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The awareness of the environment, climate, and nature that emerged worldwide in the 1970s has paralleled the actions taken in the European Union (EU) under the United Nations. In the EU, the environmental title was given a legal basis for the first time with the entry into force of the Single European Act, and action on the environment and climate change became the main priorities of the EU in all areas with the amendments in the founding treaties. This study examines environmental and climate policy in the EU and the process known as the green transition in the EU. The study consists of three sections. The first section discusses the environment and the development of climate change awareness in the world and the EU, while the second section underlines the EU's environmental and climate change approaches and policies. The third and final section highlights the development and green transition strategy adopted by the EU in 2019 and the “Green Deal” strategy paper. The study concludes that the “Green Deal” is at the heart of the so-called green transition process in the EU, that the goals sought by the Deal are very ambitious, that it is almost impossible to achieve the corresponding goals without an effective/coercive political mechanism, and that the EU is planning a green transition rather than a green transformation.

Typical undergraduate research programs involving HBCU students have several weaknesses including the short time of the students’ involvement in the research and the variable level of commitment of faculty mentors. Another issue at HBCUs is the lack of both start-up support for new faculty and external research support, which limits the quality of research projects and the pool of faculty mentors. We designed our NSF-funded undergraduate research program to be a professional development program to help faculty expand their research program and improve their mentoring skills, while at the same time involving undergraduates in research.

Faculty in STEM departments competed for Student Support Grants that provided support for research-related equipment, supplies, travel, and up to two students for one year. Faculty submitted proposals describing their research project, the role of students in the project, and their student mentoring plan. Faculty mentors could recruit their own students for the project, and both faculty mentors and students were required to commit to the research project for one year.

Outcomes of the program were very positive for both the faculty and the students. All of the involved students presented their research at conferences and several were co-authors on research publications. All but a few of the students continued working in research even after their time in the program was over. In addition, many of the supported faculty members were able to use the financial support as a springboard for successful applications for other grant programs.

This chapter presents information related to models and frameworks from the perspective of cultural competence in healthcare settings, such as the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, Department of Health and Human Services, specifically the Office of Minority Health and Healthy People 2020. National health-related organizations such as the American Physical Therapy Association and the American Association of Colleges of Nursing provide scaffolding for educating future health professionals regarding providing culturally competent care. Research on effectiveness of professional development and integrating cultural competence into the curriculum will be presented along with suggestions for faculty interested in incorporating these models and practices into their courses.