News

On November 12, Pratt Center Director Adam Friedman participated in a webinar panel on engaging members of Generation Z (young people born between 1990-2002) in the field of sustainable manufacturing. The panel took the following questions as a catalyst for discussion: what makes manufacturing cool? How do we get today’s youth excited about new opportunities in manufacturing? The discussion was led by Anita Brown-Graham, director of the Institute for Emerging Issues.  

Manufacturers and allied organizations are concerned that young people come to the workforce armed with a variety of stereotypes and other assumptions that make them less inspired to take on careers in manufacturing. They worry that manufacturing is not in-keeping with the values of sustainability and environmental protection and preservation. Manufacturing portends a lack of job-security as evidenced by massive layoffs and the closing of plants and production facilities in decades past. But as Mr. Friedman pointed out, manufacturing now seeks to merge environmental and economic concerns. Manufacturers are at the forefront of green infrastructure and design, creating sustainable products for a variety of uses while facilities are complying with new environmental standards aimed at increasing productivity and efficiency while protecting and improving the natural environment.  The entire webnar is featured below.

On October 11, 2012, The Rockefeller Foundation President, Judith Rodin announced: Ron Shiffman, the founder of the Pratt Center for Community Development, is the recipient of the 2012 Jane Jacobs Medal for Lifetime Leadership. The medal recognizes his lifetime of achievement and leadership in promoting community-based activism.

As a student in the early 1960s, Mr. Shiffman, along with Professor George Raymond and others, worked on a study of Bedford-Stuyvesant, anticipating an urban renewal program planned for the neighborhood by the city's planning agencies. In partnership with the community, Shiffman and the Pratt planning school team developed a comprehensive plan to rebuild Bedford-Stuyvesant through economic development programs that became a model for the creation of community development corporations today. Mr. Shiffman’s work in Bedford-Stuyvesant inspired him and Prof. Raymond to found the Pratt Center in 1964. The Center is proud to carry on his legacy through its efforts to create a more equitable New York City.

This announcement comes parallel to the recent publication of Beyond Zuccotti Park: Freedom of Assembly and the Occupation for Public Space and the launch of the Democracy, Equity and Public Space initiative on which Mr. Shiffman is a lead editor and organizer. Democracy, Equity and Public Space is a collaborative initiative to promote discourse on public spaces as hubs for civic and political engagement through the publication of Beyond Zuccotti Park and through a national program of public forums, exhibits, and public policy advocacy. For more information on the book and the collaborative initiative, click here. 

In August, ARTS East New York, with the support of Pratt Center and the Rockefeller Cultural Innovation Fund, launched The Mural Mile program – an empowerment and community beautification initiative along Livonia Avenue, considered by most residents a dark and dangerous stretch plagued with crime. As part of the initiative, young men of the East New York community will research, examine and discuss the poetry and speeches of noted African American and Latino artists and learn how to interpret that work into visual imagery to bring their artistic vision to fruition. On August 17, Pratt Center took part in ARTs East New York’s unveiling of a new mural to start the program.

In cities across the U.S., the public and private sectors are working together to grow small manufacturers and create thousands of good jobs through innovative land use strategies, local branding, and sustainable product design.

The Urban Manufacturing Alliance (UMA) builds off this momentum by connecting small business advocates, city governments, manufacturing associations, and urban industrial experts to:

•  Develop and advance public policy and non-legislative initiatives to grow the urban manufacturing sector at the local and federal levels; and 
• Build a networking platform and communication infrastructure for sharing best practices and connecting U.S. cities around urban manufacturing.