The Pratt Sustainability Center serves as a physical and virtual hub for Pratt’s commitment to educate environmentally and socially responsible citizens. The Center’s core mission is to coordinate and develop resources to further integrate sustainability into the academic experience of all Pratt students.
Graduates of Pratt Institute will go on to shape the built environment, influence material culture, and the daily experiences of countless individuals. In light of the pressing imperative to mitigate the adverse effects of human activities on the Earth’s climate, as well as its air, water, soils, organisms, and human communities, it is imperative that students possess the tools to critically assess the impacts of their creative endeavors on resources within both local and global spheres. By fostering an understanding and appreciation of the intricate interplay between economic, environmental, and social factors, students can champion and enact positive transformations toward sustainable ecologies.
“Engage critically and creatively with contemporary and near-future issues of socio-ecological urgency, prioritizing the sustainability of humanity, culture, and the environment. As artists, architects, designers, thinkers, critics, and curators of our culture, Pratt students will go on to shape the world in which we live, and our aim is to empower them through agile programs that anticipate a radically changing world. To train and nurture tomorrow’s leaders, we will support and incentivize faculty research and student experimentation related to socio-ecological futures, with attention to opportunities at the graduate level. In addition, we will create a curriculum that engages the Fourth Industrial Revolution, bringing together the physical, digital, and biological realms of knowledge and practice. Finally, we will develop the campus as a living laboratory in which students and faculty engage with and advance various models of sustainability.” – Pratt Institute Strategic Plan | Academic Excellence
The Pratt Sustainability Center plays a key role in realizing this goal. It coordinates campus-wide sustainability organizations and initiatives;
Departmental Sustainability Coordinators
The framing above is the motivation behind the creation of Pratt’s Departmental Sustainability Coordinators (DSC). The DSC is a network of faculty, each representing their home departments, that provides the infrastructure for sharing research, collaboration between programs, offers peer-to-peer support, and drives the teaching and eventual sustainable practice in the creative professions. Using the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) Sustainability Tracking and Rating System (STARS) framework, the DSC has been able to identify areas of opportunity to expand sustainability within their home departments in a targeted manner. Over the past 5 years (2019-2024), the number of sustainability courses offered at Pratt has increased by 200%. The Number of graduates from programs with a sustainability learning outcome has increased by 155%.
AASHE STARS Annual Sustainability Report
The Pratt Sustainability Center oversees Pratt’s annual sustainability reporting to The Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education through their Sustainability Tracking and Rating System (STARS). STARS is a transparent, self-reporting framework for colleges and universities to measure their sustainability performance across academics, operations, engagement, and coordination and planning. We have been reporting to STARS since 2018. In 2023, Pratt became the only independent school of art and design to achieve a Gold rating. Pratt was also rated as a top ten school in overall sustainability performance of all schools awarding a Master’s degree. We maintained our Gold rating and our top-performing status with our 2024 submission.
Sustainable Materials Library and Resource Center
We have a collection of 150+ materials that students use as a resource. I hold workshops and lectures there throughout the year for classes to introduce sustainability, life cycle thinking and sustainable design strategies.
GiveTake
The PSC oversees the GiveTake, an art material collection and reuse program. Both Students and outside organizations donate unwanted art making materials to us (GIVE) which we then sort and provide for students to TAKE for free. We divert ~15,000 lbs of waste and save our students 100,000s of dollars each year.
Partnership for Academic Leadership in Sustainability (PALS)
PALS was founded at Pratt Institute in 2010 by Debora Johnson of Pratt Institute and included members from the majority of AICAD schools. From 2010 – 2024, 46 colleges and universities, including over 100 faculty, staff and Administrators participated. Carolyn Shafer, The Director of Sustainability for Academic Affairs, serves as a co-coordinator of PALS.