Pratt’s Sustainability Policy

Sustainability - linking academics and operations

Pratt Institute is taking a leadership role in sustainability for schools of art, design, and architecture nationwide. At this critical moment, when our environment and ways of life are at risk, we have a responsibility to ensure that each of our graduates has a deep awareness of ecology, environment al issues, and social justice. Regardless of discipline, our graduates must be able to integrate best sustainable practices into their professional lives. Within each program, Pratt students are offered an opportunity to learn to think in new ways about the relationship of designer to product, architect to built environment, and artist to creative expression. Students throughout the Institute are encouraged to move outside of their majors, across disciplines, to work together in intensive studios that focus on environment al issues. These studios are structured, collaborative experiences that focus on one of the most critical issues of our time—the protection of our planet from the effects of global warming.

At the same time that Pratt’s students are challenged to develop the skills and sensibilities to creatively and successfully meet the challenges they will face as they enter their professional lives, we ask them to consider “greening” their own lifestyle. By choosing healthier, more earth-friendly products, maximizing the use of materials and recycling to reduce waste, and conserving energy, we will move our campus closer to our goal to be carbon neutral. Learn more about what we're doing to green the campus.

Each year our campus is working to reduce our carbon footprint, “greening” our dorms, facilities, and classrooms and creating on ongoing, living laboratory from which our students can observe, participate, and experiment. Pratt’s approach harnesses our extensive resources to a diverse and vibrant pool of talent in a city that has taken the lead in sustainability. At Pratt, we educate design students about the ecological impacts of their profession. The Pratt experience cultivates and re?nes clarity of purpose in each of our students and asks them to use their creative talent to design a sustainable future. Learn more about the 'Living Labs" projects by taking a virtual tour of sustainability at Pratt.