The New School Submits Bold Plan to Tackle Climate Change
With the news that 2014 ranks as the warmest year, worldwide, in recorded history, the effects of climate change are becoming impossible to ignore.Driven by its mission to confront real-world problems through bold and creative solutions, The New School is tackling this global crisis head on. This year, the university will pursue a comprehensive plan to address climate change, including full divestment of fossil fuels.“The New School has a long history of engaging in and offering creative solutions to society’s most pressing issues,” says New School President David Van Zandt. “Climate change, the effects of which are already being felt by our most vulnerable populations, is one of the greatest challenges we are facing in the 21st Century. With our formidable talents in design and the social sciences, this new plan sets the course for our leadership in the field.”The plan, which was sparked by New School students, faculty and alumni on The New School’s Paris and New York City campuses, includes an expansion of the already diverse catalogue of curriculum options for students on the environment and climate justice. At its heart is the Tishman Environment and Design Center, a facility that will foster the integration of design strategies and creative social and ecological approaches to environmental issues.The campaign for fossil fuel divestment was hatched in 2013, when the University Student Senate presented several resolutions to The New School’s Board of Trustees in support of divestment. Since that time, student in collaborations with university leadership have been raising awareness on the issue through a series of public events across The New School campus.“Everyone in this generation is very aware of what the future is going to look like, and they are very aware of the crises and challenges ahead of us,” said New School alumnus Ben Silverman (Environmental Policy and Sustainability Management ’14), a former co-chair of the Student Senate who helped spearhead the divestment campaign. “This is our future, our lives we’re fighting for. This is a small part of what I can do within this larger movement.”Silverman noted that, in recent years, The New School has taken robust action on climate change, including participation in the People’s Climate March in September 2014, a history-making demonstration of which the university was an official leader and endorser; and the construction of the University Center, an LEED Gold–rated facility that boasts industry-leading solutions to curbing energy use. Divestment, Silverman said, “Is something the university can do to make a big public statement on climate change.”
This article originally appeared on The New School News. Photo courtesy of The New School.