The New School Launches Climate Justice Microsite to Bring Expertise in Environmental Justice, and Climate Adaptation and Mitigation to a Broad Audience

The Site Highlights the Experts Involved in the University’s Proposed Climate Solutions Hub on Governors Island

New York, October 20, 2022—As a leader in the field of climate adaptation and mitigation, and environmental justice, The New School unveiled a dedicated climate justice microsite to highlight the university’s research, innovation, and applied work in this field. The physical and economic effects of climate change are being more widely felt around the world leading to an increase in the need for bold and collaborative climate solutions, especially for the most vulnerable communities. The microsite features several climate resiliency and policy experts who are leading a proposed effort to develop a center on Governors Island for climate solutions that could be a model globally and serve as a hub to communicate The New School’s expertise to audiences in New York City and beyond.

The New School’s experts span disciplines and practices that leverage the strengths of the university in design, science, the social sciences, humanities, and more, and represent Parsons School of Design, Eugene Lang College, The New School for Social Research, and Schools of Public Engagement. Path-breaking research from its centers and institutes, including the Tishman Environment and Design Center, Urban Systems Lab, Parsons’ Healthy Materials Lab, the Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis, and the Center for New York City Affairs is also shared through videos, modules, articles, and more.
 
Several of the featured experts are leading The New School’s partnership with The City University of New York (CUNY) in a consortium that has been selected by the Trust for Governors Island as one of three finalists in the competition to create a center for climate solutions on Governors Island. If awarded, the New York Coastal Climate Center (NYC3) plans to utilize Governors Island as a living laboratory for just climate solutions through transdisciplinary research, prototyping, and commercialization, focused on building design, technology, and nature-based solutions. It will also center the adaptive reuse of many of the island’s historic buildings.  
 
“The cross-disciplinary strengths of The New School make the university an important contributor to the urgent and critical transformations that need to be made, particularly in cities, in order to adapt to climate change and redress structural and long-standing environmental impacts on frontline and vulnerable communities,” said Joel Towers, NYC3 Team Co-Lead, Co-Director of the Tishman Center, and a University Professor. 
 
The challenges faced by New York—rising sea levels, heavier rain events, more frequent and severe heat waves, rising income inequality, and a rapidly growing population—are reflected around the world. The solutions developed at The New School have the potential to offer community activists and governmental leaders around the world a model for justice-centered, nature-based approaches to creating more equitable and resilient cities.

Founded in 1919, The New School was established to advance academic freedom, tolerance, and experimentation. A century later, The New School remains at the forefront of innovation in higher education, inspiring approximately 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students to challenge the status quo in design and the social sciences, liberal arts, management, the arts, and media. The university welcomes thousands of adult learners annually for continuing education courses and public programs that encourage open discourse and social engagement. Through our online learning portals, research institutes, and international partnerships, The New School maintains a global presence.

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Media Contacts:

The New School
Merrie Snead
646-909-4684
[email protected]