Tag Archives: Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning

Why Tufts?

Leave a reply

Elijah Mensah,  Environmental Policy & Planning M.S. Candidate

Hi Everyone, my name is Elijah. I am an international student pursuing an MS in Environmental Policy and Planning here at Tufts! I aspire to acquire knowledge and practice in the field to contribute to the policy and planning of cities. First, I would like to speak briefly about where I am from.

A country located on the west coast of Africa, formerly known as the Gold Coast during British colonial rule, and now Ghana after independence in 1957, is one of the best places to live in Africa! The country was called the Gold Coast because of its vast Gold reserves and other minerals. This played a crucial role in attracting European businessmen to the country until the slave trade became the next lucrative commodity. Fast forward to modern Ghana, we are known for being affable, welcoming, and peace-seeking people. Today some of our most significant trading commodities remain gold, bauxite, diamond, manganese, timber, petroleum, and cocoa.

Life in Accra Central, Ghana    Credit: Muntaka Chasant, Wikimedia commons, 2019

I was born and have lived all my life in Accra, the capital of Ghana. Due to school and other engagements, I have had the opportunity to travel around the country. I completed my elementary education in rural Accra, Senior High education in the Volta region, and my undergraduate degree in the Ashanti region of Ghana. Growing up, I was puzzled by the environmental issues making headlines in the news and radio discussions. I was interested in how I could contribute to addressing the notorious littering, poor waste management, and flooding in my community. I witnessed firsthand human actions that lead to garbage and plastic waste clogging waterways and flooding during the wet season, which caused destruction of properties and sometimes claimed human lives.

Research studies in the country have attributed poor waste management to the outbreak of cholera and malaria diseases, which has dire impacts on public health. All of these influenced my decision to pursue a BS in Natural Resources Management. Later I teamed up with friends and colleagues who found the current waste management and climate change crisis a significant threat to our country. We worked together to cofound a community-based nonprofit called “Keep Ghana Beautiful.” Our mission was to educate community members and school children on the issues of poor waste management and climate change and encourage them to reduce, reuse and recycle waste and plant trees to mitigate the impacts of climate change.

Through my nonprofit organization, I was selected as a fellow for the Atlas Corps Program. It provided the opportunity for emerging nonprofit leaders around the world to come to the US to hone professional skills and develop hands-on learning in a national nonprofit for 12-18 months and then return to their home countries to utilize the skills. I was privileged to have been stationed at “Keep America Beautiful,” a US national nonprofit with over 65 years of experience in addressing the issue of littering and promoting recycling through its over 700 affiliates across the US and Canada. Throughout the role, I lived principally in Stamford, Connecticut and traveled briefly to 10 states across the US. My thoughts about going to grad school started sometime during the pandemic when I worked from home. I first started broadly researching via the internet in the field I wanted to develop and focus my skills. I then narrowed the search to MA or MS programs. I was fascinated by Tufts’ academic success stories and its location within the Boston Metropolitan area. I found the prospect of pursuing an excellent graduate program in one of the top-notch schools in the US an accomplishment to begin with living my American dream.

Upon returning to Ghana after my fellowship, I began an application to Tufts. After some months of waiting I was surprised with that sweet congratulatory email of admission to the MS in Environmental Policy and Planning. After the back-and-forth issues of immigration and securing a visa, here I am living the dream! I am currently taking four classes this semester and I feel great about it. I like the immersive learning culture where students engage weekly in small group discussions with instructors. I love the discussion forums on the course Canvas site where students share their weekly journaling to the class. These stimulate conversations among students to learn of other perspectives on a specific topic. I think it is creative and transformational. I can’t stop without talking about my department building- the Brown House. This is home where all of the bonding and fun happen. We use it to connect with colleagues, study, organize events, meet our professors and administrative offices for assistance. One of the best parts for me is always free sncks in the kitchen. I love the community!

I want to use this platform to thank and send a shout out to my mentor and professor Julian Agyeman, at the Department of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning (UEP), Tufts. He has been phenomenal in guiding and supporting me throughout my journey. Also, I would like to motivate someone out there that it is possible when you put in the hard work and seek the support you require. I tried many times to further my education but got rejected. On the occasions I gained admission, something may have changed in my life and stopped me from proceeding. 10 years after completing my undergraduate degree, I accomplished a near forgotten dream. Don’t be surprised to see me completing a PhD in the future.

Thanks for taking the time to read my blog, stay tuned for more!

GSO Spotlight: Tufts New Economy

Leave a reply

Tufts New Economy members in the apple orchard at the Schumacher Center for a New Economics in 2017

Written by Brenna Gormally, Biology Ph.D. Candidate & featuring Alice Maggio, Urban and Environmental Policy & Planning M.A. student

One of the central parts of being a graduate student at Tufts is participating in Graduate Student Organizations (GSOs). Currently, the Graduate Student Council funds twenty GSOs that cover almost every academic department. We also have GSOs that aren’t academic-related. I recently sat down with Alice Maggio, a student leader with Tufts New Economy (TNE), to chat about this active GSO.

Brenna: Could you tell me a little about TNE?

Alice: Tufts New Economy was formed in 2013 with support from the New Economy Coalition, which was funding student groups around the country that wanted to investigate, imagine, and help create a more just and sustainable economy. Often, people seem to think that one needs to be an economist to understand the economy. But all of us live in the economy every day! In that sense, we are all economists. Many of us are here at Tufts because we have recognized injustices in the world and we would like to gain further knowledge, skills, and relationships to help us contribute to a more fair, beautiful, and sustainable world. What I have found is that many of the problems we face have their roots in the current economic system, where there is an overwhelming monoculture of capitalism. Tufts New Economy is a forum where Tufts students can take time to learn together about different, emerging economic models that seek to serve people and the planet, not just profit.

Brenna: What departments are involved?

Alice: Tufts New Economy is open to everyone in the Tufts community, including graduate students, undergraduates, and professors. Right now, our membership is mostly made up of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning (UEP) graduate students, but we also have some students from the Fletcher School and undergraduates who participate. We would be really excited to extend our welcome to more people from different departments.

Brenna: What major events do you organize?

2018 Tufts New Economy members tour Indian Line Farm, the first Community Supported Agriculture farm in the United States

Alice: Over the years, Tufts New Economy has hosted speakers at UEP’s Wednesday lunchtime Colloquia, we have regularly presented in UEP’s economics course, and we have participated in national action weeks for a more fair and sustainable economy. Last year we had a really great experience organizing a colloquium where seven Tufts New Economy members did lightning presentations on five different topics relating to the transformation of the economics around land, labor, finance, food, and clothing. For the past two years we have organized a trip to Berkshire County, Massachusetts, to learn about the new economy initiatives that are active there. We also have meetings every two weeks where we take turns facilitating and presenting on new economy topics that interest us. Anyone and everyone is welcome at our meetings at any time during the year. They are posted on our Facebook page as well as the GSC calendar.

Brenna: You just went to the Berkshires and are planning another trip to Montreal. What is the focus of these trips?

Alice: I think one of the best ways to learn about new economic models is to visit the people and places where they are happening. Because a lot of the ideas we talk about really fly in the face of what’s considered “conventional” thinking about how the economy works, it can be hard to understand and appreciate the way new economy initiatives take shape until you are there, seeing it with your own eyes and talking to people on the ground. For five years before I came to UEP I worked at the Schumacher Center for a New Economics in the Berkshires, where I ran the local currency program called BerkShares. I was also involved in the work of the Community Land Trust in the Southern Berkshires, which holds land in trust for community purposes such as housing for year-round residents and organic farming. When I came to Tufts I wanted to share what I had learned at the Schumacher Center with my classmates, so we organized a trip on the occasion of the 37th Annual E. F. Schumacher Lectures, where we got to hear legendary Native American economist and activist Winona LaDuke speak. This year we went back again for the 38th Annual Lectures, where we heard from Ed Whitfield and Leah Penniman about black economic liberation and “a new reconstruction” that involves land reclamation and community wealth building, (rather than capital accumulation).

Trading dollars for BerkShares at Lee Bank in Great Barrington, MA

Next semester we are planning a trip to Montreal to learn from the many “solidarity economy” initiatives that are intertwined there. UEP Professor Julian Agyeman spent his sabbatical there last year, and so he has a good sense of the landscape and can connect us to the most interesting groups, which include worker-owned cooperative businesses, banks that align their investments with their values, and neighborhood redevelopment projects that are financed and shaped by these solidarity economy organizations. We look forward to learning how this solidarity economy eco-system evolved and what lessons they have learned.

Brenna: What advice would you give to a prospective graduate student interested in UEP/TNE?

Alice: Come check us out! You don’t have to know anything about economics or the new economy to join us—the whole point is to learn together. We also eat well—cookies, doughnuts, and cake have been known to appear at our meetings. To join our email list and find out when our meetings are please email me at alice.maggio@tufts.edu or join the Tufts New Economy Facebook group.