Posts tagged research
At a Crossroads: Towards Justice, or Down the Insidious Path of False Solutions?

After decades of climate inaction, the United States has reached a turning point with the passage of multiple federal laws that provide funding for clean energy. However, environmental and climate justice activists are wary, warning that these laws may further subsidize false solutions to addressing the climate crisis. Legislation like the recently passed Inflation Reduction Act is riddled with technological and market-based approaches that further exacerbate existing vulnerabilities in environmental justice communities

Read More
NEW RESEARCH: UNDERSTANDING THE EVOLUTION OF ‘CUMULATIVE IMPACTS’ DEFINITIONS AND POLICIES IN THE U.S.

The issue of cumulative impacts (CI) has been a central focus of the environmental justice (EJ) movement for decades. Understanding cumulative impacts requires consideration of the complex interplay between socio-demographic, environmental, and public health factors that impact EJ communities. These communities are both more likely to be overburdened with pollution (higher vulnerability) and more likely to suffer severe impacts from pollution (higher susceptibility) . Yet advancing actions that address cumulative impacts in EJ communities has been challenging for a variety of reasons. One of the key barriers to addressing CI in environmental decision-making is the narrow focus of existing environmental regulations that do not include an explicit mandate to consider multiple pollutants from multiple sources. There are gaps in our knowledge about how multiple pollutants interact with each other and impact public health under different conditions; and most environmental laws do not consider the socio-demographic and health disparities that impact EJ communities . Finally, one of the biggest obstacles to implementing a proactive approach to addressing CI has been the lack of political will to limit the activity of industry in EJ communities where cumulative impacts have traditionally been concentrated…

Read More
Welcome Back!

We would like to welcome all staff, students and faculty back to our campus and we are looking forward to having a safe return and if you are looking for Covid-19 resources relating to campus return, you can find that here. We have a lot of exciting opportunities happening at the center this semester and while a lot of our engagement will be virtual, we still aim to be a resource for The New School community. Here are some highlights:

Read More
EVENT RECAP | Communities Beyond Crisis: Participatory Action Research as a Transformative Pathway

On March 26, 2021, Pratt and the New School hosted their first collaborated event which is part of the Communities Beyond Crisis speaker series. In this event titled “Participatory Action Research as a Transformative Pathway”, speaker Dayna Cunningham from MIT's CoLab answers important questions about why PAR is necessary for crisis management.

Read More
Toxic Air Pollution is a Public Health Crisis

The Tishman Environment and Design Center at The New School has compiled state-specific reports for Florida, New York, Minnesota, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania, the 5 states with the highest numbers of municipal solid waste incinerators. These waste incinerators have been known to emit mercury, lead, particulate matter 2.5 and 10, sulfur dioxide, nitrous oxide, and carbon monoxide, all of which pose significant dangers to public health. Eighty-one percent of these trash incinerators are located within environmental justice communities.

Read More
Gen Z and the Pandemic

We are at a critical time in our history and culture as a result of the spread of COVID 19. Every living generation is deeply impacted by the spread of this virus and the havoc that is is causing in our society, personal and professional lives. However there is one generation that is at a critical phase in its transition from student to entering the workforce and that is Generation Z (Gen Z). The study that we are conducting seeks to answer the questions of: “How does COVID 19 impact several areas in our society (including) Education, Work and Therapeutic Outcomes for Gen Z?”

Read More