Welcome

History of Collaborative Work

The academic and community partners involved in this project have worked together closely over the past three years on emerging health and public policy issues. Three of the community groups have formed a coalition to look at rail health issues, and one of the academic partners works with two of the community groups on a children’s environmental health project. Each partner is recognized as a key academic or community leader in raising the issues described in this proposal (for example, four of them were appointees to the Cabinet-level statewide committee that developed the Governor’s “Goods Movement Action Plan”).

The genesis of this collaborative project is the February 2005 Ports Town Hall Meeting organized by the SCEHSC with 400 attendees. The meeting described numerous health studies (many conducted by the SCEHSC’s scientific investigators at USC and UCLA) detailing the effects of air pollution on health. The Town Hall Meeting included panels of community and industry representatives, and policy experts, including all six of the proposal’s partners, who are key leaders in bringing local, regional, statewide and national attention to the environmental health issues of Ports and goods movement expansion. The Ports Town Meeting and continuing follow-up action were designed to ensure that the voice of community residents is heard in the ongoing debate. Emanating from the meeting was a series of recommendations submitted to the State of California Governor’s Office, as well as the Cabinet Secretaries of Business, Transportation and Housing (BTH) and the California Environmental Protection Agency (Cal/EPA).

Who are THE Impact Project Partners? Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice (CCAEJ) Coalition for a Safe Environment (CFASE) East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice (EYCEJ) Long Beach Alliance for Children with Asthma (LBACA) Outreach Program of the Southern California Environmental Health Sciences Center (USC/UCLA) Urban & Environmental Policy Institute (UEPI), Occidental College	Welcome An introduction to THE Impact Project, its partners and history of collaborative work

	What is THE Impact Project? The Trade, Health & Environment Impact Project is a community-academic partnership focused on reducing the impacts of international trade on health and community life. THE Impact Project seeks to develop an information network to share knowledge on the health and community impacts of ports and goods movement and appropriate strategies for preventing and reducing those impacts.	History of Collaborative Work The academic and community partners involved in this project have worked together closely over the past three years on emerging health and public policy issues. Three of the community groups have formed a coalition to look at rail health issues, and one of the academic partners works with two of the community groups on a children’s environmental health project. Each partner is recognized as a key academic or community leader in raising the issues described in this proposal (for example, four of them were appointees to the Cabinet-level statewide committee that developed the Governor’s “Goods Movement Action Plan”). The genesis of this collaborative project is the February 2005 Ports Town Hall Meeting organized by the SCEHSC with 400 attendees. The meeting described numerous health studies (many conducted by the SCEHSC’s scientific investigators at USC and UCLA) detailing the effects of air pollution on health. The Town Hall Meeting included panels of community and industry representatives, and policy experts, including all six of the proposal’s partners, who are key leaders in bringing local, regional, statewide and national attention to the environmental health issues of Ports and goods movement expansion. The Ports Town Meeting and continuing follow-up action were designed to ensure that the voice of community residents is heard in the ongoing debate. Emanating from the meeting was a series of recommendations submitted to the State of California Governor’s Office, as well as the Cabinet Secretaries of Business, Transportation and Housing (BTH) and the California Environmental Protection Agency (Cal/EPA).
	History of Town Hall Meetings A brief overview of the past two Town Hall Meetings in 2001 and 2005. The first 2001 Town Hall Meeting touched upon various environmental health issues ranging from lead poisoning to air pollution. The second 2005 Town Hall Meeting focused on the community concerns that were voiced at the 2001 Meeting about the health impacts from the ports and goods movement activities.