News Item
Pleasantville and Pace Join Together for Climate Smart Communities Designation
FOR QUESTIONS, PLEASE CONTACT:
Michelle D. Land, Clinical Associate Professor, Dyson College
(914) 773-3092 or mland@pace.edu
Pleasantville, NY: If Pleasantville and Pace University have their way, the Village of Pleasantville will become one of the first fewNew York State municipalities to seek certification as a Climate Smart Community (CSC), thanks to a resolution passed by the Village’s Board of Trustees on Monday, September 25. The action was spurred by a presentation to the board last spring by Pace Environmental Policy Masters Degree Program students and faculty.
Nearly 200 communities, including 30 Westchester municipalities, have adopted the Climate Smart Communities Pledge, the first step toward certification from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. Thus far, only 15 have earned the certificate. The CSC program supports municipal efforts to meet the economic, social and environmental challenges posed by climate change. The program provides local governments with a robust network to guide their climate action, and enables high-performing communities to achieve recognition for their leadership.
“Municipalities like Pleasantville should be the cornerstone of climate change resilience planning,” said Pleasantville Mayor Peter Scherer. “A statewide or national climate plan will only be meaningful if communities can assure that the special conditions of their local environment, local economy and local population are given the consideration and deference they deserve. That is why we want Pleasantville to be a local leader in the Climate Smart Communities program.”
Pace’s graduate students researched the Climate Smart Communities program, its steps to certification and other municipalities that have participated as part of a team project in a spring course. The students pitched the idea of Pleasantville adopting the pledge to the Village’s Board of Trustees on April 24 and proposed a partnership between the University and Village. With the resolution passed to adopt the CSC Pledge, Pace’s students will work closely with Patti Dwyer, Village Administrator, municipal staff and community members to conduct a Greenhouse Gas Inventory. They will also solicit ideas from local stakeholders to set priority actions for a Climate Action Plan with a goal of December 31, 2018 for full CSC Certification.
“Climate issues are politically and scientifically complex,” said Michelle Land, program director and Pace clinical associate professor, “Addressing it requires the hands-on work we emphasize in our Masters in Environmental Policy program, including partnerships with the community such as ours with Pleasantville; we have a lot to learn from each other.”
Nicole Virgona, a recent graduate from Pace’s environmental studies program, now a graduate Environmental Policy student, knows Pleasantville and feels invested in the village’s success. “I am inspired by Pleasantville’s demonstrated leadership through its adoption of the CSC Pledge. As a project team member, I hope to help create a Climate Action Plan representative of the Village’s unique character.”
Of the opportunity to collaborate with the Village, Pace graduate research assistant Andrew Welch said, “The engagement of diverse stakeholders is key to the Climate Smart Certification process. We look forward to working with the the whole community to improve its climate planning and response through the implementation of this program.”
The Master of Arts in Environmental Policy program is in the Dyson College Department of Environmental Studies and Science and is a component of the Dyson College Institute for Sustainability and the Environment at Pace University (DCISE). DCISE was established to address major issues in sustainability, resilience, the growing urbanization of the 21st century and the impact of these changes on the global environment, through multidisciplinary programs encompassing research, policy-making, education, and building greater community awareness and consensus on how to manage these issues.
About Dyson College of Arts and Sciences: Pace University’s liberal arts college, Dyson College offers more than 50 programs, spanning the arts and humanities, natural sciences, social sciences, and pre-professional programs (including pre-medicine, pre-veterinary, and pre-law). The College offers access to numerous opportunities for internships, cooperative education and other hands-on learning experiences that complement in-class learning in preparing graduates for career and graduate/professional education choices.
About Pace University: Since 1906, Pace has educated thinking professionals by providing high quality education for the professions on a firm base of liberal learning amid the advantages of the New York metropolitan area. A private university, Pace has campuses in Lower Manhattan and Westchester County, N.Y., enrolling nearly 13,000 students in bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral programs in its Lubin School of Business, Dyson College of Arts and Sciences, College of Health Professions, School of Education, Elisabeth Haub School of Law, and Seidenberg School of Computer Science and Information Systems. www.pace.edu
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