Message From The Director: Thanks For A Great Year!

To all New School students, faculty, and staff, as well as our community partners,Thank you for another great school year. With your support and participation, the Tishman Center has made great progress advancing design, policy, and social justice-based solutions to environmental issues.This year we released our Strategic Plan which will continue to guide our efforts over the next few years. You can keep up with our work and progress on our new website and blog.In light of the US Presidential election, we reaffirmed our commitment together with our campus, neighbors, and communities for peace, justice and solidarity. Our Affiliated faculty examined What Will Change under the new administration. In the face of hostility toward science and threats to the environment and environmental justice communities from the executive branch, the Tishman Center is dedicated to being the researchers for the resistance, supporting The New School and our community partners in efforts to promote and advance environmental justice, climate justice, and sustainability.We are proud to support community-based participatory research that addresses the impacts of climate change and other environmental threats. This year’s faculty grant winners explored a range of topics and approaches from composing music inspired by tar sands mining in Alberta Canada to using drones to ensure safe passage for refugees, from artistic communication about climate change to addressing issues of food security on campus. Our Student Scholars explored the dynamics of community planning for sea level rise, opportunities and challenges to implementing community shared solar, and the perceptions of cotton and agriculture in the African American community. Our Visiting Scholars wrote white papers on the environmental justice implications of the U.S. EPA’s Clean Power Plan, helped to shape this year’s Earth Week festivities and the Zero Waste Food conference, and will continue to work with us on research around the circular economy into next school year.This year we celebrated the 25th anniversary of the Principles of Environmental Justice. We partnered with The Nation Institute to welcome Bill McKibben to the campus to share his thoughts on the fate of the earth. We collaborated with the Regional Plan Association to critically examine the threat of sea level rise. During Earth Week, we explored issues of ecology and sovereignty for Native and Indigenous peoples, and joined the Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis in considering the impacts of the Trump Presidency on climate change.In the final days of the semester, we hope you will help us keep reusable school supplies and materials out of landfills by donating gently used items to the Good As New initiative. As we head into the summer, we are already looking forward to next year as we will continue to work with our Affiliated faculty on creative approaches to integrate sustainability learning outcomes into the academic experience for all New School students.To those who are graduating or moving on to adventures outside The New School, congratulations and good luck in your endeavors. To those who will return in the Fall, have a great summer, and we look forward to working with you next year.Warmly,Michelle DePass