What We're Working On

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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Green Job Creation Potential in NYC's Manufacturing Sector

Report last updated January 20, 2012

Please click the link below to view the entire report.

While the manufacturing landscape has changed in New York City over the last 40 years, local industry continues to be a vital economic contributor by supplying goods and services to the city's other sectors as well as providing good jobs for residents. These small local manufacturers are responding to growing consumer demand by adapting their product lines and/or developing new goods and services to be sold in the green economy. As a result of these transitions, there is a particular opportunity to expand and create jobs in the 'building products' sub-sector and within the manufacture of products that promote energy efficiency.

green_job_creation_potential.pdf

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The Future of Fashion

Issue Brief last updated January 10, 2012

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How fashion students envision their futures as entrepreneurs and use the Garment Center to launch their careers

The fashion industry is one of New York City’s largest business sectors, generating 165,000 jobs, $9 billion in total wages and tax revenues of $1.7 billion. This economic activity is partially fueled by the artistic talent and entrepreneurial energy of the 5,000 fashion students who attend one of the four nationally renowned fashion design schools located in New York City. The extraordinary synergy between Pratt Institute, the Fashion Institute of Technology, Parsons the New School and Kent State University and the hundreds of apparel companies clustered in the Garment Center creates not only a unique hands-on learning experience but a tremendous “naturally occurring” incubator to help students launch dozens of new businesses every year.

future_of_fashion_issue_brief_final_011112.pdf

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Greening From The Ground Up: A Sustainability Leadership Conference

Event on March 16, 2012

Drawing from the innovative Brooklyn Greens Initiative and other neighborhood sustainability initiatives, Greening from the Ground Up Conference will showcase successes, make tools available and share strategies among community based organizations to harness collective action in the effort to make neighborhoods more environmentially friendly.   

Event Details

Friday, March 16, 2012 - 9:00am
Pratt Institute - Higgins Hall, 61 St. James Place, Brooklyn

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