Tag: sustainability-education
December 16, 2018
November Forum Recap: Sustainability and Art
by Stanley M. Kaminsky
At GreenHomeNYC’s November Forum, four speakers who specialize in the intersection of art and sustainability came together in ThoughtWorks’ Manhattan office to speak about their work. The panelists, who have differing backgrounds within art and sustainability, provided the audience with a diverse conversation ranging from environmentally-friendly museum buildings to artwork that communicates the urgency of climate change.
Environmentally-Friendly and Disaster-Ready Museums
Sharon Gaber serves as manager at North American Passive House Network, but focused her presentation primarily on her other professional role – development chair for the Environment and Climate Network (ECN) within the American Alliance of Museums. Specifically, the ECN is a community that aims to establish museums and other cultural institutions as leaders in the world of sustainability and climate action. They carry out their mission by providing a multitude of resources to museums seeking to implement sustainability within their facilities. They also bestow Sustainability Excellence Awards on museums and cultural institutions that stand out as true sustainability and climate action leaders.
March 29, 2016
Growing Trend: Agriculture in Our New York City Schools
by Megan Nordgrén
It no longer seems strange to hear that children in New York City public schools are growing their own food; in fact, it has almost become the new norm. Of the 1800 public schools in the city, nearly one-third now have school gardens registered with GrowNYC, and this number has been growing by 75-100 gardens every year since the registry was begun in 2011. This agricultural trend has found broad support from many organizations and foundations providing resources and funding, as well as from public officials. One outspoken proponent of school gardens, Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, announced that she would dedicate up to $1 million in capital funding for “innovative school gardening projects” during this fiscal year.
The gardens are as varied as the city neighborhoods, ranging from small containers, to indoor hydroponic systems to high-tech rooftop greenhouses. A new trend is indoor aeroponic gardening, where many plants can grow in a vertical tower. Small indoor systems such as these have several critical benefits: they allow schools to “start small” and test out a new gardening program; they allow for year-ground growing with grow lights; and they give schools with no viable outdoor space an opportunity to participate in growing their own food.
(more…)
June 22, 2015
{Green Careers} June 2015 Recap: Sustainability is a Squishy Word
Sustainability is a Squishy Word: Career Advice Across the Green Spectrum By Pamela BernsThe turnout of jobseekers and professionals for the June GHNYC Green Careers meet-up at Facebook’s New York offices was as varied the sustainability field itself.
Said our generous Facebook host Sunil Chatlani, “I thoroughly enjoyed your unique insights to a very diverse and organic industry,” which was an apt description for the evening. Participants came from a wide array of fields that ranged from a green sports blogger to an aquaponic roof garden intern to a visual effects producer. There were students from schools as geograp
hically dispersed as Indiana University, Davidson College, and Columbia University. And while, at times, our speakers for the evening offered similar advice for job hunters and career transitioners, their own career trajectories could not have been more varied.
(more…)