Shared Lived Experiences of Uranium-Exposed Communities - A Global Discussion Conference - R13 application for NIEHS support – PA 21-151 SUMMARY This conference is organized as a response to well-articulated research needs expressed by retired gold/uranium miners and community leaders in South Africa since May 2021, as well as by UNM HSC COP and UNM METALS SRP community partners, the Navajo Nation and the Pueblo of Laguna. UNM HSC COP and UNM METALS SRP community partners consistently strive to learn from and contribute knowledge to other uranium mining and uranium-waste-exposed communities worldwide. Therefore this conference will unite in-person African and Native people affected by uranium developments. This conference aligns with community engagement goals and practices of the UNM METALS Superfund Research Center (SRP) as well as directly supports NIEHS’s programmatic mission in identifying necessary environmental health research needs as well as empowering exposed communities to action and healing. We will bring together community knowledge holders and Tribal and academic researchers to discuss key methods and findings of ongoing environmental health and risk assessment research conducted in their respective communities. The conference will also cultivate collaborative community partnerships for future research as well as actions, and explore new ways of promoting healing, social networking, and environmental justice for marginalized people exposed to uranium mining. Our hypothesis is that this international conference will create vivid, multidirectional connections that advance environmental health literacy, stimulate the growth of community- engaged research opportunities, and promote healing as well as knowledge-to-action framework in historically marginalized uranium-impacted communities. This R13 conference will have three main Specific Aims testing our hypothesis. SA1: Organize an in-person conference that brings together innovative, cutting-edge environmental health sciences with local community experiences, traditional ecological knowledge and dialogue strengthened by existing, trusted partnerships with the support and involvement of the UNM METALS SRP environmental and biomedical researchers, storytellers, and traditional healers. SA2: Carry out scientific and community-driven educational sessions and presentations that support transnational exchange of experiences related to uranium exposures and social challenges of environmental remediation and public health actions. In this aim, we will integrate community concerns with scientific expertise at the intersection of climate change and chemical toxicity. SA3: Organize in-person, place-based, community-centered visits to each participating Native American community that support dialogue among diverse conference participants onsite in Diné and Laguna communities. This aim facilitates community-specific conversations that cultivate collaborative partnerships and promote the exchange of local knowledge and Indigenous sciences, and support active participation among Zulu, Diné and Laguna Pueblo partners and in their traditional healing practices.
