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Open research questions in Environmental Justice and Health Disparities

61 unresolved questions extracted from the limitations and future-work sections of 1,844 Environmental Justice and Health Disparities papers in our library. Each links back to the study that raised it.

What the literature leaves open

  • STRENGTHS AND LIMITATIONS OF THIS STUDYO_LITo our knowledge, this is the first randomized controlled trial to evaluate planetary health and environmental justice integration in secondary construction career education.

    Integrating planetary health and environmental justice into high school construction career education: protocol for a randomized controlled trial of the Ecosystem Justice Translator · 2026 · DOI

  • We obtain mixed results, with little evidence of a generational shift in WTP across birth cohorts, more rapid societal shifts in non-FCCs, and higher levels of baseline WTP in Southeast European FCCs.

    Looking beyond the East-West divide? Re-appraising the willingness to pay for environmental quality in 19 European countries · 2024 · DOI

  • This paper explores an under-researched avenue in the green gentrification literature: How do grassroots community activists organize to address housing and greening simultaneously and how do they operate to achieve justice in greening neighborhoods? We examined the strategies and tools used by community groups in 10 cities in the United States facing green gentrification.

    Grassroots mobilization for a just, green urban future: Building community infrastructure against green gentrification and displacement · 2023 · DOI

  • This research trajectory, alongside a gradual spread of the concept of environmental justice across non-US countries, opened up the possibility of environmental justice being studied in different geographic contexts, wherein the environmental injustices faced by marginalised groups could be examined and exposed.

    The contours of environmental justice in the Caribbean · 2023 · DOI

  • One under-explored area of concern is the relationship between disasters and the waste they generate, which often amounts to the equivalent of 5 to 15 years of garbage that a community would create under normal circumstances.

    Landfills and disasters: a geospatial analysis of environmental injustice across the Southern United States · 2022 · DOI

  • This paper uses a meta‐narrative review approach to map the evolution of environmental justice research in Canada between 2006‐2017, and characterize how central themes, emerging trends, and gaps in the literature have changed since the last review of this kind was completed.

    Exposure, access, and inequities: Central themes, emerging trends, and key gaps in Canadian environmental justice literature from 2006 to 2017 · 2022 · DOI

  • Longitudinal evidence on whether environmental inequality persists despite overall environmental quality improvements is limited to air toxins in U.S. states. Paper [4] shows exposure declined but inequality persisted (1990–2014), but comparable longitudinal analyses across other pollutants, countries, and time periods are absent.

    Race, Income, and Environmental Inequality in the U.S. States, 1990–2014 · 2019 · DOI

  • Researchers in leisure, geography, urban planning, and other disciplines have published important theoretical contributions on EJ related to recreation and parks, but such contributions have not been examined conjointly to identify their broader implications.

    An Ecological Model of Environmental Justice for Recreation · 2019 · DOI

  • These cases from the understudied Mid-Atlantic Region help to clarify the conditions under and process(es) by which EJ activism transformed some aspects of the states' environmental regulatory institutions, processes, and policies.

    Beyond Protest: The Effects of Grassroots Activism on Maryland and Pennsylvania's Responses to Environmental Justice · 2018 · DOI

  • No studies establish causal pathways linking inequality, environmental degradation, and health outcomes within countries. Paper [1] identifies this as a priority, noting that evidence is strongest for immediate health impacts (air/water quality) but weaker for dispersed pollutants with longer-term effects, yet the mechanisms remain underspecified.

    The Haves, the Have-Nots, and the Health of Everyone: The Relationship Between Social Inequality and Environmental Quality · 2015 · DOI

  • An in-depth look at these three case studies underscores the importance of community-based environmental justice organizations for building grassroots infrastructure for effective disaster planning and to ensure that a foundation exists to advance recovery efforts, particularly in situations when government infrastructure and support is lacking.

    Community Voice, Vision, and Resilience in Post-Hurricane Katrina Recovery · 2011 · DOI

  • But who is responsible for building the healthy city, particularly where resources are limited? While neoliberal state restructuring and fiscal austerity measures have increased the responsibility of nonprofit organizations in local services provision, little is known about their role in promoting healthy urban environments.

    Building the Healthy City: The Role of Nonprofits in Creating Active Urban Parks · 2011 · DOI

  • The article questions whether persistent conflict between the corporate–government alliance and grassroots environmentalists is attributable to a ‘gap in understanding’ and suggests that the relationship is better understood through the complementary theories of ‘coercive harmony’ and ‘deep capture’.

    Coercive Harmony, Deep Capture and Environmental Justice in Puerto Rico · 2011 · DOI

  • Environmental justice and health inequalities research remain largely disconnected fields with limited integration. Paper [10] explicitly notes that 'the research fields of environmental justice and health inequalities have remained largely separate realms,' preventing unified understanding of how environmental disamenities drive socioeconomic health gradients.

    Environmental justice and health: the implications of the socio-spatial distribution of multiple environmental deprivation for health inequalities in the United Kingdom · 2010 · DOI

  • Policy frameworks for prioritizing which environmental factors to address first in reducing health inequalities lack empirical grounding. Paper [7] argues priorities should reflect 'impact on health inequality' and 'practicality,' but no systematic comparative analysis of environmental factors by these criteria exists across populations or contexts.

    HEALTH, JUSTICE, AND THE ENVIRONMENT · 2007 · DOI

  • Part III, however, concludes that this remedy is insufficient because most plaintiffs will not be able to prove that a state harbored discriminatory purpose, and therefore will not prevail under section 1983 or the Fourteenth Amendment.

    Remedying Environmental Racism · 1991 · DOI

  • The basic format seemed highly successful. By that is meant th~election of a local, here-and now situation, the use of professional· people direct ly involved with the,situation, the presentation of as many different facets as possible, and the use of se leCted, carefully prepared field trips. It would seem that such a format could be utilized on almost any campus, butitrequires a highdegreeofplanningand cooperation. Every locality has a nearby location where man has significantly altered his environment. 2. The use of current reading material is highly important, since it helps to provide a sense of rele vancy and immediacy so often lacking in our teaching. Downloaded by [University of Sussex Library] at 20:23 20 June 2016 KLEHR 31 Newspapers, magazines, the technical journals, the paperback publishers, television, etc., are continu allipresenting up to date events and analysis. An almost endless bibliography could be jotted down, but the following paperbacks will be included as re quired reading for the author's course the next time it is offered.

    Man and Environment in Oklahoma · 1971 · DOI

  • While futuring enables NGOs to sustain engagement over time, its potential to drive structural change remains uncertain, particularly in environments where both confrontational and collaborative advocacy are constrained by dominant structures.

    Understanding NGO Activism for Environmental Justice in Restrictive Institutional Contexts · 2026 · DOI

  • Lead exposure plays a crucial but understudied role in most issues facing Black and Brown communities, as minorities face exposure to environmental dangers such as lead at greater rates than White residents.

    Embedded and Embodied: How State Neglect of Lead Poisoning Contributes to Women’s Green Victimization and Perpetuates Intersectional Inequalities · 2025 · DOI

  • However, there is no consensus among environmental economists on whether ethnicity or economics are the primary causes of health inequity under the influence of environmental hazard exposure.

    Multifaceted contribution of environmental pollution, race and income to health inequities in Texas · 2024 · DOI

  • Yet not much is known about how BPoC professionals in dedicated professional associations, could address such barriers through the pursuit of environmental justice when planning and designing recreational spaces.

    How do BPoC design professionals pursue environmental justice considerations when planning and designing recreational spaces? · 2024 · DOI

  • Similarly, sites of acceptance—where groups actively mobilize to support risky industries or other forms of extractivism and exploitation—remain under-explored and under-theorized.

    Sites of Resistance, Acceptance, and Quiescence Amid Environmental Injustice: An Introduction to the Special Issue on Sustainability Under Neoliberalism · 2022 · DOI

  • military action in communities both domestically and abroad suggest that the military represents an understudied institutional source of environmental injustice.

    Analyzing the Military’s Role in Producing Air Toxics Disparities in the United States: A Critical Environmental Justice Approach · 2022 · DOI

  • The scandal was finally made public when a pediatrician showed unequivocal data on the alarmingly high lead levels in children who ingested the water.

    Systemic Racism and Othering within Government Agencies: A Psychoanalytic Interpretation of Environmental Injustice in the Flint, Michigan Water Crisis · 2021 · DOI

  • The relationship between different mechanisms generating race-based versus poverty-based environmental inequality remains unexplored. Paper [4] documents that these inequalities 'result from different mechanisms' but provides no analysis of what those mechanisms are or how they differ.

    Race, Income, and Environmental Inequality in the U.S. States, 1990–2014 · 2019 · DOI

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61 open questions have been extracted from the limitations and future-work passages of 1,844 Environmental Justice and Health Disparities papers in our library. Each one below links back to the study that raised it, so you can read the original claim in context.

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