All of New York becomes a learning campus for inquisitive and motivated students.
We'll give you the tools and knowledge you need to develop hands-on solutions to urban problems.
Students go off campus to study the ecosystem and adjacent communities of Jamaica Bay.

Urban Sustainability

Urban Park Rangers Teaching NYC Students in City Parks

What is Urban Sustainability?

Learn about the interdisciplinary program of Urban Sustainability at Brooklyn College. This video provides an overview of the program and we encourage you to take SUST 1001, Introduction to Urban Sustainability.

What is Urban Sustainability?

Channel your passion for environmental issues into a practical career that can help save the planet.

The Urban Sustainability Program will provide you with the knowledge, power, and skills to promote sustainable policies and practices in your neighborhood and beyond. The program takes a unique interdisciplinary approach by offering concentrations in economics, environmental science, and sociology. It examines the dynamics between social and natural systems as well as the trade-offs among environmental, social, and economic sustainability. Brooklyn College's metropolitan setting gives you the opportunity to observe firsthand the issues affecting our cities and devise creative and hands-on solutions that foster environmental protection, social equity, and economic vitality. Alongside your course work, you will learn how to use our geographic information system (GIS) laboratory to produce and analyze data to solve urban sustainability problems. Field trips have included community gardens, local beaches and waterways, public transportation facilities, and city parks. Having the advantage of learning about sustainability from this holistic perspective, you will graduate from the program exceptionally prepared to make our cities, and the world, healthier and more livable.

Urban Sustainability Related Links

Urban Sustainability Brochure (pdf)

B.A. Urban Sustainability Factsheet (pdf)

Urban Sustainability Events

Urban Sustainability Student Expo

Tuesday, April 26, 2022
12:30-2 p.m.
Come in-person: Gold Room, Student Center
or Register via Zoom

We have a lot to celebrate!

Our graduating class of 2022
Accomplishments of SUST Alumni
Student research & internships & more
Making it through another semester during the pandemic!

Spread the word to family, friends, students, faculty, staff and administration! Brooklyn College guests can only participate by zoom.

“Just Sustainabilities in Policy, Planning and Practice”

with Julian Agyeman, Pofessor of Urban & Environmental Policy & Planning, Tufts University

Wednesday, April 27, 2022
2:15-3:30 p.m.
Register via Zoom

Professor Agyeman is also the Fletcher Professor of Rhetoric and Debate and the author and editor of 13 books, and the originator of the increasingly influential
concept of "Just Sustainability." In his talk, Julian will outline the concept of just sustainabilities as a response to the ‘equity deficit’ of much sustainability thinking and practice. He will explore his contention that who can belong in our cities will ultimately determine what our cities can become. He will illustrate his ideas with examples from urban planning and design and the ‘Minneapolis Paradox.’

Conferences, Workshops, Webinars, and Events

March 31, 12:30-2 p.m.: Green Business Internship/Career Event: Ian Edeson, Manager, Global Corporate Communication, Corporate Affairs, The Estée Lauder Companies, New York, NY and BC graduate. Register in advance for this meeting.
April 5, 12-2 p.m.: Brooklyn College Earth Month Fair. This event is co-sponsored with student clubs (NYPIRG & Sustainability Student Club) and USS Student Government. Around 20 organizations will be represented including the Urban Soils Lab where community members can have their soil screened for free (pdf). Soil can be checked for lead and other toxic metals. Limit to one sample per person, and up to 50 samples. Please bring soil in ziplock plastic bags.
April—all month: Make a Wish for a Plastic-free Ocean. Campus Sustainability Council is asking the campus to deposit rinsed/clean straws, cutlery, plastic cup tops and other small single-use-plastics in one of the signed clear bins near dining services. The deposited plastics will be collected as part of a mini-audit on single use plastic generation on campus. The collection bin will also have educational information posted on alternatives to single-use-plastics.
April—multiple dates: Say No to Plastic in Your Next Meal. Campus Sustainability student interns will work with student volunteers to conduct tabling throughout the month. The table will showcase the “make a wish for a plastic-free ocean” bin and will show students easy ways to make the switch to reducing plastics consumption when shopping, bringing lunch from home, dining out, or storing leftovers.
April 5-6, 2022: NYS Organics Summit (Hybrid Event)
April 14, 2022: 50 Years of Sustainability – Looking Backward, Looking Forward
April 25-26, 2022: ICEPR 2022: International Conference on Environmental Pollution and Remediation

Urban Sustainability Student Research

Part of the HSS Student Expo, this presentation highlights students conducting research during internships and as part of their classes. Projects include: Greenpoint Sustainability PodWalk, E-Commerce Impact Scoping Study, Community FloodNet Project, Urban Farming, and Community Development.