At Teachers College, sustainability is more than just a buzzword – it’s a powerful current that seeks to drive change globally through education. The inaugural 2025 Sustainability Projects Showcase embodied this energy which united diverse voices, disciplines, and projects committed to addressing the most urgent environmental challenges of our time. Our research, conducted in collaboration with the Office of Institutional Research, underscores this growing emphasis on sustainability and climate change. In the 2023 academic year, 10% of applicants to the MA and doctoral programs included relevant keywords in their applications, reflecting an increasing awareness and interest in these issues. Additionally, sustainability and climate change remain consistently relevant topics among the student body, with about half of TC students expressing interest in these themes.
As the event kicked off, attendees were welcomed by Juan Carlos Reyes, the Executive Director of Diversity, Community Affairs, and Equity and CSF Director, Professor Oren Pizmony-Levy. Their remarks helped set the tone for an afternoon filled with innovative ideas and thought-provoking discussions. With poster presentations available throughout the event, participants were able to dive deeper into the topics that sparked their curiosity. In total, there were 18 presentations and 10 posters from faculty and students across 15 programs at the college.
The showcase featured three sessions of lightning talks followed by parallel roundtable discussions, providing a unique opportunity for scholars and educators to present their work. For instance, the intersection of gender and climate action was explored through the work of Theresa Cann and Maame Adwoa Ofori-Kwafo, who spotlighted the role of women in shaping climate movements in Ghana through quiet activism. Meanwhile, the integration of climate change into education was addressed in multiple ways, from empowering teachers to incorporate climate topics into their curricula, to examining how AI could be leveraged to address environmental concerns. The talks also explored how educators can maintain hope and motivation in the face of overwhelming challenges, the psychological strategies needed to prevent eco-anxiety from stalling progress, and how community-driven efforts could strengthen the global push for climate justice.
A highlight of the event was our collaboration with the Teachers College Office of Facilities Management, which brought sustainability to the forefront through an interactive boiler room tour. Led by Operations Manager Dennis Dumais, the tour showcased the college’s extensive sustainability upgrades in heating and cooling systems. This hands-on experience not only deepened our understanding of campus-wide sustainability efforts but also sparked discussions on how similar initiatives in K-12 schools could engage students in "whole-school approaches" to sustainability.
For the final portion of the showcase, the poster presentations offered an in-depth look at the diverse research happening at the intersection of climate change, action, and education. These projects spanned topics like digital networks and social movements, waterway health in New York City, and the integration of clean energy literacy into school curriculums. These diverse topics helped underscore the multifaceted nature of the climate challenges we face and the wide range of approaches being developed to tackle them, providing attendees with concrete examples of how academic research can influence environmental change.
Overall, the showcase demonstrated how scholars, educators, and activists are working collaboratively to create lasting change. It was a powerful reminder that the drive for sustainability is not just an ideal, but a growing reality, shaped by the efforts of individuals committed to making a collective difference.
Our Participants Say…
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“It was an excellent conference. Somehow in the space of 3 hours you created a space where we could engage in inquiry, learn deeply from colleagues old and new, center sustainability and think about (imagine?) the future.”
“I hope you will do this again- the conference taught me so much about different academic and community spaces where sustainability work is possible. For students- this conference linked them to new ideas for dissertations, research methods and how they can center sustainability in their work- it allowed faculty to reflect and consider how we are (or are not) making commitments to sustainability in our research and teaching-and what we can do better. Thank you and congratulations on an excellent first conference!"
“I learned so much. This was maybe the best event I’ve been to at TC. The format allowed for outstanding levels of learning/networking/discussion. I learned about sustainability from multiple perspectives.”
“I learned about the wide breadth of sustainability-related research happening at TC and that much of it is being done by faculty and students together.”
"I learned that many people who work in these spaces agree on one thing - it's the systems that are killing us. This leads to two insights. Collective, organized action is crucial. but also, finding peace in nature, or in anything that is good for the soul, is crucial for mental health as well as to keep fighting the fight.”