Oren Pizmony-Levy (op2183@tc.columbia.edu)

In a year in which everything seems different, the Teachers College (TC) community found comfort in continuing our Earth Day tradition—even if this year it was virtual. Earth Day, which is celebrated across the world every year on April 22, marks the anniversary of the birth of the modern environmental movement in 1970. Beginning in 2015, TC commemorated Earth Day through activism, research, and community building.

The Earth without “art” would just be “eh”: In 2015, students collected signatures from members of the TC community to show our commitment to Earth and to the role of education in promoting sustainability.

This year—Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Earth Day—we launched The Center for Sustainable Futures and held two virtual events that reached members of the community of all ages. First, for children the weekly installment of “Tell-A-Tale with Dr. Ayesha Rabadi-Raol ‘20” featured a reading of Greta and the Giants by Zoë Tucker and illustrated by Zoe Persico. The Second event was a virtual gathering to share art produced by members of the community in honor of Earth Day. At this event, members of the TC community shared photographs they had taken, art they created, and poetry they had written that demonstrated their connection to the Earth, sustainability, and nature. The art that was shared was created by TC graduate students, preschoolers at the Rita Gold Center, Kindergarteners at the Hollingsworth Center, faculty, and staff. While sharing the creations our community artists spoke about how their focus on nature and environmental protection is intertwined in social justice; many also connect the coronavirus pandemic to the ongoing struggles with climate change. Combined these two events brought together TC community members around the world in deep and meaningful conversations that perhaps would not have been possible had our lives not been disrupted by COVID-19.

Check out this year's art here: Art Collection for Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day 2020

Past TC Earth Day Celebrations that were organized by the Center for Sustainable Futures (and its predecessor the Working Group on Environmental and Sustainability Education) have included:

2019 – We partnered with the TC Student Senate and Student Organizations to celebrate the Day through presentations and screening of the documentary film “Behind the Cove: The Quiet Japanese Speak Out” (directed and produced by Keiko Yagi).

2018 – We published a report documenting the activities of the Working Group on Environmental and Sustainability Education. The report paved the way for establishing the Center for Sustainability Futures.

2017 – We launched the official webpage of the TC Working Group on Environmental and Sustainability Education.

2016 – We hosted panels with faculty and students working on Environmental and Sustainability Education. 

— Oren Pizmony-Levy