Students for Economic and Environmental Justice (SEEJ) is dedicated to the equitable distribution of environmental and economic benefits and burdens for communities of color and low-income neighborhoods. We are committed to the strategic use of legal tools to strengthen grassroots organizing and to build community power.
SEEJ is part of the Berkeley Law thriving environmental justice community that provides opportunities for engagement through classroom and community-based learning during each year of law school.
Course Offerings
Environmental Justice
Taught each fall, Environmental Justice is a foundational course that introduces students to the movement and its methodology for challenging systemic environmental racism.
Environmental Justice Practice Project
Taught each semester, this seminar introduces students to the unique challenges for rural communities in California’s San Joaquin Valley. Students work with one of the nation’s largest legal aid organizations, California Rural Legal Assistance (CRLA), on legal research, writing, education, and advocacy projects in low-income unincorporated communities.
Student Organizing
Students for Economic and Environmental Justice (SEEJ)
SEEJ is a clearinghouse for students pursuing careers in environmental justice and plays a central role in advocating for and organizing EJ activities, including community-based partnerships, symposium and events, and research and curricular opportunities at the law school.
Clinical Offerings and Community Engagement
Green-Collar Communities Clinic (GC3) – East Bay Community Law Center
GC3 is the first legal clinic in the country focused on delivering legal services to low-income workers and entrepreneurs of color to create sustainable, worker-owned or community-based businesses. GC3’s mission is to promote the growth of an environmentally just economy in the East Bay through incubation of worker-owned businesses.
Environmental Justice Workshop (EJW)
This student-initiated legal clinic provides an opportunity for first-year law students to work in teams with second- and third-year students to provide pro bono legal assistance to local grassroots environmental justice and international watchdog organizations. Current partners include Asian Pacific Environmental Network (APEN), Sustainable Economies Law Center (SELC), and the Accountability Counsel. For more information, see https://www.law.berkeley.edu/experiential/student-initiated-legal-services-projects-slps/current-slps-projects/
Conferences
Environmental Justice Symposium
Each spring, SEEJ works with partners to produce a week-long series of events focusing on a specific area of environmental justice. The symposium brings key leaders in the movement to campus to speak and strategize with students. The 2012 Symposium will focus on environmental justice in rural America.
Contact: berkeleyseej@gmail.com