“Solarpunk is a very powerful cultural narrative that could really bring together efforts”

Posted on August 4, 2021Comments Off on “Solarpunk is a very powerful cultural narrative that could really bring together efforts”

Solarpunk is very much in the news it seems.

Here’s a long, long but very stimulating thread with discussion ongoing:

A Solarpunk Manifesto | Hacker News

And here’s a piece from the BBC just put out:

Lush green communities with roof top gardens, floating villages, transport fuelled by clean energy and hope-filled sci-fi tales. Imagine a world in which existing technologies are deployed for the greater good of both people and the planet.

It’s called solarpunk. The term, coined in 2008, refers to an art movement which broadly envisions how the future might look if we lived in harmony with nature in a sustainable and egalitarian world.

“Solarpunk is really the only solution to the existential corner of climate disaster we have backed ourselves into as a species,” says Michelle Tulumello, a solarpunk art teacher in New York state. “If we wish to survive and keep some of the things we care about on the earth with us, it involves a necessary fundamental alteration in our world view where we change our outlook completely from competitive to cooperative.”

But what impact is this burgeoning, utopian, movement having on the technology industry? Are they inspired? Are they even listening?

Solarpunk is at odds with many large tech companies, but it remains a huge and untapped opportunity for both inspiring innovation and communicating new ideas, argue its advocates.

[Phoebe Tickell, scientist, systems designer, social entrepreneur and co-founder of Moral Imaginations] says: “The tech industry, social justice, and the environmental industry often see themselves as quite separate, and even at war with each other. Solarpunk is a very powerful cultural narrative that could really bring together efforts across these sectors in an aligned way.”

What is solarpunk and can it help save the planet? – BBC News

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