By Katie Koenig
History
Emerson’s Engagement Lab was first created in 2010 and evolved to focus on storytelling across many different media promoting “peace, equity, and justice.” Although it was closed at the end of 2024, its students, faculty, staff, and partners spent almost a decade and a half providing educational spaces and resources to students to build community-supportive projects.
The Engagement Lab was very reminiscent of a “living lab,” similar to UC Berkeley’s “X-Labs,” which offer students funds and resources to research and implement their entrepreneurial projects in the so-called “real world” outside of university life.
The Engagement Lab ran almost two dozen Social Impact Studios, courses in which students could integrate more sustainability into their learning spaces at Emerson. In addition, the Studios provided connections and resources for over twenty different art and media projects.
Projects
One Engagement Lab initiative was “Transforming Narratives for Environmental Justice” with a focus on climate impacts, education, and awareness. One of the projects is Fairmount Stories, a website that describes the community advocacy involved in the Fairmount line of the Commuter Rail system. It covers the history of the line, the importance of supporting Environmental Justice communities, and the intersection of redlining and environmental impacts, particularly worsening air quality and health conditions related to transit exhaust.
Other projects include plays and performances educating about the role of zoos in species conservation efforts, food justice organizations, and tree protection in urban settings.
The Present (and the Future)
Just because the Engagement Lab has closed, it doesn’t mean that other environmental and social justice efforts and initiatives have closed on campus. Right now, we have climate education built into academic and social life on campus. Emerson offers the Environmental Studies Minor. Further, Nejem Raheem launched the Teach-In on Sustainability in spring 2023. This three-day event with several dozen panels and activities occurs every semester.
With numerous environmental events and orgs on campus throughout the year—from the Compost Concert, to Emerson Green Collective, to WasteNot Emerson, and Griff Gives—it just takes a bit of attention to notice and participate in larger sustainability efforts on campus.