CUNY Climate Assembly Project on Waste at Hunter College
Below is the Executive Summary and video for the CUNY Climate Assembly Project on Waste at Hunter College (CCAP). You can learn more about the process on the CCAP Final Recommendation Report and the CCAP website.
CCAP in the Press:New York Focus published an article documenting the CCAP process as the first university-convened climate assembly in the US and its implications for the broader movement for democracy renewal in NYC and beyond. |
Executive Summary
In Spring 2026, the CUNY Climate Assembly Project on Waste at Hunter College (CCAP) made history by convening the first university climate assembly in the US!
New York State Executive Order 22 requires all public entities, including CUNY, to develop waste diversion plans that reduce waste disposal by 75 percent from a baseline of Fiscal Year 2018-19. To meet New York State's policy goals, an assembly composed of 34 Hunter College student delegates convened for five full days and four 2-hour workshops to democratically develop waste management solutions at Hunter.
The student delegates were selected by lottery to broadly represent Hunter's perspectives and demographic diversity. During the assembly convenings, delegates learned from a diverse range of experts, weighed the opportunities and challenges of various waste management solutions, and collectively generated nine recommendations for the campus community. From Fall 2026 to Spring 2027, nine post-assembly fellows will work with Hunter College leadership to review and begin implementation planning of the accepted recommendations.
There are over 1000 examples worldwide of civic and climate assemblies. CCAP is uniquely situated within the City University of New York (CUNY), the nation’s largest urban public university system. CCAP serves as a model, expanding universities as true schools for democracy, equipping the next generation of civic leaders with skills in facilitation, constructive dialogue, and democratic problem-solving.
This partnership between Hunter College, The Center for Humanities at the CUNY Graduate Center, and The Assembly Project was made possible by the generous support of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
Why a Climate Assembly is well suited for the challenge of waste management
A Climate Assembly gathers everyday people to learn, deliberate, and develop policy solutions to challenging climate issues. What separates a Climate Assembly from other forms of public engagement is who is involved, how they collaboratively problem-solve, and their advantages over traditional policy-making.
Who: The assembly delegates were selected by civic lottery to serve as a microcosm of Hunter College, reflecting the majors, class standing, race, income, and gender of the campus at large. This brought new voices to the table, surfacing insights and perspectives that ground the proposals in the campus community's needs.
How: During the assembly convenings, delegates spent 37 hours learning with sanitation and custodial professionals, administrative leaders in sustainability, urban planners, and waste systems experts. The democratic design created the space for facilitated deliberations, creative problem-solving, and for all voices to be heard.
Advantages: The student-led, administration-backed democratic process united the institution around an issue requiring cross-departmental action. The resulting public awareness and collective problem-solving generated informed solutions that can bridge persistent policy implementation gaps while building trust between the administration and student body.
CCAP Governance Committee
The people supporting the climate assembly are organized into six committees, each playing a distinct role in the assembly’s operation, impact, and external oversight. The governance structure enables deep collaboration, independent responsibilities, and a diversity of stakeholders to ensure the program's democratic integrity.
Institutional Committee | Assembly Design Committee | Evaluation Committee |
Gustavo Ordóñez, VP for Administration Nicole Bennett, Associate Provost & Assistant Vice President, Academic Affairs Kelli Stephens, Sustainability and Energy Specialist & CCAP Administrative Lead Christopher Braun, Associate Provost & Assistant Vice President, Research Lara Miranda, Administrative Executive Officer for the Hunter College Senate Zobeida Gomez, Director of Operations, Facilities Management and Planning Jennifer Tuten, Special Adviser to Hunter Provost | Kendra Sullivan, CCAP Co-Director & Director of the Center for the Humanities Herman Bennett, CCAP Co-Director, Professor & Director of the Institute for Research on the African Diaspora in the Americas and the Caribbean (IRADAC) Forrest Sparks, CCAP Program Lead, Co-Founder and Director of The Assembly Project (TAP) Annie Stoeth, Curriculum Development Fellow, Earth and Environmental Sciences PhD Candidate Cameron Espinoza, Communications Fellow, Political Science PhD Candidate Sasha Isaac, Democratic Engagement Fellow, Geography PhD Candidate | Anna Marchese, Senior Project Officer at Columbia World Projects Caroline Hanley, Professor of Sociology at William & Mary. |
Impact Network Committee | Learning Content Committee | External Advisors |
Douglas Price, Program Manager of The Center for Sustainable Cities Alice Yee, Hunter Sustainability Council Nate Levin, Hunter Sustainability Council Teneia Wooten, Assistant Director of Student Activities and Leadership Development Sumaiya Ahmed, Undergraduate Student Government President | Peter Marcotullio, Professor in the Department of Geography William Solecki, Professor in the Department of Geography Ramiro Campos, Professor in the Department of Geography Robin Nagle, Clinical Professor at NYU, Author of Picking Up Fran Agnone, Director of Education, Sanitation Foundation | Linn Davis, Program Director, Healthy Democracy Benjamin Solotaire, Senior Advisor, NYC Civic Engagement Commission Phil Lindsay, Director of the Democracy Innovation Hub at Hannah Arendt Center for Politics and Humanities at Bard College |
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