EcoCultureLab asks questions and envisions creative paths forward – to a world in which humans live in sustainable collaboration with the living worlds around us. It starts where we are and recognizes that changes are happening, and that some kinds of change are vastly preferable to others. It helps us identify better ways of moving forward, and mobilizes communities in taking them on.
EcoCultureLab asks: What would it mean for culture to be sustainable and ecological, here in this place? (This means asking: what is culture? what is sustainable? what is ecological? what is this place?) And crucially, what will it take to get there?
EcoCultureLab is devoted to new forms of conversation and collaboration between artists, humanists, scientists, designers, policy makers, and engaged citizens, including those who maintain longstanding Indigenous traditions of ecological practice. It aims to contribute to a widescale public revisioning of how we live and how we could live – and to developing ways of life that are ecologically viable, aesthetically and spiritually inspiring, and socially and ethically just. It sees the future as an open-ended process of developing “common worlds” that are inclusive of our differences while respecting the parameters of place (community, region, ecosystem) and time (local history, the urgency posed by eco-crisis events).
If you agree that the above questions are important for people and communities to take up, and if you want to institute ways to bring them to your city or locale, you can start an EcoCultureLab. Watch this space for tips on EcoCultureLabmaking.