More than 330 firms and individuals in the architecture and design profession plan to participate in one of the hundreds of climate strikes taking place across the globe, according to a list compiled by the grassroots outreach initiative Architects Advocate for Action on Climate Change.
The global climate strike was inspired by Greta Thunberg—a young Swedish student who walked out of her school in Stockholm last August to protest in front of Parliament. Thunberg’s strike has galvanized the #FridaysforFuture movement among students, in Sweden and beyond, to walk out of school on Fridays in response to governments’ inaction on climate change.
The campaign to #StandwithGreta resonates with the mission of Architects Advocate, which Chicago architects Tom Jacobs and Peter Exley launched in 2016. In the United States, buildings account for almost 40 percent of total energy consumption, putting the architecture and design community “on the front line [of] addressing Climate Change in a meaningful way,” says the group. Today, the Architects Advocate network consists of more than 900 firms, many based in Chicago, which share the goal of mitigating climate change through legislation and policy.
In New York, members of AIANY Committee on the Environment will join the city-wide demonstration in Lower Manhattan, meeting at Foley Square at noon and marching to Battery Park.
In Chicago, Architects Advocate will join the march at Federal Plaza at 11:30 a.m.
Visit globalclimatestrike.net to find climate strike events in your area.
