Building the Symbiocene: Fostering Imagination for a more Sustainable World - Sofia Tapaninen

Beyond politics and technology, there exists deeper narratives and cultural conditions that have brought our world out of balance.

Drawing on insights from a summer school for sustainability in Gothenburg, this article argues that imagination plays a crucial part in reshaping our understanding of the climate crisis and navigating towards a more just and sustainable world.

Presented in two principles: ‘The Work of Justice’ and ‘Recognizing a Web of Relations’, the article counters the current separation and economic value-based narrative and calls for finding ways to recognize the intrinsic value of both humans and nature in an interconnected web of life. We must exit the Anthropocene – an epoch defined by environmental crisis – and start building the Symbiocene: a ‘more-than-human’ approach to a more sustainable and just future.

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