The Pratt Sustainability Center is delighted to announce that this Fall’s Pratt Earth Action Week (PEAW) will take place from October 23-28, 2023. This week-long series of sustainability events celebrate the creative collaborations of the Pratt sustainability community and networks and help us connect, in person and remotely, across groups, disciplines, and initiatives. The week’s programming continues to address the intersecting crises of climate change and the racial and social justice protests that have brought into relief systemic inequalities and unsustainable systems, but also seeks to highlight successes and ongoing progress made by our students, faculty, staff, and partners in response to these challenges. Events throughout the week provide an architecture for conversation, debate, and the development of art and design solutions that can be best accomplished when we reconnect and work together.
All events are free, but we request you register in advance. Some events have a limited capacity.
Virtual Student Work Exhibition
Monday, October 23 – Sunday, October 28
Online
PARTICIPANTS:
Students from across the Institute
A collection of sustainability-centered student projects drawn from across the Institute over the last year. Students were encouraged to submit their projects to be included in this biannual exhibition.
Creative Enterprise Leadership: Design Futures & Cultural Pluralism Exhibition
Monday, October 23 – Sunday, October 28
Manhattan Campus, 144 W. 14th St, 7th Fl.
PARTICIPANTS:
Student Teams:
Jamie Kyung Min Oh, Jacqueline Marino, Chang Liu, and Xin Yan • Engie Ezeldin, Josh Meng, Kyle Thomas, Sally Guo, Zoey Zhao • Akanksha Kotwal, Eliza Weiss, Jahnavi Shah, Jen Jeon, Madhura Kaulgud • Keilan Roberson, Kristina Jacob, Monika Pannu, Puruim Park, Quanxin Zhao • Bhagyashree Khinnavar, Deepika Sobti, Johnny Wang, Nivedita Manoj, Shuyi Qi • Maria Martinez Behavides, Lauren Haag, Jordyn James, Eunice Kwak, Stephanie Wong
The Creative Enterprise Leadership Department presents sustainability-focused projects at Pratt Manhattan Campus in both poster and digital slideshow format. The exhibition showcases work from the Design Futures and Cultural Pluralism Studio Classes in Spring 2023, embodying innovation integrating business, art, culture, design, and technology. The initiative aligns with UNESCO’s call for cultural diversity preservation and policies promoting inclusion. The challenge centers on designing cultures of inclusion based on UN Sustainable Development Goals, aiming to foster equitable, diverse, and sustainable communities. The exhibition is open to all during Pratt Earth Action Week.
Sustainability is a Racial Justice Issue
Monday, October 23 | 10:00 am – 12:00 pm
Pratt Library, Alumni Reading Room & Online
MODERATOR:
Kimberly M. Jenkins, FRD’s founder, Assistant Professor
PANELISTS:
Nurhaizatul Jamil, Assistant Professor, Department of Social Science and Cultural Studies
Chelsea Grays, Assistant Professor, Fashion Department
This panel discussion brings the often-overlooked intersection of race and sustainability to the forefront, highlighting issues such as waste colonialism, environmental racism, and class consciousness, when it comes to “conscious consumerism” in fashion. This event is hosted by Pratt Fashion, in collaboration with The Fashion and Race Database (FRD), a learning platform dedicated to exploring the longstanding impact of race and misrepresentation in fashion.
Style over SHEIN: Choosing Memories Over Materialism
Monday, October 23 | 12:00 am – 1:30 pm
Pratt Sustainability Center, Engineering Building, Room 001
SPONSOR:
No Kill Magazine
PRESENTERS:
Katya Moorman, Co-Founder No Kill Magazine, Associate Professor, Graduate Communications Design
Karen L. Dunn, Co-Founder No Kill Magazine, Associate Professor, Graduate Communications Design
A garbage truck’s worth of textile waste is incinerated or landfilled every second. We find that unacceptable. The only way this will change is if we change how much we consume. In this session, we’re focusing on fashion. We’ll discuss how we’ve been hijacked by consumerism and ways to change our collective behaviors.
One way is reconnecting to what we already own. Participants are invited to come wearing something that has significance to them. It can be your Grandfather’s old sweater or the jeans that you wore on your cross-country road trip. Whatever it is, come share your story with us!
In addition, your portrait will be taken (if you choose), and your image and story will become part of a poster series that No Kill Magazine will be pasting around the city as part of an awareness campaign. Participants can choose to design their posters or have the NKM team do it. Light refreshments will be provided.
PechaKucha Night with Communications Design
Monday, October 23 | 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Pratt ARC, Room E-02
PRESENTERS:
Undergraduate Communication Design Students
Let’s have some fun talking about answers! Join us for our first evening of Pecha Kucha presentations focusing on Sustainability and Design. PechKucha is a worldwide movement where speakers share their passion projects in short, concise presentations! Pratt Sustainability students want to surprise and delight you with an entertaining evening of design “wins” for the planet!
The evening’s projects are either sustainability design projects or group projects doing work in the field. All presentations will be concise, as per PechaKucha 20×20 rules, and show a positive impact.
EcoMark: Craft Your Own Recycled Bookmark
Tuesday, October 24 | 12:00 pm – 2:00 pm
Student Union
SPONSORS:
Community Engagement Board
Student Government Association
PRESENTERS:
Olivia Witsaman, Supervisor of Cboard
Vrinda Parasrampuria, Promotions Pop-Up Chair of Cboard
Melisa Alatas, Promotions Pop-Up Chair of Cboard
Students will create bookmarks using reclaimed paper that they can customize using different kinds of paper, pens, and stickers. This event is open to all Pratt students. It will take place for 2 hours. This pop-up event is open to all students and invites them to make bookmarks from recycled paper.
Environmental Social Governance (ESG) Framework in the Built Environment
Tuesday, October 24 | 5:00 pm – 6:15 pm
Online
MODERATOR:
Ankita Nalavade, Assistant Professor, MS in Sustainable Environmental Systems, Project Director, NYC Economic Development Corporation
PANELISTS:
Lisa Brunie-McDermott, ESG strategist and operationalizer at HNI Corporation
Priyanka Jinsiwale, Project Manager, Sustainability & ESG at BCCI Construction
Sushmita Shekhar, Urban Designer and Strategist | Consultative Delegate to UN ECOSOC
Helena Ariza, Sustainability & Resilience division lead for AEI Consultants
A panel discussion on how sustainability indicators such as the Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) framework promote the implementation of sustainability in the built environment. This framework of sustainability indicators encompasses three pillars of sustainability and ensures the implementation of sustainable practices in existing systems. These systems can vary in nature and size. ESG data is often used in the context of businesses and investing. The panelists will discuss how ESG data can influence the built environment.
Leveraging Interdisciplinary Power to Create Equitable Climate Action
Tuesday, October 24 | 5:15 pm – 6:45 pm
Online
FACILITATOR:
Christina Rosan, Ph. D., Assistant Professor, Creative Enterprise Leadership Department | Associate Professor in Geography and Urban Studies at Temple University
What would it take to make urban places greener, affordable, equitable, and healthier for everyone? Reimagine future sustainable cities. Christina Rosan shares insights from her recent contribution to Reimagining Sustainable Cities: Strategies for Designing Greener, Healthier, More Equitable Communities. The book tackles pivotal questions: How do we reach carbon neutrality and adapt to climate shifts? How can we shape affordable, inclusive, and just cities? Differentiating itself, the book prioritizes solutions over problem analysis, employing a social ecology lens and multidisciplinary perspectives. It delves into historical trends, global examples of positive actions, and alternative problem-solving strategies.
Non-Binary Ecologies and Heritage
Wednesday, October 25 | 10:00 am – 11:30 am
Higgins Hall Lobby Gallery
MODERATOR:
Tarin Jones, Student, Historic Preservation Program
PRESENTERS:
Victoria Munro, Director, Alice Austen House Museum
Dr. Harriet Harriss, Professor, Historic Preservation Program
This discussion expands on a text co-authored by Dr. Harriet Harriss that links Ecology and Queer Theory. It highlights the inherent flexibility existing in the field of Ecology and centers on the idea of non-binary Ecology, which has great potential as a positive influence on heritage preservation practice. The theoretical underpinnings of this enter the real world in a dialogue between Dr. Harriss and Victoria Munro, Executive Director of the Alice House Museum and steward of the historic house and gardens that were once the home of the notable queer photographer. The garden, which served as an extension of Alice Austen’s artistic expression, provides a tangible opportunity to tell her story and highlight her historical significance as a lesbian artist from the 19th century. With the potential to consider how historical legacies and natural areas coexist, this contextual setting offers an important platform for exploring the interaction of ecology and heritage narratives.
Contemporary Art and Ecological Sustainability
Wednesday, October 25 | 12:00 pm – 2:00 pm
Pratt Library, Alumni Reading Room
INTRODUCTION:
Dr. Harriet Harriss, Professor, Historic Preservation Program
PANELISTS:
David Opdyke, Instructor, Fine Arts
Jean Shin, Professor, Fine Arts
David Brooks, Artist
This Round Table Event will take place on Pratt’s campus to spark vital discussions on ecological sustainability in the field of contemporary art. This event brings together contemporary artists whose work is driven by ecological principles and invites them to explore sustainability from multiple angles. This is a jumping-off point for a larger roundtable discussion with students and practitioners. Co-curated by MFA Candidate Suzanne Watters, Civic Engagement Fellow Mary Mattingly, and Professor Christopher Jensen.
Plant Propagation Workshop
Wednesday, October 25 | 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm
Foundations Lab, Main Building, 4th Floor
FACILITATOR:
Eleanor King, Foundations Lab and Operations Manager, Foundation Department
For this hands-on workshop, participants will learn some basics of how to propagate new houseplants from existing ones. We will cover examples of how to start a new plant from a cutting, and how to split overgrown plants to make new ones. Participants will leave with a new potted plant provided by the lab.
Participants are welcome to bring in overgrown plants for advice or repotting, but this is not required. The lab supplies soil, tools and pots.
All Pratt students, staff and faculty are welcome to attend, but seats are limited.
Alaska Indigenous Quinhagak Community Resilience Thinking Workshop
Wednesday, October 25 | 5:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Pratt Library, Alumni Reading Room
PARTICIPANTS:
Rafael de Balanzo Joue, Architect, Visiting Professor, Math & Science Department, SLAS, GCPE, SoA
Natalie Monterrosa, Lecturer, Hunter College
Mary Mattingly, Pratt Civic Engagement Fellow and Professor
School of Architecture Students
This in-person event is a collective transdisciplinary workshop based on the resilience thinking approach and is open to the Pratt Community. The goal of the workshop will be to understand the complexity of challenges and risks of the Alaska Native community of Quinhagak in the face of climate change. This event will be a workshop focused on how the Native Alaska community of Quinhagak could transform into a sustainability community managing hydroponic systems and greenhouses. The event is intended for a general audience, from students to community members.
Creative Enterprise Leadership Program Award-Winning Project Webinar
Wednesday, October 25 | 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm
Online
PARTICIPANTS:
Design Management and Arts and Cultural Management Program Participants and Alumni.
The Creative Enterprise Leadership Department is showcasing webinar-style online presentations from last year’s capstones, DF/CP, or alumni’s works. The selected works are award-winning projects of the CORE 77 Challenge. The three projects to be highlighted are Haenyeo Hatchery: Heritage Preservation Meets Innovation, ESG Data Collection and Reporting and Automation in the Software Entertainment Industry, Lands of Trust: Nurturing Indigenous Resilience and Sustainability.
Embodied Practices: Difficult Conversations
Thursday, October 26 | 9:00 am – 10:30 am
Online
PARTICIPANTS:
Cristina Giovanna Gabriele, Assistant Professor, Grad and Undergrad Communications Design
Discover the power of resilient communication and embodiment in Messwork’s “Embodied Practices: Difficult Conversations” workshop. Learn to regulate your nervous system, stay grounded, and foster emotional resilience when facing challenging discussions. Whether personal relationships, professional conflicts, or global issues like climate change, this workshop equips you with practical somatic techniques, supporting capacity building, mind-body integration, and conflict resolution. Engage in interactive exercises, build emotional strength, and transform challenging dialogues into opportunities for growth, understanding, and positive change.
Language Plants
Thursday, October 26 | 4:15 pm – 5:30 pm
Dye Garden, Cannoneer Courtyard
PARTICIPANTS:
Natalie Helse, Junior BFA Writing, Dye Garden Paper-maker
Laura Elrick, Associate Professor, Writing Department
Gina Gregorio, Adjunct Associate Professor, Dye Garden Faculty Lead
Sow poems & grow futures in the inaugural Writers’ Plot at The Dye Garden. Paper-making demo w/weeds & seeds, writing rituals, handmade seed-paper to be planted for spring bloom in the Writing Department’s new bed in the Dye Garden. Light refreshments. All are welcome.
Clothing Swap and Repair with Envirolutions
Thursday, October 26 | 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Student Union
PARTICIPANTS:
Envirolutions
Do you have extra clothes lying around? Are you tired of your wardrobe? Or is it looking sparse? Transition your closet for fall with Pratt’s undergraduate sustainability organization, Envirolutions. In addition to an open clothing exchange, some members will offer small mending/patching help and guidance. Refresh and revamp your closet for free, help keep clothes from the waste stream, and bond with your community.
Re-Cycling Pratt Public Sphere
Friday, October 27 | 9:00 am – 4:00 pm
Student Union
PARTICIPANTS:
Rafael de Balanzo Joue, Architect, Visiting Professor, Math & Science Department, SLAS, GCPE, and SoA
Daniel Pravit Fethke, MFA Integrated Practices ‘23, Artist
Mary Mattingly, Pratt Civic Engagement Fellow and Professor
School of Architecture students:
Andrei Buchatskiy, Yuhao Di, Sarah Fox, Robert Greenlees, Pu Jin, Meryem Erdal, Lourdes Escobar, Gabriel Huang, Sai Snehith Mallareddy, Ivan Petrov, Leo Kim
This event focuses on a Pratt Community collective action to RE-install and RE-build the Geodesic Dome launched this past semester as the Pratt Public Sphere. As part of the Campus Climate Action Plan, the Pratt Public Sphere is an innovative and “common” classroom space open to Pratt Institute’s community to host workshops, talks, public activations that welcomes neighbors and visitors. The Pratt Public Sphere began as a mutual-aid depot, featuring a food pantry as well as a free store for donated clothing and open to all members of the community.
Pratt Trail Network – Hike to Tour Brooklyn Grange Farm
Friday, October 27 | 12:30 pm – 2:30 pm
FACILITATOR:
Ira Stern, Associate Professor, Grad Center for Planning and the Environment
This is a one-hour guided tour of one of NYC’s largest rooftop farms. Walk a trail that is part of the emerging Pratt Trail Network and learn of the significance and potential of urban trails. Brooklyn Grange is the US’s leading rooftop farming and intensive green roofing business. They operate the world’s largest rooftop soil farms, located on two roofs in New York City, and grow over 50,000 lbs of organically cultivated produce per year. In addition to growing and distributing fresh local vegetables and herbs, Brooklyn Grange also provides urban farming and green roof consulting and installation services to clients worldwide and partners with numerous non-profit organizations throughout New York to promote healthy and strong local communities. The Pratt Trail Network is a student-organized network of trails emanating from the Pratt Campus to points green throughout Brooklyn. The network includes an urban transect trail and many historic districts, which will be highlighted on the hike. This is an in-person event limited to 20 people.
Community Gardens as Critical Environmental Areas
Friday, October 27 | 3:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Higgins Hall North, 406B
PRESENTER:
Raymond Figueroa, GCPE Professor, New York City Community Garden Coalition (NYCCGC) President, Community Organizer, Taconic Fellow
Help protect New York City’s community gardens! Raymond Figueroa, GCPE professor, and New York City Community Garden Coalition (NYCCGC) President, in collaboration with 52 other organizations, has submitted a petition to request the designation of city-owned land as Critical Environmental Areas to safeguard our precious community gardens. We are thrilled to share that the petition has been unanimously signed and passed in the State Assembly and is awaiting the governor’s signature. LEAP is acting by providing a platform and templates for individuals to sign letters advocating for the bill’s approval. The primary objective of this event is to educate the public about the immense benefits that community gardens bring to our state and to garner as many signatures on these crucial letters as possible. There will be food and an opportunity for participants to dispose of electronic waste items safely!
Shaping the 21st Century: MPS Design Management and MPS Arts and Cultural Management Integrated Capstone Discover & Define Mid-Review
Friday, October 27 | 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm
Manhattan Campus, 144 W. 14th St, 7th Fl.
PARTICIPANTS:
Design Management and Arts and Cultural Management Program participants and faculty.
Meet with program participants of MPS Design/Arts and Cultural Management and contribute your ideas to work-in-progress Capstone projects. The Integrative Capstone is an applied learning experience process that requires participants to Discover, Define, Design, and Deliver innovation opportunities and address Global Goals. In a rapidly changing cultural, economic, and socio-political landscape, the role of creative and cultural leaders is increasingly vital to connect creativity, culture, commerce, community, and caring. This event invites community partners and guests to meet the Capstone teams, have a conversation, and participate in the Discover and Define stage of research by sharing ideas, feedbacks, and asking questions.
Coney Island Creek Park Beach Cleanup
