How can we imagine a different future together?
Action Ideas
Do you want to contribute your sustainable action idea? Dive into the speculations collected on the Futures Canvas above and respond to them with a proposal for action. Submitted proposal will be published on this challenge page and can be publicly voted on.
Green City Growth
to reduce the impact of urban sprawl by providing a buffer between cities and nature. The green roofs and facades would also provide energy savings and improved air quality, helping to reduce city pollution and improving the health and wellbeing of inhabitants. Additionally, the presence of green roofs and facades would be aesthetically pleasing and improve the overall quality of life in cities.
Add a new solution
A solution can be everything from a concrete project, initiative or idea to a long-form speculation on the future. Write a text of up to 2500 characters and have a chance to win an awesome price!
A solution can be everything from a concrete project, initiative or idea to a long-form speculation on the future. Write a text of up to 1000 characters and have a chance to win a yellow plastic cup.
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In their positive expectations, visitors envision a future where tree connectivity, clean water, and a harmonious balance between culture and nature are the norm. Bike lanes, fewer cars, and reliance on natural resources will be part of the way of life, and green roofs, photovoltaics, and green facades will be commonplace in cities. Wealth and poverty will no longer exist and car-free infrastructure will be available to all. Robots will pick up trash and all new developments will be produced in a CO2-neutral way. We will abolish nuclear weapons. Cancer will be curable, and cities will have more greenery, water, and rail lines. Automated processes performed by robots and artificial intelligence will be ubiquitous, and life will be brought to more planets in our Milky Way.
But visitors also see the challenges that can be expected. In the future, there could be a climate catastrophe that leads to the loss of many achievements of the modern world. To meet this challenge, the use of thorium to generate nuclear energy could become more widespread, but this solution also carries its own risks. Thanks to technological advances, transactions may become easier, but this may also lead to the loss of jobs through automation. Cities will likely continue to grow and encroach on nature, and our society may be increasingly shaped by automated processes carried out by robots and artificial intelligence. Despite these challenges, as climate change continues to progress, the world may look only slightly different because the changes it brings will be gradual.
Visitors also envision other, more distant threats. One of those challenges might be the ability to manage all people so that they don't harm the environment. Instead of trees, it is suggested that whales may be more effective at sequestering CO2. All humans may also voluntarily wear FFP2 masks to protect themselves from respiratory hazards. However, there may be destruction in cities and a sense of loneliness as society is controlled by a few powerful corporations. These corporations can also prevent any possibility of social renewal by suppressing spontaneous impulses through strict documentation requirements.
At the same time, visitors dreamed hopefully of a future in which the interconnectedness of trees helps repair urban spaces that are currently full of loneliness and lack of nature. In this future, we will be able to swim and drink in our waters without worrying about pollution. Through the work of cultural institutions around the world, the boundaries between culture and nature will gradually disappear. Our needs will be based on the availability of natural resources and we will have a car-free infrastructure that will allow us to be car-independent. This future is described as wonderful and one where there is neither wealth nor poverty. People will have less stress and more enjoyment of life, and green open spaces will replace car parking and promote community. The capitalist system will no longer exist in the future and decentralized power will be the better alternative to states. People will learn to appreciate what they have because they will have to work to maintain sustainability. In a greener environment, more serotonin and dopamine will be released. Cities will be characterized by green facades and trees on rooftops, and it will be cities that move toward nature, not the other way around. There will be no more war and no more eating animals. The 1.5-degree greenhouse gas reduction target will be met, and there will be more streams in the city. All new development will be produced in a CO2-neutral way. The economic system will change, but democracy will survive and nuclear weapons will be abolished. Evolutionary life will be taken to other planets in our galaxy and there will be fewer cars and more train lines and group fares. Seniors who voluntarily give up their driver's licenses will be able to ride trains and buses for free. Overall, this future world will be characterized by more greenery and water.
What can art do to counter global crises today and in the future? Creative actors:from all fields are developing tools to prepare for unexpected emergencies in an increasingly unpredictable present and with dwindling resources. In doing so, they have both acute use and more long-term perspectives in mind.
The exhibition :RETOOL"" presents exploratory and performative tools with which artists:in confront the current complex challenges. "":RETOOL"" gathers artistic responses to emergency scenarios as we experience them worldwide in the form of pandemic outbreaks or the climate crisis."
: RETOOL presents artworks that assess the impact of blockchain technology, propose new scenarios of posthuman collaboration, explore the future potential of DNA data storage on an urban scale, explore pathways to green energy production and water purification, and propose open-source platforms for youth self-empowerment. These projects illustrate strategic scenarios for collaboration between art, science and technology, where research and practical application come together to seek new forms of resilience and problem-solving.
The exhibition features works by Grow Your Own Cloud, Markus Jeschaunig, Hypercomf, Adriana Knouf, Olga Kisseleva, Studio Lapatsch | Unger & Studio Johanna Schmeer, Unit Lab, Wassim Z. Alsindi & 0x Salon, and STATE, as well as a two-day sound installation by Lugh O'Neill in the ZKM Cube.
This exhibition is part of the triptych "Repairing the Present : REWORLD : REWILD : RETOOL", a transnational project reflecting the results of 21 artistic residencies developed within the framework of the European Commission's S+T+ARTS Regional Centers initiative. The project was funded by the European Commission's Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology under grant agreement LC01641664.