City Atlas, a digital platform developed by the City University of New York (CUNY) Institute for Sustainable Cities at Hunter College and Artist As Citizen, launches this Thursday at www.thecityatlas.org. Generously supported by a 2010 Rockefeller Foundation Cultural Innovation award, City Atlas guides and inspires New Yorkers to participate in building a more sustainable future. An optimistic, relevant, and accessible hub of daily resources and ideas, the Atlas creates new and larger audiences for sustainability by mapping the important work being done by members of New York’s rich cultural, scientific, political and grassroots communities. City Atlas consists of the following components:

Explore | A collection of interactive maps tracing New York’s changing present and possible future

Lifestyle | A daily feed of events, tips, new ideas, and  ‘     NY Back’ volunteer opportunities

People | We ask New Yorkers–everyday people and experts alike–to share their thoughts on the city’s present and future.

Lab | Our very own micro funding initiative supporting innovative, participatory, and on the ground sustainability work in NYC

Archive | A collection of recent creative projects about the city

The weekly ‘Atlas Beat,’ which is pictured above, will feature a map of our top listings for the week, including current events,  new ideas, and fun facts.

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What prompted me to write this post was some reading I was doing on Colorado’s impressive growth in the renewable energy sector. The cleantech industry has grown by 32.7% in 2010, which was three times the national average. Nearly 20,000 people are employed by 1,600 companies. So, clearly the outlook in Colorado is pretty good for those in this budding industry.  But as I read this article, I got pulled into another post about the slight shift to mainstreaming the concept of a no-growth economy. It would in effect, be a stable, stagnant economy; concepts which are currently anathema to free market capitalism as we know it.  Without going too deep into this new macro-economic model (which is outlined in Prosperity Without Growth), George Monbiot’s explains in his article, that its not too much different than our current system, “people will still spend and save, companies will still produce goods and services, governments will still raise taxes and spend money.” But he also does mention restrictions on advertising and more government intervention, two ideas that might not float that well in this here democracy.

But back to what prompted me to write this blog entry: I couldn’t help but think about how these two ideas relate to each other. In a no-growth economy, is there still room for growth in the renewable energy sector? Would it just take the place of the existing carbon-based energy economy? Or does the growth in the renewables sector simply enable continuous, conspicuous, consumption? And how does any of this alleviate the growing (or non-growing) pains we may experience as the eternal promise of the free market dissipates?

I have a lot of questions. Maybe you do too?  Clearly I am not a trained economist. Just an eternal optimist. Curious as to how we are going to recreate something out of the bubble that finally burst.

(image above: word cloud from Obama’s recovery and reinvestment speech in 2009. Courtesy of McNitt)

But the near half million residents of Murcia, Spain got to ponder this offer quite recently. Congestion and parking woes had gotten so out of hand in the city that public officials decided that if people were willing to trade in their cars by the end of June, they would get free tram passes for life. This was step 1 in a 3 part campaign to get people thinking outside their cars. Step 2 included public displays of the dismantling of cars that were turned in and step 3 included automobile installations such as the one featured here, that highlighted just how hard it was to park.  They also created some fun PSAs to get the word out.

I haven’t found any numbers on how many people actually took advantage of the trade-in. Will keep on the hunt for that. But one thing is clear to me: In the age of marketing, they used an innovative, provocative and fun campaign to get people thinking about this personal decision with a collective impact. Image via Fast Company.

Summers in New York bring outdoor events, kayaking, BBQs and street festivals. However, the 100 degree heat, paired with brick and asphalt can wear on even the staunchest urbanite. While there are many campgrounds that offer an escape close to New York City – in the Poconos and the Adirondacks –  they are hard to get to without a car.

Luckily, there are more and more camping options accessible by public transit. A few months ago, we wrote about President Obama’s Great Outdoors Initiative. Expanding on this initiative, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced a plan to create the largest urban campground in America right here in New York City. The plan is to enlarge an existing camping area in Floyd Bennett Field from 5 campsites to 90 within the next two years – and up to 600 sites at completion. The Christian Science Monitor reports that the Gateway National Recreation Area will host free camping workshops this summer tailored to multigenerational families in Floyd Bennett Field, to promote the growing campsite. Further, the park service may also send staff to low-income communities to encourage visits to the campground.

Floyd Bennett Field was opened as New York City’s first municipal airport on May 23, 1931. Between 1931 and 1939 it became the site for a number of record breaking flights. When Municipal Airport #2, now known as LaGuardia Airport, opened in 1939, the city sold Floyd Bennett Field to the U.S. Navy.  Floyd Bennett Field was active through WWII, the Korean War and Vietnam. When the U.S. scaled back the Vietnam War in 1971, the U.S. Navy deactivated the Field. Soon thereafter, the National Park Service made the location part of Gateway National Recreational Area. Today, in addition to camping, Floyd Bennett Field features bike routes, bird watch opportunities, and Brooklyn’s largest community garden.

As New Yorkers look for frugal vacation options and become more environmentally aware, the expansion of urban camping facilities is quite timely. The city has been struggling to meet the demand for urban campgrounds. For example, the NYC Parks Department runs a Family Camping program Friday and Saturday nights in July and August.  Families can join the Urban Park Rangers for a free camping experience in parks across the five boroughs. The program features a cookout, then a variety of evening activities, such as stargazing and night hikes. In order to be able to participate in the Family Camping program, you have to enter your name into a lottery. Each park generally has about 30 coveted spots and registration is open for only one day per site.

Floyd Bennett Field map courtesy of Wikipedia

While they have tables at many farmers markets  and drop off locations around the city on a regular basis, Saturday, April 30th at 115th Street and Park Avenue, there will be a drop off event from noon to 5pM. The newly revamped La Marqueta, home to Hot Bread Kitchen, a culinary business incubator and other delightful food vendors is also right there. So you can drop off your clothes, get a free CFL light-bulb in exchange and visit the fabulous new faces of La Marqueta.

This event is sponsored by GrowNYC, The Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer’s Office and Go Green East Harlem, in addition to a multitude of partnering organizations. If you have questions about it, you can call the Borough President’s Office at 212.669.2094.

Waste not New Yorkers!

Descriptions of open positions, including requirements and application instructions, are available below. The deadline for all applications is May 15th.

Atlas Content Curator Internship

Atlas Social Media Internship

Food System Assessment Internship

Invasive Species Research Internship

Urban Sustainability Extension Service Internship

Video Media Internship

You can read more about the program on the CISC Summer Internship Program webpage.

While the Iron Curtain stood, this dividing corridor was a dreaded place, home to torture, suffering and brutality. It was the place where people felt the personal implications of a much larger geopolitical battle. And these very characteristics of course created a space that remained largely undisturbed as development’s momentum sped around it.  Just after the wall fell in November of 89, a number of environmentalists were already calling for this place to be transformed into a preserve. I am personally interested in the psychology of space,  environmental and geographic transformations as well as memorialization. So to me, Germany has always been an interesting example of confronting bloodied-hands legacies. And the forward thinking of those who looked at this space and saw the potential to create something beautiful is a testament to that openness. Ultimately, as Schwägerl states in his article, the people moving the project forward, “are happy that their work has helped turn a symbol of death into a symbol of life.”

For a full review of the ins and outs of the space, what endangered species (1000 of them!) have continued to find homes there, and who the first person was to buy a share in the space in 2002, read the full article.

Image via Yale Environment 360.

Some of the Big Apples’ National Parks are not exactly in line with the Teddy Roosevelt-esque concept of preservation of and immersion in the natural world. The re-opening of lady liberty’s crown does not necessarily appeal to the family camper. BUT Jamaica Bay’s combination of rich bio-diversity and close proximity to public transportation makes it an ideal place to pursue this initiative.

While the action plan for the local project is set to come out in a few weeks, ideas discussed so far include development of the nation’s largest urban camp site, an environmental education center, bike-ways and kayaking trails in the bay.  Stay tuned for more news on this excellent endeavor.

Though my brain is still in the in the process of unpacking everything that I learned while I was in Cuba, I know for sure that I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to have studied there- if only briefly- and for every Cuban farmer, researcher, technical expert, and average citizen who took the time to share their knowledge and experience with me and my classmates. On the last day of the trip, a fellow classmate (who also happened to be the trip organizer and had previous experience traveling to Cuba) told us that he hoped that we were all leaving Cuba with more questions than answers. That is certainly true in my case, which I think reflects the richness and complexity in Cuba’s urban agricultural system, as well as Cuban society as a whole.

One of the most important things that I feel I learned while I was there is that urban agriculture in Cuba is not a monolith. The diversity of views on urban agriculture were apparent throughout our visits to various experts and practitioners working in the field. To some farmers urban agriculture is a entrepreneurial venture, for others- especially those involved in permaculture- it represents a way of living in harmony with nature, and for yet others it was simply a way to feed their families and neighbors during a time of crisis.

The urban agricultural system is also constantly evolving. The Cuban government is currently in the process of laying off half a million workers, who are being encouraged to begin private businesses in a selected number of areas- including agriculture. However, the number of people who will chose agriculture, as well as the impact that this new influx of workers will have on the sector, remains unknown. Another major unanswered question is how a potential loosening or lifting of the U.S. embargo might affect agriculture in Cuba, and urban agriculture in particular. In addition, many pointed to the opportunities to grow the urban agricultural system. The number that kept coming up was 80%. Cuba imports 80% of its food. Many of the people we spoke with saw the potential to expand the system and provide a larger proportion of food produced on the island.

It is impossible in one blog post to even begin to scratch the surface of Cuba’s urban agricultural sector, but I hope that I have given at least a general sense of what I saw while I was there (though I know that- itself- is a mere fraction of what exists throughout the country). As I continue to unpack, process, and ultimately begin writing about (the purpose of the trip was research, after all) what I learned while I was there, I hope to return to the topic again.  But what I may not be able to express in words at the moment, I hope I can share a bit in images (what with the latter being worth a thousand of the former- or so they say). The images in this post were taken by me, mainly at various sites throughout Havana. Enjoy!