Environmental Justice – Right from the Beginning Between March 2009 and July 2010, the association “Women in Europe for a Common Future” offered expectant parents and young families from socially disadvantaged districts, and in particular families with a migration background, advice on forming a healthy home environment for their newborns. In Berlin and Munich, on-site consultation and office hours took place regularly in neighbourhood-based facilities and meeting places on the topics “Avoiding mould infestation at home”, “Clean ecologically – in a healthy and environmentally friendly way without disinfectants” and “Avoiding health risks from passive smoke”. In addition, the association organised training for disseminators and developed multilingual flyers. The Federal Ministry for the Environment and UBA have supported the project financially.
Targeted Information and Advisory Service Information provisioning and advisory services must be organised with respect to specific target groups. Socially disadvantaged households often have a greater need of assistance and because of access barriers, difficulties in receiving information and advice through traditional means – such as brochures and presentations. Outreach information services, which provide practical on-site assistance, are therefore particularly successful. Advising on moisture damage and mould forma-
tion, which examines the situation as it is in the home, is for example a sensible intervention measure. For this, it is necessary that different institutions and lobbying groups collaborate at the local level, such as health services, social services, housing associations and tenant associations. A strategy conference is planned for 2011 on the theme of environmental justice. It should further promote the debate on this topic and discuss concrete measures.
Responsible for the Text: Dr. Hedi Schreiber, Head of Section II 1.1 Contacts: Health Effects of Chemicals: Dr. Marike Kolossa-Gehring, Head of Section II 1.2 Indoor Hygiene: Dr. Heinz-Jörn Moriske, Head of Section II 1.3 Drinking and Swimming Pool Water Hygiene: Dr. Ingrid Chorus, Head of Department II 3 Climate Change and Health: Dr. Hans-Guido Mücke, Section II 1.5 Environmental Justice: Christiane Bunge, Section II 1.1
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WHAT MATTERS 2011