Recap of Online Earth Week 2020 Events
April is normally the busiest month for the Tishman Center, as the variety of programming focused on Earth Day that we have spent several months developing comes to life on campus. This year, however, in light of COVID-19, the Tishman Center, along with the rest of the world, had to rapidly readjust and find ways to transition towards a virtual format to ensure that we keep our community safe but still get a chance to connect.
Our opening student-led event, Building Climate Resilience in Communities; Thinking Globally, Assessing Regionally & Acting Locally, organized by Marisa Valdez and Maryna Arabei from the Environmental Policy and Sustainability Management program, was able to successfully transition to an online event. The event brought together representatives from on and off campus community groups to discuss various approaches to climate resilience efforts. Taylor Morton, an Environmental Health and Education Manager at WE ACT, shared some details about the Northern Manhattan Climate Action Draft Plan. Mike Harrington, Tishman Center’s Assistant Director, shared about some of the tactics the Center has used to engage The New School around issues of justice and sustainability. Then we got to hear from representatives of several student-led groups at The New School, such as BIPOC Earth, University Student Senate, Sustainable Cities Club, as well as from student engaged with youth-led movements off campus, like the Sunrise Movement and Zero Hour. Watch the recording of the event and hear the variety of perspectives on global and local climate and community resilience efforts that the panelists shared.
Milano Professor Leonardo Figueroa Helland participated in a discussion with the Center for Earth Ethics on April 20th. Along with panelists Marcelo Eduardo Zaiduni Salazar , Dr. Martha Many Grey Horses and Mindahi Crescencio Bastida Muñoz, there was a discussion about how indigenous perspectives on health are relevant to times of crisis in the present and past along with alternatives to western health systems and how those can promote a healthier planet and society. The video can be viewed below:
Our Earth Day Keynote event with representatives from several various climate platforms, unfortunately, had to be postponed. But we decided to use this opportunity to bring together members of The New School students, faculty, and staff for a roundtable discussion on their views and experiences in the midst the the global pandemic and what connections they see between COVID-19 and climate justice. Ivan J. Ramirez opened the event by presenting some of how geospatial research on the intersections between COVID-19, global crisis and global injustices. Then Timon McPhearson and Luis Ortiz from Urban Systems Lab transitioned the discussion from global to local level, by speaking about the interdependent pandemic and climate risks in the context of NYC. We then turned to a discussion where each one of our wonderful panelists (see the full list of panelists here) shared their thoughts on the injustices this crisis has been revealing, its relationship to climate change, and what they think is important to focus on now.
Please watch the full discussion here: