Director's Welcome Message

It is my pleasure to welcome new and returning students, faculty, and staff to the 2019-2020 academic year! The Tishman Environment and Design Center is your hub for campus sustainability and for research and practice in environmental justice, sustainable design, and urban policy. The Tishman Center looks forward to working with you in support of our mission to integrate bold design, policy and social justice approaches to tackle the climate crisis and advance environmental justice. 

There have been some exciting changes at the Tishman Center in the past year.  Mike Harrington, an Environmental Policy and Sustainability Management program alumnus, has taken over as our new Assistant Director and I’ve stepped into the role of Director while Joel Towers is on a well-deserved sabbatical for the next year. We are embarking on our next three-year strategic planning process, the revamp of the Tishman Center website and the continuation of our affiliated faculty seminars and grants program. 

We have continued our research efforts in collaboration with environmental justice partners , with two national reports released this year: Local Policies for Environmental Justice: A National Scan and U.S. Municipal Solid Waste Incinerators: An Industry in Decline. We also completed a national landscape assessment of the Environmental Justice movement in partnership with Social Movements + Innovation. The Center was also a key signatory and participant in the launching of the historic Equitable and Just National Climate Platform. We also hosted another successful Annual Earth Week celebration, with a focus on how climate change affects indigenous populations and our Annual Good as New initiative completed its third year of diverting materials to students that put them to good use.

We are looking forward to an important year ahead with pivotal opportunities to engage on the critical issues of climate and environmental justice. On September 20th we will join millions of young people around the world in support of the Global Climate Strike - hosting a gathering point for our on-campus community in the Courtyard of 66 W 12th St. During the Centennial Celebration, on October 2nd, we will be featuring the work of frontline communities endeavoring to make Environmental Justice and the Green New Deal a reality. We will also continue to offer support through our faculty grants and student research positions. In addition to that, we encourage our affiliated faculty to reach out to your fellow educators and encourage them to join our affiliated faculty at the Tishman Center. All they would need to do is email tedc@newschool.edu and let us know of their interest and we will follow up with them. 

To learn more about these and other opportunities to engage, email tedc@newschool.edu 

You can also find us on Twitter @NewSchoolTEDC and on Facebook for events and video updates. Be sure to join our organization on Narwhal Nation and sign up for our newsletters to get updates on events, news and opportunities.We are also asking anyone who has come to our events or interacted with us to take this short survey to help us plan better events and programs for our communities. On behalf of the team at the Tishman Center, I wish you a great start to the semester.  We are looking forward to making change together.

In Solidarity,

Ana Isabel Baptista

Director, Tishman Environment and Design Center

Timo Rissanen

Associate Director, Tishman Environment and Design Center

Brian McGrath

Associate Director, Tishman Environment and Design Center