Connecting Prisons with Nature

Posted 29 September 2009 by Sara in Announcements, Multimedia, Other Photography

Our stories for Facing Climate Change usually explore impacts and adaptation, but this summer we had the opportunity to work on two stories that address solutions to our climate crisis. The first, Parks Climate Challenge, is about nineteen urban youth who spent a month in the North Cascades. Get ready for part two of that story; we just spent a week with the group in Washington DC. But the story below is even more unusual than high-school students taking on climate change. It’s about an initiative that brings scientific research, sustainable operations and green jobs training into prisons.

The Sustainable Prisons Project is a partnership of the Washington State Department of Corrections and The Evergreen State College. Their mission is to reduce the environmental, economic and human costs of prisons by training offenders and correctional staff in sustainable practices. They also bring science into prisons by helping scientists conduct ecological research and conserve biodiversity through projects with offenders, college students and community partners.

We were hired to create a multimedia story and photo galleries for this initiative, and Benj also worked with Darin Reid to build an exciting new Web site. We are doing more and more of this sort of work. In fact, we’ve just launched a new Web site of our own, and it includes more information about the services we offer.

One of the highlights of my summer was going back into the prisons to share this finished piece and present our other work from Facing Climate Change. Here is what some of the prisoners have to say about our presentation in written evaluations:

“I’ve been at SCCC 10 months and I’ve never seen anything about the Sustainable Prisons Project. I knew we had recycling, but never knew this was an organized, multi-faceted effort. Thank you for the educational opportunity.”

“This program is revolutionary. By involving prisoners in programs where they take responsibility for their community, they are thereby reintegrated into our society.”

“The lasso ring is the foundation of northern life. Firefighting costs are alarmingly high. Prisoners can be part of the solution to today’s problems. I like the presentation and will recommend it to my family.”