top of page

For a more inclusive science community and a broader understanding of geohazards to address social justice and equity issues in hazard mitigation 

The Building Equity and Capacity with Geoscience Integrative Group is working to identify a range of activities that are strategically useful and maximize the specific assets of SZ4D (i.e., geohazards, international, instrumentation, multi-institutional). Our goal is to transform the mindset of our geoscience community to embrace education, outreach, capacity building, diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice as critically important for the success of the scientific endeavors.

SZ4D BECG Research goals of the BECG group

Key questions being addressed by BECG include: 

Capacity Building

  • How can we leverage efforts into equitable international capacity-building partnerships that improve capabilities (e.g. skills, data, software, technology, understanding) for all scientists and stakeholders involved?

  • What do we need to build into our programs to make these improvements sustainable?

Equity in Hazard Mitigation

  • Geohazards disproportionately affect specific communities. How do we translate improved understanding of subduction zone geohazards into products that can be used to inform and address social justice and equity issues in hazard mitigation?

  • What considerations must be made to ensure equitable engagement of and outcomes for those communities?

Education and Training Strategies

  • Educational efforts that are more inclusive and have measurable learning outcomes are needed to equip and diversify our scientific community. How do we identify, develop, and implement these strategies?

Improving Outreach Effectiveness

  • Hazard monitoring and rapid response efforts inform decision-makers globally, requiring preparation and clear communication channels. What strategies for science communication would enable people to better understand geohazards and risks associated with them?

Interdisciplinary Collaboration

  • What are evidence-based practices for interdisciplinary collaboration that break down silos and improve understanding across disciplines?

  • How can SZ4D become a exemplar for interdisciplinary efforts to enact equity-oriented relationships and outcomes in community science?

Belonging, Accessibility, Justice, Equity, Diversity,
and Inclusion (BAJEDI)

  • The diversity of the geoscience community has lagged behind other disciplines. What can SZ4D do in terms of BAJEDI to enact transformative change in the geoscience community?

  • How do we design SZ4D to increase inclusivity and equity in our science endeavors?

  • How can such a broad community science project be funded equitably and enact partnerships that are mutually beneficial for all stakeholders?

BECG Key Questions

A Collective Impact Framework to achieve these goals

Collective Impact

To help ensure these goals are achieved via SZ4D, BECG is recommending that SZ4D seek to establish a Collective Impact (CI) framework. CI is the commitment of a group of people from different sectors to a common agenda for solving a specific social problem, using a structured form of collaboration. It is essentially the “how” to effectively achieve a big vision. CI has quickly grown in popularity and has been recognized as an important framework for progress on social issues by the White House Council for Community Solutions and the National Academy of Science, Engineering and Medicine. CI is designed in contrast with the isolated impact approach in which single entities try to make the most impact with the fewest resources. Instead, SZ4D community members should be envisioned as playing a role in a larger cooperative effort that is seeking to accomplish long-term transformative impacts guided by the CI framework. Previous research has shown that successful CI initiatives typically meet five criteria: a common agenda, a shared measurement system, mutually reinforcing activities, continuous communication, and a backbone organization. When these five criteria can be met, the successful result observed involves cascading levels of linked collaboration.

SZ4D BECG Cascading Levels of Collaboration

Cascading Levels of Collaboration observed with a successful Collective Impact framework. Figure from Kania and Kramer (2013), retrieved from the SZ4D Implementation Plan

SZ4Grads

sz4grads excom.jpeg

A network of graduate students and recent graduates investigating subduction zones

SZ4Grads

From the Implementation Plan

Download the BECG section of the SZ4D Implementation Plan

From the Implementation Plan

Group Members

Justin Sweet
EarthScope
justin.sweet@earthscope.org
Elizabeth Nadin
University of Alaska
enadin@alaska.edu
Renate Hartog
University of Washington
jrhartog@uw.edu
Richard Serrano-Agila
Universidad Tecnica Particular de Loja
rgserrano@utpl.edu.ec
Julie Sexton*
UC Boulder
Chandan Dey
CSIR North East Institute of Science and Technology, Jorhat, Assam, India
s.chandandey@gmail.com
Matthew Blackett
Coventry University, UK
m.blackett@coventry.ac.uk
Brian Terbush
Washington State Emergency Management
brian.terbush@mil.wa.gov
Steven Semken
Arizona State University
semken@asu.edu
Patricia Persaud
University of Arizona
ppersaud@arizona.edu
Carolina Muñoz-Saez
University of Nevada Reno
cmunozsaez@unr.edu
Catalina Morales-Yáñez*
Universidad Católica de la Santísima Concepción
catalina.morales@ucsc.cl
Tiegan Hobbs
Geological Survey of Canada
thobbs@eoas.ubc.ca
Mike Brudzinski*
Miami University of Ohio
brudzimr@miamioh.edu
Beth Bartel
Michigan Tech University
bbartel@mtu.edu

*Group Co-Chairs

BECG Group Members

Contact the BECG Group

We would love to hear from you!
Please fill out this form and we will get back to you shortly

Thanks for contacting the BECG Group

Contact the BECG Group
bottom of page