How might we rethink rural areas as role models of sustainability and prosperity through the use of technology?

Stage 1/1: Speculation Stage completed

Farmers comprise 12% of the workforce in Greece, but produce only 3% of the country’s GDP. Technology might help to improve economic and social prosperity of the farmers together with their local communities and citizens of urban areas. At the same time traditional forms of knowledge that take the specific ecosystems into account should not be neglected. Let’s envision all possible futures, and reimagine our the future of agriculture in Greece together.

Speculation Stage

Speculations: 10
Ratings: 16

Challenge closed

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How might we rethink rural areas as role models of sustainability and prosperity through the use of technology?

How might we rethink rural areas as role models of sustainability and prosperity through the use of technology?

Food is being produced solely in high-tech facilities and laboratories which has increased people’s dependence on large scale establishments leading to an increase in economic and food inequality.

Competition from mega-crop producers has led to the abandoning of the small-scale farming profession and consequently the accentuation of food inequality.

Humans have been reeducated on the processes required to produce and deliver their food which has led to a decrease in food waste and a fairer distribution of food across the planet

The lucrative income of cyber-farmers drives many workers to resign from their office work in urban centers.

The re-evaluation of agricultural practices in terms of their cultural value has created more resilient country side communities.

Farmers and agricultural producers have reclaimed their independence in terms of land, energy and sourcing of raw materials, allowing for a more viable professional practice and a more fair and sustainable food market

Irresponsible water use has led to the desertification of many landscapes making them uninhabitable and further condensing populations in a few favorable locations of the planet.

Knowledge on how to grow your own food has been completely lost from the individual.

Low yield of fruit-bearing trees is increased dramatically by “greenhat” hackers.

Science and technology have helped the agricultural practice perfect its methods in specific to the requirements of each crop, significantly limiting the use of water and synthetic chemicals.

Challenge Details

Smart Agriculture

Productivity and efficiency in agriculture is a necessary condition for economic development in the periphery but also to ensure food security for the generations to come. Agriculture has one of the biggest environmental footprints, while it is also among the first to be impacted due to the climate crisis. The cost of modernizing production lines along with low productivity makes it difficult for smaller farmers to survive. This can lead to increasing inequalities in land ownership and new forms of exclusion. The need to strengthen the food system’s resilience and sustainability is more urgent than ever.

Technology is a catalyst for the transformation of agriculture, the prosperity of the people involved, the protection, restoration and preservation of natural habitats and an important tool that can establish farming’s environmental footprint as an integral measure of success.

We want to engage the general public, policy makers and the scientific community with the topic of the accessibility and relevance of technological advancements and their potential positive impact on the environment and social and economic prosperity. This could lead to a fair, participatory and sustainable system for the agriculture sector resulting in rural development and prosperity. What might this future look like?

Artist Response

Credits: Geometries (2018), Onassis Stegi Photo: Dimitris Parthimos

Peanut Pod and the Film Seed Festival

On the local challenge “Smart Agriculture”, HYPERCOMF answers how we can empower rural areas as role models of sustainability & prosperity through the use of technology, thanks to the “Peanut Pod and the Film Seed Festival” project. As part of the S+T+ARTS Residencies, Hypercomf propose the project "Peanut Pod and the Film Seed Festival”: a smart IoT agriculture pod that makes it possible for a farmer to produce the situation of Film Seed Festival, a peanut-crop-powered, open-field, eco film festival “Film Seed Festival”.

The artists work in close collaboration with farmers, artists, smart agriculture technology providers and chemical engineers and the residency partner AGENSO - Agricultural and Environmental Solutions, an innovative company for agriculture and the environment.

Challenge Context

S+T+ARTS
Repairing the Present

Since June 2021, as part of the European Commission’s S+T+ARTS initiative, 12 new Regional S+T+ARTS Centers have been creating a space for artists, scientists, and technologists to work together on a common mission: Repairing the present. The S+T+ARTS initiative is a program funded by the European Commission aiming to bring artistic perspectives into the innovation process to address current challenges in today’s society.

Repairing the Present as part of the S+T+ARTS Residencies encourages a critique of the present, the exploration beyond its current limitations, and the re-imagination of other possible futures. To that end, the program fosters the development of methodologies and frameworks for long-term cross-disciplinary collaborations that can lead to products, tools and processes with a positive impact on society at large.

In October and November 2021, 12 Regional S+T+ARTS Centers called international artists working at the intersection between science, technology and the arts to apply for a 6-month residency. The residencies respond to local sustainability challenges that have been defined by invited Local Experts Groups during workshops that took place in July-September 2021. During the residency, the artists engage with the Local Expert Group, the general public as well as other relevant stakeholders in a strongly collaborative process. This crowdsourcing campaign on Futures Canvas forms part of this process.

Your contribution matters and will be part of a larger endeavour: it will be integrated into the S+T+ARTS project report that will be shared and discussed with the EU Commission as well as local stakeholders. This is an opportunity to think along with artists and local experts involved in the challenge.

Challenge Hosts

Challenge Hosts

The challenge is co-commissioned by Onassis Stegi within the framework of Repairing The Present. Repairing The Present is co-funded by the S+T+ARTS initiative of the European Union.

S+T+ARTS

The S+T+ARTS initiative is a program funded by the European Commission aiming to bring artistic perspectives into the innovation process to address current challenges in today’s society.

S+T+ARTS Residencies

Since its launch five years ago, the S+T+ARTS initiative has hosted over 125 residencies across its different projects.
Repairing the Present will be adding 21 thematic residencies to the portfolio. Each of the residencies points to an EU Green Deal or a New European Bauhaus goal and reflects pan-European or global issues that require solutions tailored to specific regions.

Onassis Stegi

Onassis Stegi is a multi-disciplinary cultural space in Athens, hosting events and actions across the whole spectrum of the arts from theatre, dance, music to visual arts and hybrid art, with an emphasis on contemporary cultural expression and a strong focus on new media and digital art.