Project

Sustainable Long Island is seeking college level interns to assist with research to support community redevelopment, planning, and advocacy projects. The successful candidate will be a team player who works closely with planners to help facilitate and coordinate community development projects, as well as support advocacy work.

All candidates will possess the following qualifications:

• Strong research and writing skills.
• Strong verbal communication and interpersonal skills.
• A demonstrated interest in, and commitment to, sustainable and community development issues.
• A commitment, interest, or connection to social justice, environmental justice, advocacy, or civil rights issues is a strong plus.
  • Proficiency with computer programs such as Microsoft Office, including Word, PowerPoint, and Excel.
  • Experience with ArcGIS helpful, but not necessary.
    • Ability to work effectively with colleagues in team setting.
    • A self-motivated and results-oriented individual.

1. Community Development

The successful candidates will help research to support community redevelopment, planning, and advocacy projects. He or she will be a team player who works closely with community planners to help facilitate and coordinate community development projects. Interns will conduct research to support the creation of existing conditions reports, review prior and current local plans, prepare community meeting and outreach material, and assist with outreach strategy development. He or she will also support program advocacy and education work through research and policy work.

Potential tasks:

• Assist with existing conditions research by gathering and analyzing data (demographics, socio-economic, land use)
• Review and summarize existing local plans
• Assist with community meeting preparation & outreach (phone calls, document prep., etc.), including updating contact databases, drafting flyers/announcements
• Researching best practices concerning advocacy topics such as transportation, waste and storm water, food equity, and others related to sustainability

2. Food Equity

Over the past twelve years and throughout the course of over a dozen community planning projects, Sustainable Long Island has identified common issues among communities across the region. One of these common problems is the issue of food equity - the notion that access to fresh produce and healthy food options is not universal and that some communities are at a disadvantage in the regional food system.

To address this issue, Sustainable Long Island launched a Food Equity program that has helped increase access to fresh, affordable, local produce across our region through numerous efforts, such as youth-run farmers’ markets in low-income communities, a food equity advisory committee comprised of representatives of all sectors of the food system that helps identify issues in food access on Long Island and think through project strategies, and a food access mapping project that identifies supermarket locations across Long Island.

The next steps for this initiative include identifying low-income loans and/or partnerships with local farmers to establish CSA programs; determining what barriers exist to locating supermarkets in communities; and researching how to “green” corner delis and bodegas.

Potential tasks:

• Review and analyze local, regional, and national case studies
• Track and summarize related policy issues
• Researching best practices concerning successful similar CSA programs and structures of the organizations overseeing these programs, as well as local rules and regulations that need to be adopted in order to expand local food retail destinations on Long Island
• Conduct outreach to community partners as needed

3. Environmental Justice   

Environmental justice refers to the equitable distribution of environmental burdens and benefits, and the fair, meaningful engagement of all people with respect to environmental law, regulations and policies. Sustainable Long Island’s Environmental Justice Summit will engage a diverse, representative population of the communities across Long Island in an open dialogue about the urgent environmental justice issues that face our region and strategies that may help to address them.

Potential tasks:

• Track and summarize related policy issues
• Review and analyze local, regional, and national case studies to identify significant environmental justice issues and potential strategies / solutions to address them
• Assist with the development and coordination of our Environmental Justice Summit

4. Community Roundtable: Food Justice Summit

The development of a unified, organized, and skilled coalition of stakeholders which represent all residents of a community is critical to the success of Long Island’s long-term community development. Sustainable Long Island’s Community Roundtables engage community representatives in sharing resources and learning about other models of community revitalization. They take place during the evening at a central location, ideally near the Suffolk/Nassau border. Each has a specific theme with an outside speaker featuring a wide array of industries including community leaders, universities, state agencies, banks, builders, and other experts in the field. The general presentations are followed by an interactive session where information and experiences are shared between community partners.

Our next Community Roundtable will focus on Food Justice, exploring the inadequacies of our regional food system and the strategies that can be used to overcome obstacles and improve access to local, healthy, and affordable food here on Long Island.

Potential Tasks:

• Research food justice movements nationwide to help identify strategies to improve equity within Long Island’s food system
• Assist with outreach to community partners and coordination of event

5. Other tasks as needed.

To apply for a community planning internship, please send a cover letter and resume to jmoynihan@sustainableli.org with the subject heading COMMUNITY PLANNING INTERN. In your cover letter, please indicate specific research topics you are interested in pursuing.