November 20    Kubi Ackerman
Title: Mapping New York City’s Food System: Design Approaches to Urban Food Supply Resilience
Registration: HERE 

Abstract: Kubi will discuss his efforts to map New York City's food system and the application of design approaches to food supply resilience. The work covers research into the complex issue of the urban food environment and food supply, highlighting projects which were undertaken in partnership with municipal agencies and other research or advocacy organizations. He will present work on mapping and evaluating food production trends, transportation and distribution infrastructure, food retail, and consumption at a variety of scales, and will explore the social, environmental, economic, and public health impacts of various strategies to create alternative supply chains. 

Bio

Kubi Ackerman is a designer, consultant, and curator, most recently of the exhibition Who We Are: Visualizing NYC by the Numbers at the Museum of the City of New York, which showcases the work of artists and designers working with census data and other demographic data. Over the course of his career, he has sought to address complex social and environmental challenges, and has spearheaded projects focusing on urban food systems, climate change adaptation, and development policy. He is currently an independent consultant collaborating with Thinc Design, the National Building Museum, the Climate Museum, and Data Through Design. From 2015 to 2019, he was the Director of the Future City Lab at the Museum of the City of New York, an interactive gallery space dedicated to engaging the public on the big challenges facing the city in the coming generations, including climate change and housing affordability. Prior to his tenure at the Museum, he held positions at the Cooper Union Institute for Sustainable Design and at the Urban Design Lab at the Earth Institute, Columbia University, where he collaborated with climate and social scientists to communicate and apply their findings to decision-making processes at local and regional scales.