Background: Environmental Health Research-to-Action (EHRA) is a community-academic partnership focused on building skills and intergenerational knowledge in environmental health, community science, and policy advocacy to address cumulative exposures in Dearborn, Michigan and nearby communities, primarily through a youth academy.
Objectives: This article outlines our EHRA Youth Academy curriculum with sample recruitment materials, and we describe its beginnings, steering committee (SC), learning objectives, design, implementation, and recommendations from ongoing program evaluation and reflections of the SC.
Methods: In 2018 and 2019, we piloted the EHRA Academy with a total of forty-five fellows (16-18 years old), primarily Arab youth living in or near frontline communities. Fellows participated in a 2-week academy of interactive sessions, including a tour of local industry, participatory mapping, practice using handheld monitors to measure air pollution, and a policy advocacy 101 training. Applying lessons in accessing secondary data and environmental health literacy, fellows then created scientifically-informed materials including infographics and oral presentations for varied audiences. They completed a pre-survey, brief daily surveys, and a post-survey, and reported increased likelihood of advocacy behaviors and knowledge related to all content areas.
Conclusions: In Southeast Dearborn, Michigan, threats to environmental health are constant, and intergenerational community mobilization remains necessary to reduce their adverse effects. Grounded in the principles of community-based participatory research (CBPR) and using high-impact active learning strategies, the EHRA Academy may provide one effective model for centering youth to build community capacity towards environmental justice (EJ).