Calla Munda, Hankins, Sullivan County NY, June 14/16th 2018
Hosted by Caroline Baillie (USD), Eric Feinblatt (Waste for Life) with Jerry McCann (Build Up)

We propose to host a two-day conversation around practicing trust. Those of us who work with vulnerable communities know that trust is critical in co-creating programs that are equitable, participatory, and durable. It is, however, risky for communities to trust us, hard for us to determine the extent of trust we should reach out with, and difficult for us to know how to gain a necessary level of trust – indeed whether we should even aim for it at all. Following the recent Engineering, Social Justice and Peace conference (ESJP13) held in San Diego in January, 2018, participants requested the opportunity to take part in richer, extended conversations that were not circumscribed by a conference timetable or attendees. To this end, we aim to broaden the conversation and include educators, community developers, community members and peacemakers, not only those working at the interface of engineering and community. The conversation will be held in a retreat format – with no more than 15 participants – for deep reflection that can intentionally guide critical outcomes. Participants will spend two days and one night at the Standing People Together retreat, Calla Munda, (home on the hill) in Hankins, New York. We will apply forest school pedagogy and activities, and conversations will be in an outdoor studio setting. We hope to bring together a group with a wide variety of experience and interest in this topic to take our understanding to new levels.

There will be no fee for the Critical conversation retreat and we have managed to arrange accommodation at a set fee of $75 per person. The conversation will start at lunchtime on 14th and end at lunchtime on 16th.

As places are limited, we are asking for expressions of interest at this time. Please email 200 words by March 30th about your experiences related to trust in community work (cbaillie@sandiego.edu). Please accept our apologies in advance for not being able to accept all those who wish to attend.

Note: Hankins, NY is 2.5 hours NW of NYC. Transport options include flights / car rental from JFK/Newark, Scranton and Stewart International airports, also bus from Port Authority NY.

ESJP 13 – January 25-27, 2018

The Shiley-Marcos School of Engineering at the University of San Diego is delighted to host the 13^th annual Engineering, Social Justice and Peace (ESJP) conference January 25^th-27^th 2018. This conference celebrates the commitment that USD and the Shiley-Marcos School have made through their RED (Revolutionizing Engineering Departments) program to support the development of engineering students who are “changemakers” for social justice, economic development and sustainability on a global scale.  

This year’s ESJP Conference is affiliated with The RSA.

For more information, please visit the conference website: https://usdsmse.wixsite.com/-esjp13

The conference went on the road for day 3 to a town in the nearby mountains to visit a social justice movement where engineers and engineering have played a central role. Thanks again to UPRM for the resources they provided.

  
In 1980, the  Casa Pueblo movement was founded in response to the proposal to begin large open pit mining across the width of Puerto Rico. A team of activists including artists, scientists, and engineers protested the grave consequences the mining projects would create by founding Casa Pueblo. And, after mobilizing with the community, the movement successfully stopped the open pit mining campaign. One of the leaders of the movement, Alexis Mossol-Martinez, led a presentation to the audience about the movement and its history.

  
Today, the Casa Pueblo movement is still very active. One of its objectives has always been the creation of art in support of the movement, reflecting its commitment to art, a small school for music trains children from the community.

  
Casa Pueblo also runs an amazing “Escuela de Bosque” or Forest School. Here, Casa Pueblo educates the public about the importance of the rain forest to Puerto Rico’s survival.

  
The forest was beautiful, but unfortunately I didn’t get any pictures because of the rim and my desire to keep my phone dry. When we got back to the bus, the group was soaked, but happy to have visited.

Day 3 was also end of the conference. The conference was my first, and it was also the first conference that I had the opportunity to critically engage the engineering practice with a community of others. I hope to come back to many more, and hopefully, to places like Mayagüez who was such a great host.

Day 2 continued on with the second and final day of presentations. One of which featured the imaginative and creative demonstration that encapsulated Dr Andrew Brightman’s empathy research at Purdue University. 

  
Dr Brightman’s demonstration asked audience members to identify the sensual experience of various interactions, like the sensations of eating a blueberry. By thinking deeply about their sensory perceptions, audience members could think about the common perceptions others might have had.

For lunch and dinner, participants dined on wonderful boricuan plates. The pastel featured below had a tasty yuca outside with a delicious chicken or pork stuffing.

  
Conference participants also had the privilege to visit the experimental station at the UPR-Mayagüez campus that is unique in a U.S. context. The experimental station features plant research that is only possible in the tropical climate of Puerto Rico. Suffice it to say, the plants here are beautiful and unique.   One of the trees growing at the station produced a beautiful flower with an equally beautiful fragrance.

  
Stay tuned for the final blog post about Day 3.