Light Justice

We believe that everyone deserves good lighting and beneficial darkness. Light Justice is the practice of investing in good lighting for historically neglected neighborhoods through a process of stakeholder engagement, as well as a global endeavor to raise public fluency in the scientific and social impacts of light and darkness. Environmentally and socially responsible lighting design begins with equipping people with a lens to understand what they see, and engaging communities to advocate for better. LightJustice.org is a forum for sharing resources around light justice issues, opportunities, and actions within the architectural lighting industry and beyond. This effort is rooted in an ongoing conversation between lighting designers Edward Bartholomew and Mark Loeffler about their mutual concern for lighting quality and inequality, especially in the public realm. Well-designed, well-maintained lighting is a signifier of prosperity and privilege seldom made available to under-resourced communities. Since 2020, Edward and Mark have given presentations and written articles exploring the intersection of lighting with social and environmental justice, the discriminatory impacts of bad lighting, and opportunities for the lighting industry to overcome these inequities. In early 2022, designer Lya Shaffer Osborn joined their efforts, and together they founded LightJustice.org as a resource for planners, designers, educators, policymakers, and community groups. We invite your participation, whether as an advocate, designer, researcher, supporter, or simply as a fellow human interested in engaging light justice on behalf of our shared communities and planet.