Purpose & Principles
Our vision is a future free of cancer, and an economy that doesn’t rely on hazardous materials and technologies, but instead on approaches like green chemistry and product design that emulates ideas found in nature.
For Southwestern Pennsylvania, this is a future in which all people have secure well-paying jobs that do not make them sick, and live in healthy homes in healthy neighborhoods, without racial disparities in exposure to toxics and in cancer rates. We imagine local, regional and state governments that act boldly to reduce hazardous exposures before they cause disease; to dismantle policies that perpetuate inequities in social and environmental conditions which in turn affect well-being; to hold industries accountable so it no longer pays to pollute, and to incentivize investments that establish Southwestern Pennsylvania as a hub of innovation for a green economy. We imagine the expansion of businesses that improve air and water quality, provide nutritious and safe products, maintain healthy workplaces, and invest in communities. We imagine engaged residents who believe that everyone has a right to good health and a clean environment, and that both of these are foundations of a thriving economy. The people of Southwestern Pennsylvania respect science and are empowered to take action in their households, communities, schools and workplaces towards a bright future they help create.
In June 2020, Network participants came together to develop this vision. For more about our motivations, commitments, and practices and principles for working together, see the Network’s Purpose and Principles.
Network participants
Network participants are scientists and survivors. We are changemakers and caretakers. We are leaders in communities, in healthcare and business, philanthropy and advocacy, representing organizations across sectors. We are affected – and motivated – by the ravages of cancer in our region. We are grounded in science, committed to prevention, and focused on the reduction of chemicals in our air, water, food, homes, workplaces, and products.
Leadership
The Network is convened and stewarded by a diverse group of local and national leaders in the fields of environmental health and cancer prevention.
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Dani Wilson (see CENSWPA Executive Director press release)
NETWORK COORDINATOR
Andre Green
LEADERSHIP TEAM
The following people currently Co-Chair the workgroups and serve as the Network’s leadership team.
Jason Beery, UrbanKind
Ned Ketyer, Physicians for Social Responsibility Pennsylvania
Matt Mehalik, Breathe Project
Michelle Naccarati-Chapkis, Women for a Healthy Environment
Lyn Robertson, UPMC Hillman Cancer Center
SENIOR ADVISORS
Polly Hoppin and Molly Jacobs, University of Massachusetts’ Lowell Center for Sustainable Production
Participating Organizations
Individuals affiliated with the following organizations have participated in the Network, many as active members of Workgroups, and some as participants in quarterly meetings or other Network activities.
- American Association of Radon Scientists and Technicians (PA Chapter)
- American Lung Association (Pennsylvania)
- BlueLens
- Breathe Project
- Cancer Bridges
- Cancer Caring Center
- Cancer Free Economy Network
- Carnegie Mellon University CREATE Lab
- Chatham University, School of Health Sciences
- Children’s Environmental Health Network
- Citizens for Radioactive Radon Reduction (CR3)
- Clean Air Task Force
- Environmental Health News
- Environmental Health Project
- Environmental Integrity Project
- The Forbes Funds
- Green Building Alliance
- Grounded Strategies
- Group Against Smog and Pollution (GASP)
- Healthy Building Network
- The Heinz Endowments
- Homewood Children’s Village
- Institute for Sustainable Communities
- Leukemia Lymphoma Society
- PennEnvironment
- PennPIRG
- Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) Pennsylvania
- The Pittsburgh Foundation
- Protect PT
- Radon Detection and Control
- Rebuilding Together Pittsburgh
- Silent Spring Institute
- Sustainable Pittsburgh
- University of Massachusetts Lowell Center for Sustainable Production
- University Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health
- University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health, Center for Public Health Practice, Research, Law and Policy
- University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health, Center for Healthy Environments and Communities
- University of Pittsburgh, Mid-Atlantic Regional Public Health Training Center (MAR-PHTC)
- UPMC Hillman Cancer Center
- University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
- UrbanKind Institute
- Women for a Healthy Environment
- Young Adult Survivors United
Last updated: January 2022
Workgroups
Four workgroups supported by staff design and implement projects. They meet monthly and come together with other Network participants every quarter to share progress, expand learning, and collaborate on synergistic activities. These workgroups are Community Engagement; Education and Outreach; Policy; Science Support and Advisory.
Community Engagement
The Community Engagement Workgroup builds community awareness about environmental risk factors of concern in the region. They partner with a variety of neighborhood-based organizations, resident leaders, and technical experts to organize and train community members to take action for environmental justice in areas carrying disproportionate cancer burdens.
Education and Outreach
The Education and Outreach Workgroup provides education on environmental risk factors for cancer and tools for action, with a particular focus on individuals impacted by cancer and their loved ones and healthcare professionals. This workgroup seeks to improve education methods and increase knowledge and motivate action among these populations using a bottom-up approach in which the priorities and needs of individuals impacted by cancer inform the information we encourage clinicians to provide to their patients.
Policy
The Policy Workgroup identifies model and proposed policy solutions that will reduce exposure to environmental carcinogens, particularly in communities disproportionately impacted, and integrate environmental risk factors into cancer prevention. The workgroup seeks to increase our region’s capacity to influence policy by uplifting existing initiatives of organizations participating in the Network.
Science Support and Advisory
The Science Support and Advisory Workgroup supports the Network in interpreting and translating science accurately and effectively. It also seeks to advance research that has the potential to fill crucial gaps in knowledge needed to reduce environmental carcinogens, promote safer alternatives and catalyze systemic change towards healthy environments. This workgroup often partners with other workgroups to provide up-to-date data analyses on exposure to carcinogens as well as the burden of cancer and disparities.
History
In 2019, the Lowell Center convened a Symposium on Cancer and Environment at the Phipps Center that brought together 130 people from an array of sectors to share information and perspectives on the twin problems of elevated rates of cancer and high exposures to environmental chemicals in Southwestern Pennsylvania. Organizers and participants included national and regional leaders: cancer-focused researchers and organizations providing support to people with cancer; community-based organizations; public health experts; environmental scientists and advocates; funders and others. The meeting was a milestone in a process of building relationships among people who are not frequently at the same table, and it spurred interest by many participants in ongoing work together. The Cancer and Environment Network of Southwestern Pennsylvania was launched soon after the symposium to provide a structure for ongoing collaboration.
Today, the Network is thriving, with staff and volunteer leaders collaborating on a series of projects for the purpose of elevating attention to environmental contributors to cancer and advancing solutions. Inspiration for the place-based Network came from the national Cancer Free Economy Network; the two efforts benefit from one another with exchange of expertise, resources and learnings.