Bridging Government & Community Toward Land, Housing & Climate Justice

The appropriate scope of the government's role in society is a point of great debate and division. Government agencies carry the legacy of violence against and dispossession of Black, Indigenous and People of Color communities, and are often gatekeepers instead of allies, limiting the ways communities most impacted by injustice can shape consequential decisions about their neighborhoods, cities, and homelands. This can pose significant challenges to community self-determination, sovereignty, and collective vision. This session will explore the complexities of bridge building between the planet, government, and community to advance land, housing, and climate justice, centering themes of community ownership of land and housing, as well as reparations and land rematriation. What does it take to build authentic, meaningful bridges between government and civil society in order to transform systems of othering into ones of belonging? What if government agencies were to commit to deep partnership, or even co-governance, with community? In what ways are these bridges necessary, and what risks and challenges do they pose?  In what ways are they limited, and how are communities and organizations successfully building outside of government structures to achieve transformation?