ARTIST JOSIAH McELHENY TO SPEAK MARCH 10 AS PART OF PRATT INSTITUTE’S 2008-2009 VISITING ARTISTS LECTURE SERIES
ARTIST JOSIAH McELHENY TO SPEAK MARCH 10 AS PART OF PRATT INSTITUTE’S 2008-2009 VISITING ARTISTS LECTURE SERIES
BROOKLYN, N.Y., February 17, 2009 –Pratt Institute Academic Director of Sustainability Deb Johnson was recently named Strategic Director of Educational Institute Adopters at Designers Accord, a global coalition of designers, educators, researchers, engineers, and corporate leaders who work together to create positive environmental and social impact. Johnson will guide the strategy for educational institutions’ adoption, and will host an Educational Adopters Summit in New York City in April 2009.
Pratt Institute has been an Educational Institute Adopter of Designers Accord since 2008. Educational Institute Adopters declare participation in the Designers Accord and work to initiate dialogue about environmental and social impact and sustainable alternatives with every student and colleague in the program. They rework curricula and assignments to emphasize environmentally and socially responsible design and work processes and provide course content, lectures, and assignments that focus on strategic and material alternatives for sustainable design.
Johnson, who has taught industrial design at Pratt Institute for nearly 20 years, was named the Institute’s first Academic Director of Sustainability in Fall 2007. She currently leads Pratt’s academic sustainability initiatives; develops and operates Pratt’s Center for Sustainable Design Studies and Research; and supports Pratt’s faculty in identifying and solving environmental problems in order to place the Institute at the academic forefront among colleges of art, design, and architecture worldwide for its sustainability efforts.
Johnson also directs the Pratt Design Incubator for Sustainable Innovation and has recently founded Design in Kind, a collaborative network of designers working on world changing projects. Johnson, who graduated from Pratt with a bachelor’s degree in industrial design in 1986, is a resident of Brooklyn and Marbletown, N.Y.
The Designers Accord is made up of over 100,000 members of the creative community, representing 100 countries, and each design discipline. As of February 1, 2009, nearly 400 design firms, 20 corporate entities, and 20 educational institutions have adopted the Designers Accord. The vision of the Designers Accord is to integrate the principles of sustainable design into all practice and production. Their mission is to catalyze innovation throughout the creative community by collectively building our intelligence around sustainability.
