The World We Want: The NAAEE Podcast
Imagine a world where communities thrive, curiosity sparks change, and hope fuels action. Welcome to The World We Want, the NAAEE podcast that's bringing a better future to life, one inspiring story at a time. Join us as we chat with people across continents and cultures who care about education and the environment—the trailblazers, visionary leaders, and everyday heroes making a difference.
Learn more at https://naaee.org/podcast.
The World We Want: The NAAEE Podcast
Building Opportunity from the Ground Up: Community and Environment on Chicago’s South Side | Quilen Blackwell
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A lot of conversations about the environment focus on distant places—forests, oceans, and wildlife. But for many people, the environment is much closer: the neighborhood around them, the vacant lot down the street, the air they breathe, and the spaces where children grow up and play.
In this episode of NAAEE’s The World We Want, host GLOBIO’s Gerry Ellis speaks with Quilen Blackwell, founder of Southside Blooms and Chicago Eco House, about reimagining what environmental work can look like in urban communities.
Over the past fifteen years, Quilen has worked on Chicago’s South Side transforming vacant lots into flower farms, creating jobs for young people, and building a model that connects community development, environmental stewardship, and economic opportunity.
Drawing from his experiences growing up in Wisconsin, serving in the Peace Corps in Thailand, and working in Chicago’s Englewood neighborhood, Quilen reflects on how place shapes perspective—and how reconnecting people to land, even in unexpected places, can create meaningful change.
This conversation explores:
- How environmental work can begin at the neighborhood level
- The connection between land, opportunity, and community well-being
- What it means to create pathways for young people through meaningful work
- How small, local efforts can grow into larger systems of change
At its core, this episode asks a simple but powerful question: What if the environment we care for begins right where we live?
Learn more about Quilen's work and find related resources for educators on our website >
The World We Want: The NAAEE Podcast is an educational outreach project of the North American Association for Environmental Education., in partnership with nonprofit GLOBIO.
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