Jamie Wolf
Username
Jamie Wolf
Proposer First Name
Jamie
Proposer Email
jamie@homesthatfit.com
Proposer Last Name
Wolf
Proposer Company/Organization
Wolfworks Inc.
Proposer Phone
(860) 676-9238

Boston 2022 Areas of Focus

Proposer Additional Info
Veteran. conference session planner and convener including conference chairing and seven years convening the Whole Systems in Action Collaborative
Proposed Session Description
It's easy to imagine a dark climate future and despair. If instead we manifest visions of the future based not in what we are afraid of, but in what we are hopeful for, we’ll be surprised by what we accomplish and who we inspire. Solarpunk is a movement in speculative fiction, art, fashion, and activism that seeks to answer and embody the question “what does a sustainable future look like, and how can we get there?” The aesthetics of solarpunk merge the practical with the beautiful, the well-designed with the green and wild, the bright and colorful with the earthy and solid. Solarpunk can be utopian, just optimistic, or concerned with the struggles en route to a better world—but never dystopian. It is a statement of positive intent about a future in which we choose to live comfortably without fossil fuels, equitably manage scarcity and share abundance, and are kinder to each other and to the planet we share. It seeks a new narrative of the future that combines realism and hope, a story less about what we stand against than what we are aiming for
Diversity and Inclusiveness
The movement is definitely diverse. Solarpunk individuals are empowered to act not just against the climate crisis, but against the oppressive forces of colonialism, neoliberal capitalism, heteropatriarchy, and the corruption of the political and socioeconomic status quo that enables it. Solarpunk is an artistic, activist, philosophical, grassroots, speculative movement forcing a new narrative of the future that combines realism and hope to articulate possibility.
Learning Objectives
Recognize the responsibility to live by the design imperative: First Inspire!
Recognize the ways in which speculative fiction, art, fashion, and activism invite people to embrace a positive future and invest in participating in it, personally and collectively.
Recognize and support solarpunk actions locally, personally, and collectively and connect them to practical solutions that live now and lead to the future we need.
Embody Ursula Le Guin's dictum: “You cannot buy the revolution. You cannot make the revolution. You can only be the revolution. It is in your spirit, or it is nowhere.”
Has this session been presented before?
Yes
When and Where?
There was a precedent of sorts: In 2005 we created a project titled "Images of Sustainability" and invited people to share images via a web portal that were then assembled to create a slideshow with ambient music that ran continously in a "chillout" room at the conference. We also did a session titled "Sensing Energy" that used art and other media to explore ways in which people were provoked to consider the role of energy in their lives.
Additional Comments
Solarpunk is a much deeper and broader vision of what we were trying to express in those sessions and experiences. It is also concerned with responding to issues of social justice, governance, and what the next economy will require.
Session Format
Other (please describe below)
Session Format Details
The format will emerge from the work we do if the session is approved. It is our hope to both present and explain solarpunk and the breadth of people and projects that represent the movement. We are particularly interested in seeking the participation of young and diverse voices as the movement is really theirs (it's a hastag after all!). No matter which format we use we expect to engage the audience in response.
Recommended Length
60-minute session
90-minute session

Strongest Content Connection - Boston 2022

Comments about your speaker roster
It is premature to identify speakers, and actually, what we will be seeking is participants. One of those could be Elizabeth Thompson, the director of the Buckminster Fuller Institute. Amelia explains: They’re using Bucky’s design science principles to teach kids at risk (involved in the court system) to solve local problems. She says sometimes, when they get it, they get completely fired up & feel empowered to even be asked how they think things should change. Wonder if we could show anything they came up with?
Anything else you'd like to tell us about your session proposal?
We just think this should be on the NESEA community's radar. Many have not heard about it while some that have (Jodi for instance) are enthusiastic supporters. While Amelia and I as conveners are definitely NESEA elders, we see this as an opportunity to invite in and spotlight young diverse voices.
Reviewer 1
Greenbaum, Scott
Proposal #
140
Committee Decision
Rejected
Full Description
Many of us are discouraged by the enormity of the challenges we face and the impotence we may feel as individuals to make a difference at a scale that will matter. The solarpunk movement asks us not to give up on the future just yet. It places hope at the center of the movement. The goal of solarpunk is not to wish for a better future, but rather to propagate a series of values, approaches, and awarenesses into our collective psychology that allows us to continue pushing forward with our progress, without sacrificing our own humanity and connection to the natural world in that pursuit. Solarpunk is a relatively recent development in science fiction that imagines a near future where individuals are empowered to act not just against the climate crisis, but against the oppressive forces of colonialism, neoliberal capitalism, heteropatriarchy, and the corruption of the political and socioeconomic status quo that enables it. Solarpunk is an artistic, activist, philosophical, grassroots, speculative movement forcing a new narrative of the future that combines realism and hope to articulate possibility.