Urban Systems Lab

🌏 New climate action book ✨ 🌍📚 Cate Mingoya-LaFortune, along with @groundwork_usa colleagues Bruce Strouble, Ph.D., and Jeremy Hoffman, Ph.D., recently discussed the culminating power of community action in driving small-scale change delineated in her newly launched book "Climate Action for Busy People," a practical guide for enhancing climate resilience and promoting environmental justice locally. ✊💪 Amidst increasing climate disasters, Mingoya-LaFortune emphasizes the importance of grassroots efforts and provides a step-by-step roadmap for action. Starting with the historical context of community vulnerability, she offers advice for projects ranging from tree planting to municipal-level advocacy. 🌳🏘️ This practical guide empowers people of all ages to create climate-resilient neighborhoods, showing that impactful change is still possible. 🌟 💧🌱 Cate’s argument brings to mind the collaboration between @USL_nyc and @groundwork_hv on the project Environmental Justice of Urban Flood Risk and Green Infrastructure Solutions. 🌊🏙️ This initiative aims to make intelligible to the local community the environmental justice impacts of climate change-related flooding on minority and low-income communities, and to assess social equity in green infrastructure planning. Together, these efforts highlight the critical role of local action and community involvement in addressing climate challenges and promoting resilience. 🤝💚 🔗 Order your copy of Cate’s book: https://buff.ly/3zH1qKg 🔗 Watch the conversation: https://buff.ly/4bRdh5M 🔗 Read more about Environmental Justice of Urban Flood Risk and Green Infrastructure Solutions: https://buff.ly/4cLmSfU #ClimateAction #EnvironmentalJustice #CommunityPower #Resilience #GreenInfrastructure

🚨🌍 Tackling NYC's climate challenges requires tradeoffs and constructive public dialogue! The NYC Panel on Climate Change (NPCC) plays a crucial role by providing scientifically informed insights. The concluding chapter of the NPCC's 4th Assessment offers an overview of major themes, findings, and recommendations, emphasizing the integration of scientific data with community values. Key highlights include updated climate projections and a deeper dive into flooding, health, and equity. Additionally, the chapter introduces new focuses on energy insecurity and tools for future visioning and planning, enhancing our understanding of climate risks on NYC's human and ecological systems. Community-based organizations, businesses, city government, and other stakeholders must work together, using this critical information to build a resilient future. The chapter also outlines recommendations for future NPCC work and identifies key topics for the 5th Assessment. Let's join forces to navigate present and future climate risks and create a sustainable NYC! 🌱🏙️ 🔗 Read the chapter here: https://buff.ly/3y2Mvtn #ClimateAction #NYCResilience #NPCC4

📰✨ Inspiring presentation by Nadja Popovich, reporter and graphics editor at The New York Times! 🌎 Nadja expertly uses data and graphics to clarify the complex challenges posed by #ClimateChange. During her talk with USL members, she emphasized the delicate balance between readability, aesthetics, and accuracy in data visualization. She walked us through her process: building relationships with researchers, acquiring data, selecting styles and colors, and writing complementary pieces. Nadja's passion for making big-picture climate data relatable by focusing on smaller scales was evident. Her interactive visualizations let readers see the increased heat in their hometown from the year they were born to today, making the data personal and impactful. Thank you, Nadja, for this fascinating and insightful talk! #DataVis #ClimateChange #Visualization #Storytelling

🔌⚠️ Energy Insecurity (EI) can have serious impacts on public health, both directly and indirectly. Directly, it can lead to inadequate heating or cooling, indoor air pollution, and reduced ability to use medical devices and refrigeration. Indirectly, high energy costs can force families to cut spending on other essentials like healthcare and food. This #NPCC4 chapter shows how those most vulnerable to EI include lower-income households, communities impacted by systemic racism, individuals with underlying health conditions or disabilities, those dependent on electric-powered medical equipment, and renters who struggle to access energy subsidies. It's time to raise awareness and address energy insecurity to protect our most vulnerable populations. 💡🍎 🔗 Read the chapter here: https://buff.ly/3VZE8be #EnergyInsecurity #PublicHealth #VulnerableCommunities #EnergyEquity

Stay Cool NYC! 😎 🌡️🔥 Climate change is making NYC summers hotter and longer. The #NPCC reports that by the 2050s, average temperatures may rise by 5.7°F, doubling days above 90°F. Additionally, as a result of systemic racism, lack of green space, limited access to air-conditioning, and poor housing quality, heat-exacerbated deaths are more common in neighborhoods home to greater proportions of low-income and Black New Yorkers. It is important to be informed and have a plan! Here are 3 resources for you to do so: 💧 The Climate Ready Uptown Plan (CRUP), developed by WEACT, East Harlem COAD, Harlem Emergency Network, and designed by The Urban Systems Lab is a community-driven emergency preparedness plan for Northern Manhattan. It includes sections on dealing with extreme heat and you can download it for free in English or Spanish here: https://buff.ly/3XONo3g 💧 Cool It! NYC is a Citywide plan to increase the amount of cooling features available to the public during heat emergencies, particularly in neighborhoods that face the dangers of high heat. They have an interactive map of outdoor pools, water fountains, and heat vulnerable areas which you can access here: https://buff.ly/3qMk62V 💧 NYC Cool Options is an interactive map for finding air conditioned locations around NYC. It includes information about accessibility and if the location is pet friendly. Access this map here: https://buff.ly/4clrxow #ClimateChange #ExtremeHeat #AirConditioning #HeatStroke #Health #Cooling

📅 Mark your calendars for an unmissable #TalkingAboutTransitions dialogue, "Can help AI Battle Climate Change in Indian Cities?" 🏙️🌏 This dialogue, organized by Transitions Research will critically examine the intersection of AI, climate change and urban development in Indian cities. 🔔 Happening On: July 11th, 5:30 - 6:30 PM IST Register: https://buff.ly/4eYkR1x Overview: As urbanization accelerates, along with growing climate change challenges, cities across the globe are emerging as test-beds for AI applications, to make them more resilient , sustainable, and livable . From predictive modeling to early warning systems, AI is being developed to enhance climate resilience and support low carbon transitions. The integration of AI in Indian cities presents both opportunities and challenges. While these technologies can provide innovative solutions to urban climate challenges, they also raise important questions about equitable access, privacy, data security, and disparate socio-economic impacts, particularly for the most vulnerable populations. Key questions include: In what ways can AI be leveraged to promote equitable urban development, enhance resilience, and build low carbon futures of Indian cities? What are the challenges in effective implementation of AI for sustainable climate solutions in cities? What ethical considerations must be taken into account in the collection, analysis, and utilization of urban data, and the implementation of AI solutions?

💡🦉 #TBT! We’re looking back at an incredible talk from Melissa Ingaruca Moreno 🌔 🐝 Melissa is a PhD researcher in Multispecies Cities and Emerging Technologies. She showed us how #MultispeciesThinking urges us to care for the wellbeing of more-than-human species, and promotes a post-anthropocentric narrative. 🌱 Within this comes conversations of light pollution in cities, and how it affects a wide range of animals, including humans. Melissa is exploring light and darkness in cities through #Embodied experiences with activities like roleplay nature walks, where participants walk through cities as various species, and bioluminescent fungi meditations, where participants meditate in darks rooms as their eyes adjust to the dim lights produced by these fascinating mushrooms. 🍄 How would you react to living in a dark city? Let us know in the comments below ⬇️ 🔗 Learn more about Melissa’s work on Endarken here: https://buff.ly/3RPAvSO #UrbanEcology #SustainableDesign

🎨 🌿 Exploring the Power of Stories and Art for Understanding Diverse Perspectives on Nature-based Solutions 📖 🌱 This inspiring Nature of Cities session was led by Vanya Bisht, Mariana Hernández, and Danielle MacCarthy 🌿 Participants were asked to share personal anecdotes about nature in different urban ecosystems (forest, urban core, river, ocean) through storytelling and drawing. These stories then helped shape a vision for what these ecosystems could look like in 2040 with the help of #NatureBasedSolutions (NbS). #UrbanEcosystems #Storytelling #ArtAndNature #Biodiversity #UrbanResilience #CommunityEngagement

🏙️ In NYC, energy insecurity disproportionately impacts marginalized communities suffering from poverty, discrimination, and historical neglect from segregation and redlining. 📖 This NPCC4 chapter explores the current landscape of NYC’s energy production and use, highlighting the unequal burden on these communities. ⚡ It discusses the clean energy transition, emphasizing the need to address energy insecurity, reliability, and equitable access while improving efficiency and lowering emissions (e.g., Local Law 97). 🔌 Finally, it outlines strategies for a just energy transition and identifies future research opportunities on the health, economic, and social impacts of energy insecurity. 🔗 Read the chapter here: https://buff.ly/3VZE8be #EnergyInsecurity #NYC #NPCC4 #CleanEnergy #HealthEquity 🌿

↗️ NEW ARTICLE: Towards a public policy of cities and human settlements in the 21st century 🌃 🌍 Cities contribute to climate change but also hold the key to solutions! The authors, including Timon McPhearson from The Urban Systems Lab, present the Goals-Intervention-Stakeholder-Enablers (GISE) framework for urban public policy, emphasizing collaboration across disciplines to tackle climate challenges. By learning and adapting policies, cities can achieve climate goals, improve public health, and enhance well-being. 🔗 Read more: https://buff.ly/4cC8KoQ #ClimateAction #SustainableCities #UrbanPolicy #Collaboration 🌆