Urban Heat Walk: Block-by-Block Microclimates in North Brooklyn (Sp. 2026 Pratt Earth Action Week)
Description
This Pratt Earth Action Week, join Pratt’s Sustainable Environmental Systems program and its Microclimate Assessment for Urban Design class for a participatory walk in North Brooklyn, to uncover relationships between design, microclimate, heat, and health.
NYC summers are already hot and getting hotter; it is imperative that we design cities that are livable for everyone. Join North Brooklyn Parks Alliance and Pratt Institute’s MS in Sustainable Environmental Systems program to discover how city features—from the material used to pave a street to the paint color chosen for a wall—impact the microclimates we experience on just one neighborhood block. On this guided walk in and around McGolrick Park in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, we will measure and sense urban heat perceptions and reflect on how to design a habitable city for human and non-human residents. We will also explore how McGolrick Park’s tree canopy can support community wellbeing now and in the future. Participants will gain hands-on experience with thermal comfort assessment techniques.
Facilitators/Speakers:
Yuliya Dzyuban
Assistant Professor
MS in Sustainable Environmental Systems, Pratt Institute GCPE
Yuliya’s work contributes to developing solutions targeting heat in urban areas to enhance resilience and livability in the context of climate change, urbanization, and inequity. Her research has taken her to some of the hottest cities globally, including Singapore, Phoenix, and Hermosillo, contributing to local design and planning policies. In NYC she is engaging with local communities by mapping and recording lived experiences of heat to co-develop solutions that could alleviate the heat burden and support advocacy towards infrastructure and policy changes. Yuliya teaches courses on Urban Heat Management and Microclimate Assessment for Urban Design, equipping students with the necessary skills to tackle complex urban systems challenges. She is a member of the NYC Panel on Climate Change, working on the Fifth Climate Assessment Report, specifically exploring the relationships between the extreme heat, people, infrastructure, and natural systems.
Co-Sponsors & Partners:
The Master of Science in Sustainable Environmental Systems (SES) is one of the nation’s most innovative, interdisciplinary, systems-based sustainability programs. This STEM certified degree program is designed to meet today’s increasing demand for environmental professionals, uniquely combining environmental science, sustainable design, and climate policy. Students learn the interdisciplinary skills and systems-thinking approach needed to assess contemporary environmental issues; catalyze innovative environmental problem-solving; uphold environmental and social justice; and engage diverse stakeholders in designing and developing sustainable communities.
We also offer an Advanced Certificate (9 credits)!
Connect with us: ses@pratt.edu
Sign up for informational meetings with the SES Academic Director
https://prattsustainabilitycenter.com/
The Pratt Sustainability Center serves as a physical and virtual hub for Pratt’s commitment to educating environmentally and socially responsible citizens. The Center’s core mission is to coordinate and develop resources to further integrate sustainability into the academic experience of all Pratt students.
Faced with climate change, systemic racism, and growing inequity, communities need forward-thinking approaches to urbanism now more than ever. Practice-based and rooted deeply in the network of communities we serve, our alliance of four graduate-level programs works to address these evolving threats, working in partnership to build asset-based solutions at the intersection of environment, equity, culture, and economy.
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