Understanding Cultural Competency

In the spring of 2005, three Boston environmental education programs who were participating in a Barr Foundation-sponsored Experiential Environmental Learning Cluster decided to deepen their understanding of cultural competency. Antioch New England Institute's Community-based School Environmental project (CO-SEED), Urban Ecology Institute (UEI) and Mass Audubon's Boston Nature Center (BNC) participated in the Cultural Competency Assessment Project. Through this project, consultants Judy Tso and Curdina Hill conducted individual cultural competency assessments at each organization. These assessments were aimed at capturing a snapshot of each organization's current progress in cultural competency and creating sets of metrics to measure future progress around objectives of cultural competency. The report contains results from the assessments, recommendations for the environmental education field and a section on cultural competency metrics.

Full Report on Understanding Cultural Competency* [PDF 3.77MB]

Complete Cultural Competency Metrics* [Word 159K]

* As reported by the Barr Foundation, Inc. a private foundation committed to enhancing the quality of life for all of Boston's citizens.