Pratt brings climate advocacy projects to Governors Island

From floating gardens to Pollinators Pavilion, Pratt deals with biodiversity

May 4, 2021 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

Pollinator's Pavilion. Photo by Harrison Atelier

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As a public place located at the center of New York Harbor, Governors Island, since opening to the public, has attracted many programming and educational partners dedicated to climate advocacy and environmental education.

Now, another well-known institution is beginning climate-related programs on the island — Brooklyn’s Pratt Institute. And as weekend ferries have begun running to Governors Island from Pier 6 in Brooklyn Bridge Park and the Atlantic Basin in Red Hook, as well as the daily ferries from Lower Manhattan, the public will have the chance to see many of these experiences up close.

Current educational partners on Governors Island include the Urban Assembly New York Harbor School (where students learn to build and operate boats, spawn and harvest oysters, design submersible vehicles and dive underwater), the Billion Oyster Project (which seeks to restore oysters to New York Harbor, giving students, volunteers and others the opportunity to learn about New York City’s rich oyster history), Grow NYC (which sponsors greenmarkets, recycling programs and recycling programs) the Climate Museum and others.

Pratt Institute faculty, taking into account the current circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic, have developed open-air installations that offer solutions for issues like biodiversity and ecosystem loss, as well as free, accessible and interactive learning experiences to the general public.

BlueBlocks Garden. Photo by Maltby & Nandan

Starting this month, Pratt Institute will begin developing prototypes at and around House 14 in Nolan Park. Developed over 2021-22, the series of installations across Governors Island seeks to create an open-air classroom that will bring climate change dialogue and education to the island’s annual one-million-plus visitors. Some of these projects include:

BlueBlock Garden, a floating garden solution for marine biodiversity loss. Using modular, floating, semi-submersible structures and a deep sectional column, the BlueBlock Garden will create small salt marsh archipelagos that provide ecological benefits for a range of species and actively support life at every level. The installation will also provide community-based educational events for the public on clean water, marine habitat formation, innovative material development and hands-on training sessions.

Pollinators Pavilion, an artificially-intelligent constructed habitat for native bees helping to promote biodiversity. Using machine learning, the pavilion communicates data harvested from its monitoring system, addressing the gap in scientific knowledge on native bees. This pavilion will also introduce these overlooked yet critical pollinators to the broad public.

Climate Narratives Pavilion. Photo by Mark Parsons

Climate Narratives Pavilion, an installation that records and physicalizes young urban learners’ experience of urban nature. All digital outputs will be unique and student-generated around the theme of students’ personal experiences on Governor Island around a given ecological idea. The sculptural installation integrates QR-coded video narratives, robotically-manufactured recycled wood components and a three-week summer intensive STEM course at the Consortium for Research and Robotics.

Starting in Mid-May, the public will be able to see the Pollinators Pavilion prototype under development. On May 7, a Southeast Asia housing exhibition sponsored by Pratt will take place at the Pratt House in the aforementioned Building 14, Nolan Park, Governors Island.

More exhibitions and opportunities to see new installations from Pratt will take place in July and August. For example, in August, the public will be able to see the aforementioned BlueBlock Garden prototypes on Governors Island.