Did the world just drop the ball on climate change?
How do we live through the consequences?
Introduction
Do you think climate change is real? Do you care about the relations between art, science, politics and the natural world? Do you envision alternative ways of living in the future – while keeping a close eye on actual modes of life in the present? Would you like to meet new people who are involved with exactly these issues?
Anthropocene Campuses are temporary gatherings — intense, open, and provisional — where knowledge is not only shared, but created together. Rooted in place yet oriented toward planetary concerns, these multi-day encounters bring a wide range of disciplines and practices into dialogue, linking local urgencies to global entanglements. Established by the Haus der Kulturen der Welt and the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science in Germany through a series of events running from 2013 to 2022, this collaborative process has evolved into today’s Anthropocene Commons, a collaborative network of people who recognize that human actions have reshaped the Earth: its climates, its ecologies, its futures. By creating common tools, insights and imaginaries, the AC explores how learning can become a form of action, and how new pedagogies can open paths through the complexities of this epoch.
To continue the collaborative work despite many present challenges, we are organizing a four-day series of events and activities at the University of Illinois at Chicago, the Narrow Bridge Arts Club and Watershed Art & Ecology, from October 23 to 26. Join us for a collective experiment in ecological science, environmental justice, artistic activism and organizing under increasingly chaotic conditions, with a focus on Chicago, the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River Watershed. This gathering is intended as a pilot for a larger program in 2027.
