The journey towards an inclusive green chemistry education community of practice by prioritizing diversity, equity, belonging, and respect for an open-access online platform

Abstract

Green chemistry education is essential for the widespread adoption of chemical practices that prioritize benign product design and minimize adverse impacts to health and our environment. Open-access resource dissemination and provision of community spaces for peer-to-peer support and mentorship are critical to supporting universal green chemistry adoption and fostering a green chemistry education community of practice to transform chemistry education worldwide. The Green Chemistry Teaching and Learning Community (GCTLC) was launched by Beyond Benign and the American Chemical Society Green Chemistry Institute (ACS GCI) as a free online website to support a green chemistry education community of practice. Diversity, equity, belonging, and respect (DEBR) principles and practices were key to the design and development of the GCTLC to ensure platform functionalities and features remain inclusive, accessible, and promote a strong sense of belonging for users. This article describes the framework for the integration of DEBR principles and practices throughout every aspect of the design, development, and launch of this online platform. We additionally discuss features and functionalities of the GCTLC that resulted from using this framework to design the platform. Through this report, we ultimately discuss steps taken to intentionally create an inclusive and welcoming community of practice for educators seeking resources and peer-to-peer support in making green chemistry an essential part of science education.