowship funding. Her research works to advance intersectional environmental justice in environmental health policy-making to better serve the holistic health needs of racially, ethnically and gender-minoritized populations.