Building Healthy Communities-South Kern’s Program Manager Annalisa Robles was among the dozens of state and local leaders who gathered in Sacramento early this month to discuss a report on helping residents of underserved communities report environmental hazards more effectively.

The summit was held at the Sacramento offices of the California Environmental Protection Agency to discuss the report conducted by the University of California Davis Center for Regional Change on the Identifying Violations Affecting Neighborhoods (IVAN) program.

IVAN, which forms a partnership that helps residents report these hazards to enforcement agencies, should be enhanced and expanded, says the report.
The innovative program studied by UC Davis researchers helps residents identify environmental hazards through digital technology and crowd sourcing.

IVAN is the Kern Environmental Enforcement Network (KEEN) equivalent that was seeded and supported by The California Endowment through Building Healthy Communities, South Kern. The network was created after the community made it a top priority to hold federal, state and local regulators accountable for enforcing and monitoring protective policies from environmental hazards in affected communities.

BHC-SK’s partners, Gustavo Aguirre Jr. and Cesar Campos, also attended the event. Campos, who is responsible for bringing KEEN to Kern, also spoke at the summit.

KEEN’s mission is to build the capacity of community residents to identify and report hazards in their neighborhoods in an effort to keep them safe and healthy.

Click here to read the full report.