SUMA GR6115

Professor Popa did an amazing job outlining the roles of the federal, state, and city governments in creating and implementing laws related to environmental policy and climate change. We learned about existing climate change legislation in New York City, how advocacy groups and communities work to promote new and expand existing policies. And classmates brought so many more examples through their individual projects.

Policy and local government fundamentals, history, recent developments, and key objectives of environmental policy.

I learned how laws and policies are made in NYC and the various stakeholders - mayor, council members, etc. We then linked this process to the climate policies of the last 15 or so years and broke each lecture into climate topics - transportation, energy, water, etc.

NYC law was fascinating given the city's reputation for progressive policy and engaged residents. It was valuable to learn about the many ways to evaluate and implement policy, especially in consideration of environmental justice. I particularly enjoyed all the content around green spaces. Learning from Professor Popa was invaluable given her reign in NYC government. Hearing from the students was incredible too, since they were thoughtful, intelligent, grounded, and passionate about sustainability. I will very much miss this class.

I gained in-depth knowledge of how policy is structured at the city level, what jurisdiction the city has, what plans the city currently has in place, and how different departments tackle certain issues.

I quite enjoyed this class! I learned a lot about the environmental policy context for NYC, which is where I hope to be working upon completing this program.

how NYC creates/handles laws and policies in regards to the environment over the past 20 years

I came into this class with a solid understanding of New York City government, having worked for multiple City Council Members. However, I found this course to be both incredibly insightful and educational. Professor Popa is not only highly knowledgeable but also an outstanding teacher. I genuinely looked forward to class each week. In my experience at Columbia, it’s rare to find a professor who is both an accomplished practitioner and an effective educator, capable of teaching material that is directly applicable to the real world.

the facets of policymaking, the policy/legislative landscape of NYC including the city's programs, plans, and local laws, and elements of assessing and developing policy proposals (with attention to EJ, stakeholder engagement, policy tools, and understanding the niches of policy issues)

I learned the following: The process of policy making NYC Local Government. The dispersion of work across public, private, and non profit sectors in the policy making process. The Breadth of NYC government entities for specific policy areas. How to better determine the path of effect in policy decisions. In depth knowledge of Local 97. The discrepancy between State and Local Policy coverage. The definition of Equity in NYC law and policy.