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Green Agenda for Jackson Heights Released

News last updated July 22, 2010

On Saturday, May 22, the Pratt Center, Queens Community House and Friends of Travers Park released the Green Agenda for Jackson Heights, the product of a five-month, community-wide visioning process for a sustainable future in one of New York City's most diverse neighborhoods. 

More than 400 community members contributed to multilingual grassroots planning sessions, which were held by volunteers in living rooms, schools, houses of worship, community centers, and senior centers. Participants identified priority areas for greening Jackson Heights, including expanding open space, reducing waste, and many other steps toward environmental and economic sustainability. Residents proposed strategies that built upon existing strengths while addressing neighborhood concerns. The final document includes goals as well as recommendations thatcan be implemented legislatively, by community-based organizations, and by individuals.

Download the Green Agenda here! [19 MB]

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Pratt Center Receives Rockefeller Foundation NYC Cultural Innovation Award

News last updated October 6, 2010

This week, the Rockefeller Foundation announced that the Pratt Center is among the recipients of its NYC Cultural Innovation Fund awards, which this year are supporting projects that use arts and culture as a vehicle for promoting environmental sustainability. Along with Pratt Institute’s Initiative for Art, Community and Social Change, the Pratt Center will advance sustainable practices in New York City neighborhoods through visual and performing arts.

Building on the Pratt Center's Retrofit NYC and neighborhood sustainability planning work, the Pratt Center will team up with community development groups in New York City to develop innovative cultural, arts, media and organizing strategies to engage neighborhoods in making healthy consumer choices and taking environmental action. Our work will also support artists and arts organizations to develop activities -- such as performances, installations and workshops -- that promote a civic dialogue about community sustainability.

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Sustainability Seeds are planted in Brooklyn

News last updated August 9, 2011

On August 10, The Brooklyn Community Foundation (BCF) officially launched “Brooklyn Greens,” a three-year $750,000 commitment to help three low-income communities in Brooklyn to become models for environmentally responsible, sustainable living.

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Success in Staten Island, Block by Block

News last updated December 12, 2011

On December 8, 2011 Council Member Debi Rose, local community organizations and representatives from the Pratt Center for Community Development gathered at a special forum spotlighting the strides that Staten Island is making toward energy efficiency through the Retrofit NYC Block by Block program. The forum featured a special presentation by students from Wagner College on their research into ways to support communities getting involved in retrofitting at a mass scale.

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Pratt Center's Art, Culture and Sustainability Project

News last updated January 26, 2012

In the spring of 2011, Pratt Center for Community Development launched a two-year program designed to connect the arts and artists with our multi-layered work, helping New York City communities to become more environmentally sustainable. Supported by a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation’s Cultural Innovation Fund, the Center has partnered with academic and community organizations to produce innovative culture, arts, media and organizing strategies that seek to engage neighborhood residents and artists to promote sustainable, environmental action. This project is a part of Pratt Center’s broader goal to develop replicable models that will aid urban communities’ efforts to become environmentally sustainable -- intensive work we are doing in partnership with nine different community organizations in all five boroughs of NYC.

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