Urban Design Sustainability Program
The Urban Design & Sustainability Program (UDSP) empowers students to create environmental and resilience responses. Our approach is based on permaculture design, a philosophy and an interdisciplinary design science, modeled after patterns found in nature. With it, students learn how to reframe urban environmental and social challenges through systems thinking, focusing on how different components are interconnected.
Beyond Organic Design, offers the Urban Design & Sustainability Program as a 6-week summer program and as a year-long science elective, where students take part in a 5-step participatory curriculum in which they study local environmental design, as well as sustainability efforts, while working in their urban garden design. Each unit is followed by an individual and group reflection.
Program activities include:
Beyond Organic Design, offers the Urban Design & Sustainability Program as a 6-week summer program and as a year-long science elective, where students take part in a 5-step participatory curriculum in which they study local environmental design, as well as sustainability efforts, while working in their urban garden design. Each unit is followed by an individual and group reflection.
Program activities include:
- Introduction to permaculture design
- Sustainable horticulture
- Culinary activities: development of skills and student cookbook
- Art & DIY projects
- Final presentations of completed permaculture designs, student cookbooks and a student prepared feast.
Design a Permaculture Space |
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Our Summer Program coaches students to understand their intended and unintended impact on their environment. Children are naturally whole system thinkers which makes them excellent permaculture designers and the solutionaries that we need to combat climate chaos.
Theme-based units and concepts become more complex as students advance, with an increased emphasis on large and small group activities both outdoors as well as in the classroom. |
Edible GardeningGardens become an outdoor classroom when our interdisciplinary program is implemented. Our students analyze and assess our container gardens and the exposed soil in the tree pits on the sidewalk. We garden to feed everyone in our designs: soil life, birds, bees and people.
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Field Trips |
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Beyond Organic Design leverages long-standing relationships with guest speakers at the Brooklyn Grange rooftop farm, and the Smiling Hogshead Ranch in Queens, that allow us to also offer immersive field trips with established farm systems.
See, touch, and experience green technologies in action! The Science Barge is located in Yonkers, NY, and specializes in low-tech and inexpensive interventions to improve the environment. Expect demonstrations of their rainwater-powered hydroponic and aquaponic systems, and tours of their solar arrays, wind turbines and their zero-waste practices via their urban composting system. |
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Art and Design & buildInterested? Please email kayla@beyondorganicdesign.org to know more about the activities we offer. Please note that we will need access to a computer lab and kitchen space, as well as a garden design site..
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