When a group of six Russians on an Open World Leadership project arrived in Pensacola at the end of 2018 to examine waste management, the local community welcomed them warmly. On the first day in town, the visitors held a discussion with the Youth Diplomats to answer questions and to share their own culture with locals. They experienced the flip side of this with their host families, Karen & Mike Jurkowich, Nell & Jim Potter, Teresa & William Preston, Larisa Reyes & Tim Chandler, and Jeannine van Reeth.
Their weeklong itinerary included a community presentation, informal time with locals at a community coffee, volunteering at First United Methodist Church’s Serving the Hungry with Katie Ramsey and her team, and meeting young professionals at an evening mixer. Don Kraher welcomed them to Pensacola City Hall and the office of Congressman Matt Gaetz shared the role of district offices and how citizens in the United States can access their congressional representatives.
The group met with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection where they spoke with Director Shawn Hamilton and Solid Waste Section Supervisor Dawn Templin. Both explained how environmental permitting works in Florida. The group also took a site visit to the Emerald Coast Utilities Authority (ECUA) Biosolids Composting Facility and the Central Water Reclamation Facility where they examined its award-winning compost process with Jim Roberts, the public information officer.
At the Perdido Landfill, the group met with Dennis Fleming, director of Pensacola sanitation services, Jim Howes, the waste services manager, and Cheryl D. Watson, the assistant manager. A tour of the facility included discussion on waste management and land use challenges. The tour culminated at the ECUA Materials Recycling Facility with Jim Roberts.
Other appointments included discussing community activism with Earth Ethics’ Founder and Executive Director Mary Gutierrez and meeting with Gloria Horning, a community activist who gave an overview of environmental and social justice concerns. Dave Robau, CEO and chief scientist for National Energy USA, spent time with the group as did Publisher Rick Outzen of InWeekly who discussed the role of journalists in holding businesses & local government accountable.
One of the nicest things about weeklong projects is we spend more time with the visitors and get to learn more about what is important to them. With this group, we learned more about waste management in Northwest Florida and also how our visitors are dealing with their own challenges. Gulf Coast Diplomacy thanks everyone who worked on this project to help make it a success. This project was arranged by Gulf Coast Diplomacy in collaboration with FHI-360.
