Student-led project takes a global view of the Green New Deal
The Green New Deal and its implications for the design professions have been areas of sustained focus for The Ian L. McHarg Center for Urbanism and Ecology at Weitzman since 2019.
Faculty and students have dedicated whole semesters defining a broad set of proposals to address climate change and social injustices through investments in infrastructure and high-quality jobs. For Palak Agarwal, there was still something missing from the conversation.
Mass extinction, represented here by ranges once roamed by now-extinct species, is one strand of Field Notes Towards an Internationalist Green New Deal. (Image: Weitzman News)
So last year, Agarwal approached Billy Fleming, the Wilks Family Director at The McHarg Center in Penn’s Weitzman School of Design, who has led three studios on the Green New Deal, to talk about a project that would envision what a Green New Deal in the U.S. might mean on a global scale. The result, launched earlier this year, is Field Notes Toward an Internationalist Green New Deal. Collaborative and student-led, the research project is “intended to open new terrains for scholarship, organizing, contestation, and struggle in the fight for a globally just Green New Deal,” as described on the website. The site hosts data and visualizations on dozens of topics relevant to the Green New Deal, including deforestation, mass extinction, oil and gas reserves, international development, and global carceral infrastructure. In an essay describing their approach, the organizers write that the project focuses on the built environment because it is “a critical site of contestation in the fight for climate justice.”
“We do not expect people to walk outside in 30 years and notice, viscerally or materially, that there are fewer carbon molecules in the air,” they say. “We do, however, expect that investments in people’s homes, offices, schools, transportation options, and other elements of the built environment will drive real quality of life improvements, fight historical injustices, lower carbon emissions, and offer opportunities to grow the political coalition supporting frameworks like the Green New Deal beyond a few enclaves in major cities.”
In Senegal, the ambitious Dakar Greenbelt project seeks to create an extensive network of ecological infrastructure in and around the city to sustainably address environmental concerns and enhance urban life. With support from David Gouverneur and Ellen Neises, Ph.D. candidate Rob Levinthal in the Weitzman School of Design led two courses that included a field trip to Dakar, that culminated in students presenting their visions for parts of the Greenbelt.
From a desert to an oasis: Penn engages in ambitious greening effort in the Sahel
Students from the Weitzman School of Design journeyed to Senegal to help with a massive ecological and infrastructural greening effort as part of their coursework. The Dakar Greenbelt aims to combat desertification and promote sustainable urban growth.
As part of an undergraduate course, Penn faculty and students curated an Arthur Ross Gallery exhibition of works from the Neumann family’s extensive collection of modern and contemporary art.
The University’s nexus for technology transfer supports researchers in their innovative efforts, from CAR T to mRNA advancements that have dramatically reshaped the world.
