Detroit Black Community Food Security Network, community-based nonprofit led by Malik Yakini, works to give Detroiters food security, food justice and food sovereignty – and, in doing so, is leading the conversation about the need for racial justice and equity in the food system. 

“That Black agrarian history that has been supplanted in Detroit and physical amount of territory available, and the unapologetic politics around self-determination and Black power, have created beautiful storm of sorts where these things intersect where Black food sovereignty is a real possibility.”

~ Shakara Tyler

The 2023 State of the Strait Report calls for “urgency” in cleaning up toxic sediment on the bottom of the Detroit River. Remediation is needed on the Detroit side but not on the Canadian side, according to the report.

Faculty awardees work includes the Doctors of Tomorrow program, diversity, equity and inclusion recruiting and teaching methods, diversifying library materials, participatory filmmaking and using mindfulness to address social injustice.

Comparing the two years also highlighted the ephemeral nature of urban agriculture in Detroit. Between 2010 and 2016, 14 of the 53 gardens were lost, but 50 new gardens were added.

Riverside communities have displayed remarkable resilience through the myriad trials of the past 75 years, and this project aims to partner with these communities as they continue reshaping the shared narratives that will lay the groundwork for a sustainable post-carbon future for the region.

A new University of Michigan-led project, in partnership with four Detroit community-based organizations, will work with residents of 200 low- and moderate-income households in three Detroit neighborhoods to improve home energy efficiency and to lower monthly utility bills.

“When traveling in Detroit, doing work on urban gardens, I was struck by all the footpaths,” said Joshua Newell, associate professor at U-M’s School for Environment and Sustainability and in the Program in the Environment. “There is so much vacant land, we are not going to be able to develop or simply enclose all of it … so why not think about reaffirming and formalizing how people are already using these spaces?”

Interested in urban issues? Here’s a list of courses offered at the University of Michigan this fall through the College of Literature, Sciences and the Arts, the Law School, the Ford School of Public Policy, the School for Environment and Sustainability, the Ross School of Business, and the Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning.