The Urban Future Lab’s Climate Is the New Economy event series offers a roadmap for equitable solutions in climatetech innovation

In March 2023, NYU Tandon School of Engineering’s Urban Future Lab (UFL) — an integral part of the School’s focus on sustainability — collaborated with Brym to launch a new event series, Climate Is the New Economy, designed to reshape how we think about and tackle the climate crisis. 

The series emerged from a recognition that more stakeholders, specifically climate justice and community based organizations, need to be involved in climate innovation conversations. 

Since then, the series has tackled important topics like ensuring a just transition to a green economy and closing the gaps in climate funding and innovation while including underrepresented groups in the decision-making process, and the importance of government support for climate solutions, through four separate events. 

One of the discussions explored the Clean Transit Access Program (CTAP) — a NYSERDA-funded initiative led by UFL ACRE company Dollaride, in partnership with NYU’s C2SMARTER, and in collaboration with community development group  Brooklyn Level Up — that makes transitioning to electric vehicles easier by providing access to EVs, charging infrastructure, training, and vehicle financing. 

Another event brought together food systems innovators and sustainability experts to address the vast carbon footprint of traditional agriculture and explore emerging technologies in sustainable food production. The UFL subsequently received funding from the Wells Fargo Innovation Incubator (an initiative co-founded and co-administered by NREL) to host the Urban Future Forum: Equity in Piloting Climate Solutions, a one-day conference that attracted CBOs, startups, investors, and channel-to-market partners. The Forum’s panel on building the green workforce served as the fourth event in the Climate Is the New Economy event series and focused on the opportunities and challenges in building an equitable and skilled green workforce in the rapidly evolving world of climatetech. 

Throughout the series, participants have addressed such questions as: 

• What constitutes effective and transparent communication throughout the innovation and deployment phases?
• What are the critical, yet often overlooked, industry challenges faced in piloting and deploying innovations? How can we address them?
• How can relevant organizations effectively include the community to keep equity top of mind and ensure inclusivity?
• What progress has been achieved in cultivating the green workforce and what remaining obstacles require attention? 

Programming for 2025 is now being planned, with an eye to engaging diverse community voices in essential discussions about community energy.

Event panelists and moderators have included:

• Adam Cohen, CTO, Ninedot Energy, UFL Portfolio Company
• Jackie Logan, Co-founder and Chief Investment Officer, Raise Green 
• Steve Chiu, Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation 
• Jeannette Williams, COO, Urban Future Lab
• Allyson Martinez, Founder, Brooklyn Level Up
• Richard Mai, Senior Project Manager, Clean Transportation, NYSERDA
• Su Sanni, Founder & CEO, Dollaride 
• Tracey Capers, Executive Vice President and Chief Program Officer, Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation
• Henry Obispo, Founder of ReBORN FARMS
• Sarah Garland, PhD, Founder of Triple Helix
• Vijayta Narang, Climate Fund Program Manager at CIV:LAB
• Yemi Amu, Founder of Oko Farms 
• Thomas Guest, Founder, Brym
• Andrew MacCalla, CEO of Collective Energy Company
• Annel Cabrera-Marus, Chief Program Officer at Green City Force
• Neil Padukone, Executive Director of the NYC Manufacturing and Industrial Innovation Council (MaiiC) at the NYC Mayor's Office of Talent and Workforce Development
• Michael Yee, Director of the Educational and Cultural Trust Fund of the Electrical Industry.