Climate Change, Resilience Strategies, and Climate Justice Counter-Discourses in Miami, Florida
May 27, 2025
The ERI/Public Scholarship Practice Space (PS2) fellowship supported my travel to Miami, Florida to conduct preliminary dissertation research. I have been engaged in research in Miami through my work on Dr. William Solecki’s project that examines the climate resilience needs of small businesses and homeowners. Additionally, through a preliminary dissertation proposal, I researched the climate change, resilience strategies, and climate justice counter-discourses emanating in the region. In my analysis, it was clear that subaltern perspectives vis-a-vis low-income renters were missing from dominant resilience discourses; understanding climate adaptation visions from this positionality – through partnerships with subalterns – forms the crux of my dissertation.
From my professional expertise in community-academic partnerships and my commitment to environmental justice principles, I wanted to meet with local stakeholders before designing and carrying out advanced dissertation research. Thankfully, PS2 supported me to travel to Miami to meet with local stakeholders to discuss my dissertation aims and how my research can support local climate justice organizing.
I visited Miami for a week in late July. I had pre-planned to meet some folks while also building in time to experience the spontaneous. I attended two events and met with six stakeholders from academia and community-based organizations; I had four people cancel meetings due to scheduling conflicts and COVID-19/flu illness, a reminder that we are still very much in a pandemic. After my trip, I met with four people whom I was not able to connect with in person. Overall, I had a positive experience connecting with stakeholders who were very generous with their time and offers of support. Initially, I intended to connect with low-income renters directly, but after some reflection and guidance from advisors, connecting with scholars and community-based organizations at this early stage of my research made the most sense – this is due to the practicality of arranging meetings with stakeholders and not being based in Miami full-time. It was reassuring to hear in conversations that my research interest can help fill a gap in local research/organizing. While I did gain some insights into how my research can give back, what was most apparent is that this represents an ongoing process rooted in relationship rather than a clearly defined deliverable. This was epitomized by the suggestion of one stakeholder to move down there and spend time getting to know people and letting them get to know me.
Author
Enrique Valencia
Former Research Assistant
Enrique Valencia (he/him) is passionate about partnering with environmental and climate justice (E&CJ) activists in conducting research that can serve movement goals. His research interests include community-science research partnerships for E&CJ, analyzing the local impacts of state-led E&CJ mandates, and identifying radical imaginations for E&CJ. Prior to enrolling in the Earth and Environmental Sciences PhD program at the Graduate Center, Enrique worked as a grassroots organizer where he facilitated community power building for economic, immigrant, and education justice. From 2018-2020, he directed Orange County Environmental Justice (OCEJ) in Orange County, CA, where he developed the organization’s capacity to fight for soil lead (Pb) remediation and to conduct water pollution monitoring. At OCEJ, he partnered with a local university for environmental testing and this experience motivated him to pursue scholarship that is in service to E&CJ movements. Enrique has published in Critical Planning and is currently researching adequate technical assistance for environmental justice communities participating in the US EPA’s Brownfields Program. NYC-EJA and its members organizations have powerful visions for environmental and climate justice and it is my hope that my engagement through the NYC Climate Justice Hub can help them advance those visions. Email: [email protected]
