Sustainability

Aerial view of Governors Island, showcasing its lush green parks, historic buildings, and modern architecture near the shoreline. In the background, the Manhattan skyline rises prominently, featuring the Freedom Tower and various skyscrapers. The surrounding waters are dotted with ferries and small boats under a clear blue sky. — Aerial view of The Exchange, showing the iconic forms designed to evoke the dramatic landscapes and hills of Governors Island.
*Credit: © SOM | Miysis*

The School of Information promotes sustainability throughout the school and Institute (School Goal #10). Initiatives that have been undertaken over the last several years to achieve this include:

Established the School of Information Socio-ecological Futures fund to allow faculty to address issues at the intersection of information and socioecological urgency. In connection with this funding, Prof. Nancy Smith organized an event around this: Paper or Bio(Plastic)? A Material Exploration workshop in September 2023. (AY 2023/2024)
Added a monthly Faculty Council agenda item to update and discuss the New York Climate Exchange on Governors Island led by faculty who are involved with this major initiative. (AY 2023/2024)
Core course required across all MS program, Information Technologies, is revised to include environmental impacts. (AY 2022/2023)
Introduced the course Animals and Interaction Design taught by Prof. Nancy Smith. Also, revised Projects in Digital Archives to explicitly incorporate environmental sustainability. (AY 2021/2022)
Ran workshops on Climate change, archives, and digital preservation and Disaster Planning for Digital Repositories through the Digital Preservation Outreach and Education Network (Pratt iSchool operated grant-funded initiative). (AY 2022/2023 through AY 2023/2024)
Replaced the water fountain on the 6th floor of Pratt Manhattan Center with one that allows for water bottle filling to limit the use of single-use plastic water bottles. (AY 2021/2022)
Introduced the course Sustainable Interaction Design taught by Prof. Nancy Smith. (AY 2020/2021)
Experiment with growing indoor plants that can be harvested and consumed by the community. (AY 2019/2020)
Ban plastic water bottles from School of Information sponsored events, as well as use paper cups rather than plastic or styrofoam; this initiative continues to the present day. (AY 2018/2019)

For more information about sustainability initiatives at the School of Information, please contact Dean Cocciolo.