ENVX Symposium Blog

Field trip participants arriving at PCUN headquarters, Woodburn OR.On March 2, ENVX committee members and ENVS faculty were joined by interested students from ENVS 295, as well as other interested students from the general student body. Our student organizers have been working hard to bring to fruition the efforts of a collective sprint we have been engaged with since mid-January, and are excited to launch the upcoming Common Ground ENVX Symposium.

Students and faculty departed from campus at 9:00 AM and spent the first hour of their day at PCUN, a farmworker advocacy organization located in Woodburn, Oregon. After a short introduction about the organization’s work and their current endeavors, students were directed to a timeline, detailing the issues that farm workers of color have faced in America since the mid-1800s. We wrapped up with a constructive discussion about foreign born labor, and our takeaways from the timeline activity.

Dairy cows at TMK Creamery, Canby OR.At 11:30 AM we arrived at TMK Creamery in the Willamette Valley. We were welcomed and guided by Marc Koch who explained in depth the day-to-day operations of the creamery. TMK produces cheese, ice cream, and whiskey. Much to the delight of our students, Marc also introduced us to TMK’s cows, with special attention given to a calf born the morning of the field trip. Following a great discussion over transparency and relationships between agriculturalists and environmentalists in the dairy industry, students were given the opportunity to taste complementary cheese and purchase ice cream in TMK’s shop. We then headed off to the Clackamas County Fairgrounds for our afternoon engagement activities.

At 1:00 PM we settled in at the fairgrounds and began with a round of introductions from Professors Alana Rader and Jim Proctor, as well as from our ENVX organizers and the agriculturalists who were in attendance. The afternoon quickly transitioned into a period of lunch and conversation, where students and agriculturalists could openly talk and gain insight from each other. After an hour of mingling, we began our three, structured engagement activities, facilitated by ENVX organizers.

At our goal development station, students, faculty, and agriculturalists were asked to jot down goals centered around land resources and policy from a personal, community, society, and work/school perspective.

One station over, field trip participants were given the opportunity to work interactively on a community timeline, where people could label dates that were important to them and speak openly about them with others engaged.

At our third station, we set up a community story share station where participants drew prompts from jars and answered questions by telling their own stories. Each activity allowed for those present to be vulnerable with another, and learn to build trust across differences, one of our major themes for this year’s symposium.

Clackamas County Fairgrounds event following field tour, Canby OR.We wrapped up the day with a roleplay activity where participants were given policy scenarios, and asked to take on the role of someone who they may not normally represent for a brief conversion. For example, many agriculturalists pretended to be environmental activists. At first this activity brought about a lot of groans, but after it was completed, the overall feedback was that it had allowed people to break down stereotypes they may have had about other groups, and see through another’s perspective. We then issued our thank yous and headed home after a successful community engagement!

In the wake of this field trip, the ENVX committee has been working to select and secure participants for our working groups, which we plan to launch this April. Our organizers have continued to communicate with Lewis & Clark students, inviting them to work as facilitators in our upcoming working group discussions.

We are pleased to announce that we will be hosting a student facilitator training on March 19 partnered with the ENVS Program and Community Dialogues. We are excited to continue spearheading a new path for ENVX Symposium and look forward to enriching our Lewis & Clark community.