Short Abstract:

The Making and Doing program is set out below. The main time for viewing these contributions is on Wednesday.

Long Abstract:

The STS Making and Doing Program aims to give visibility to scholarship that relates to our fields of study and action in generative ways, without adhering to the dominant image of impact. It highlights scholarly practices for producing and expressing STS knowledge and expertise that extend beyond the academic paper or book. Projects in STS making & doing provide equal attention to practices of knowledge expression and knowledge travel as integral to experimental practices of knowledge production. By increasing the extent to which participants learn from one another about practices they have developed and enacted, the initiative seeks to foster flows of STS scholarship beyond the field and expand the modes of STS knowledge production.

Note on times: All Making & Doing stands will be staffed from 12:00 to 15:00. Participants have the option of staffing their stands from 10:30 till 17:00.

Locations:

Main building - main hall on the ground floor, first floor Foyer, around Aula;

NU building - ground floor Atrium, second floor hallway

M&D films - Theaters 2, 5, 8, 9.

Accepted contibutions:

Session 1

Rootling: a porcine way of doing and learning  

Marianna Szczygielska (Institute of Ethnology, Czech Academy of Sciences) Kieran O'Mahony (Institute of Ethnology, Czech Academy of Sciences) Paul Keil (Institute of Ethnology, Czech Academy of Sciences) Laura Kuen (Institute of Ethnology, Czech Academy of Sciences)

Short abstract:

An interactive installation involving a virtual interface (an interactive website displayed on two screens and two tablets) and a physical interface for a multisensory experiment.

Abstract:

This Making & Doing session guides participants through the “Rootling” website, a creative resource on pigs. The display includes a virtual environment created in collaboration with designers and a sensory exercise for anyone interested in multispecies research. The website is part of a larger inquiry into what a porcine research method might embody, and how it might challenge epistemological practices under neoliberalism. The website interface is designed with specific attention to the process and aesthetics of searching, navigating, and knowing as inspired by pigs. Wild and domestic pigs rootle to learn about their environment, using their snouts to socialize and dig, feed and play, find comfort and explore. Using the website, “rootlers” are encouraged to learn about pigs through an omnivorous movement of discovery via text, images, memes, and scientific data. Content is neither ordered nor linear but interconnected in a messy and heterogeneous manner to facilitate unexpected lines of inquiry and unearth contradictory ideas. Participants are also invited to engage with the research method through sensual, tactile DIY interfaces which will stimulate ideas by foregrounding nonvisual cues. To help navigate the virtual and physical environments, guides will prompt “rootlers” to attune to their trajectories, intentions, and feelings while exploring. The session is intended to generate reflections on how ideas can emerge from seemingly simple origins and disparate content; how everyday rootling practices- sometimes protracted, intuitive, and playful- are devalued within academic research cultures; and the ways in which symbiotic thinking opens avenues for experimental approaches to social research.

Garden of senses  

Liina Lember

Short abstract:

Workshop, maximum number of participants is 8-10 at a time.

Abstract:

The Garden of Senses workshop explores the mutual experiences, shared concerns and interconnectedness of moths, humans and other species. The workshop offers participants a fresh perspective on the world we inhabit and encourages us to embrace new ways of understanding, to challenge our preconceived notions, and to celebrate the incredible diversity and complexity of our natural environment. It does this through collective storytelling and guided experiential exercises such as guessing a wildflower or telling a story of a shared experience with a more-than-human being. As a result of the workshop, the participants have been part of a new experience and carry with them the sense of care for more-than-human beings.

Food down memory lane  

Barkha Kagliwal (Cornell University)

Short abstract:

Workshop / Installation

Abstract:

Food is material, yet it has the power to invoke feelings of both desire and disgust. In this workshop I invite participants to write a memory of: a fond memory of consuming food, a memory of disgust and repugnance in relation to food, and a formative sensory memory of preparing food. I provide craft materials to write and display participant's memories alongside my own curation of poems, photographs, objects, and technologies of food. Throughout the workshop I use highlighters to collate commonalities between participant's written excerpts and invite everyone to reflect on our ways of knowing food, its sensory material aspects and how we consume it. Certain types of food are endangered already with a movement to protect heirloom and indigenous varieties from being bred-out by industrial agriculture. In the anthropocene not only animals but specific foods that rely on industrial food production will also not be available for consumption for example bananas, coffee, avocado and chocolate. Activism and art based practice oriented to food may enact both awareness and open up a space for dialog about the kind of food futures we all want to create by reflecting on our own memories.

Mobilizing knowledge making: a collective field notes installation  

Suze Berkhout (University of Toronto)

Short abstract:

Participatory art installation

Abstract:

The Frictions of Futurity and Cure in Transplant Medicine project is a sensory ethnography and multimodal research creation study that follows the affective, temporal, and psychosocial challenges of solid organ transplantation in Canada. Experimenting with different methods that destabilize assumptions about il/legitimate forms of knowing, we invited people interacting across our field sites (clinicians, allied health workers, families, patients, visitors) to contribute their own doodles, sketches, and annotations to our project’s more traditional ethnographic field notes. Questions of how to understand and make meaning of these collective notes remain active for our project team. In this exhibition, we will stage an installation of collective field notes gifted to our project by individuals taking part in our sites of ethnographic research and public arts engagement including at art exhibitions, multidisciplinary salons, film screenings, and conference discussion lounges hosted by our team. A series of the collective notes will be threaded and hung in the form of a stabile—a stationary abstract mobile that plays with motion and stasis. We will engage 4S participants to take part in an emergent making practice, inviting viewers to use visual and haptic means of re-ordering and rearranging the notes (making iterations of the stabiles), inviting them to think aloud with us as we consider and reconsider together the meaning and role collective drawings and notations can play in ethnographic and arts-based research. In this way, viewers of the booth will contribute to our own attempts to play with collective practices for knowledge-making.

Empowering communities: fostering food innovation in Castelo Branco's living lab  

Mário Cristóvão (CATAA)

Short abstract:

Workshop with video and participants' interaction

Abstract:

The Castelo Branco´s Living Lab cultivates a culture of food innovation and strengthens the city's connection with its food ecosystem.Here, we showcase how food innovation can serve to promote local and seasonal products. The local agrofood technology center (CATAA), one of the local partners of FUSILLI, leverages its food technology units to create and characterize new food products and innovative recipes. These products are then introduced to the citizens through monthly exhibitions at the municipal market and participation in food sector fairs and other events. Such initiatives not only highlight the potential of local and seasonal ingredients but also foster connections between producers and consumers. This approach was made to empower the consumers with knowledge to make informed choices for their health. Other initiatives of the Living Lab also highlighted the implementation of new school gardens and the improvement of already existing ones. Through educational activities and hands-on activities evidenced by the duplication of the number of school gardens and high adhesion on food producing workshops.Involving younger generations not only to influence the behaviour of these future consumers but also to act as a catalyst for shaping the attitudes of their families. Children can serve as effective messengers of new learnings, spreading awareness about sustainable practices and healthy eating habits. Overall, Castelo Branco stands as a pilot city, showcasing the importance of leveraging innovation in food and food production practices to tackle challenges and drive the change for a better and more resilient city´s food system.

Seeing like a school  

Griffin Fadellin (Columbia University)

Short abstract:

Interactive social game and discussion.

Abstract:

In the era of surveillance capitalism, few locations are as thoroughly surveilled as the university campus. While they explore their personal, political, and intellectual identities, undergraduate students’ behaviors are documented and monitored at an increasingly intensive scale. What is the effect of surveillance systems on the American undergraduate student? Informed by an ongoing qualitative study researching the manifold effects of data surveillance on college campuses, this workshop aims to replicate hierarchies of need and visibility through an interactive game. Players designated “students” will move between stations to collect tokens representing the daily requirements of student life, while other players regulate how many tokens are distributed, or confiscate them if students are caught breaking the rules. Players will find that students’ needs are not uniform, and students will need to collaborate in order to achieve a collective win. Trading tokens and convincing station managers to dispense limited extra resources are the only ways to ensure each student receives all the tokens they need to win the game, but the agents of the university will be watching to prevent those very things… This workshop will include games that last for about thirty minutes, with a fifteen minute discussion afterward based on the observations of the players. Curious and creative minds wishing to learn through experience are welcome, and dropping in/out will be facilitated by the organizers. “Discipline makes individuals,” wrote Foucault (1979: 185). What individual does a college make of you?

CLTRS  

Laureline Chiapello (University of Québec in Chicoutimi, Canada (UQAC))

Short abstract:

This is a video game demonstration followed by a discussion with the creator, so the form is flexible. It can be included in an exhibition or be an artist talk.

Abstract:

Female pleasure is a subject that’s often overlooked: the gap between male and female sexual satisfaction remains significant in heterosexual relationships, partly due to a lack of knowledge about the clitoris (Andrejek, Fetner, and Heath 2022). We thought it would be an intriguing subject for an “expressive video game” (Genvo, 2012, p. 128). Expressive games usually highlight problematic life experiences without necessarily aiming to provide a concrete solution (Genvo 2012). More broadly, expressive games are inspired by the personal experiences of their designers. Furthermore, expressive games align with feminist epistemologies, emphasizing the importance of situated knowledge. This encourages the expression of diverse viewpoints to construct new understandings of the world (Anderson 2014), crossing traditional knowledge barriers. The goal of our game is to emphasize the significance of the clitoris, demystify it, and firmly link it with pleasure (no pornography).It’s crucial to stress that the process of creating the work itself serves to break down barriers. The game is a research-creation, meaning that both the process and the product are documented and analyzed, similarly to Latour’s endeavour in his book Aramis or the Love of Technology (1996). As a researcher and creator, I (the game director) chose to realize the game with students, both in their coursework and through research internships, and with the assistance of industry professionals. This creates a network of various actors with very different interests. The showcase of the game prototype is a great way to spark numerous intriguing discussions regarding women's experiences and tacit knowledge.

From the fountain: letters for Adele E. Clarke  

Christoph Hanssmann (University of California, Davis)

Short abstract:

This will be a station with several chairs at which people may write letters or notes. Supplies will be provided.

Abstract:

Earlier this year, the eminent STS scholar, sociologist, and methodologist Adele E. Clarke passed away. In addition to authoring or co-authoring several books and scores of articles, she trained several generations of STS scholars. Her writing and editing frequently involved the use of fountain pen, usually in purple ink. Using this tool, she maintained, helped slow down the process of writing and deepen one’s thinking about what goes on the page. In this Making and Doing session, we will offer people an opportunity to use her preferred writing tool to write a letter, a note, memorial, or tribute to Adele E Clarke. We will supply stationery and pens. Participants may choose to keep their notes or include then in what will become a material compilation of letters commemorating Adele E. Clarke’s legacy and effect on the field. Please join us in this session to write slowly and think deeply with and about Adele E. Clarke.

Working towards anti-ableist makings and doings: access in the making (AIM) lab  

Rachel Rozanski (Concordia University) Jessie Stainton (Concordia University) Emery Vanderburgh (Concordia University) Arseli Dokumaci (Concordia University)

Short abstract:

Interactive table installation with print materials, medium-size posters, and projected web exhibition.

Abstract:

Access in the Making (AIM) Lab is an anti-ableist, anti-colonialist, and feminist research lab based in Tiohtià:ke (Montreal). Making and doing remains central to AIM’s ethos and activities that engage questions of disability, access, environment, and world-making through ongoing creative experimentation that refuses technosolutionism. We invite participants to engage with AIM Lab's members and diverse projects including: 1) Designing with access – from its physical lab space construction to its logo and website design, AIM is radically rethinking design by positioning access as methodology and core element of the creative progress, rather than a retrofit. 2) Protocols, values, and manifesto – a co-authored series of guiding documents for working together including: our horizontal governance, how to make our events, websites, and communication accessible, etc. 3) Air, River, Sea, Soil: A History of an Exploited Land – an online exhibition produced by AIM where six artists from the SWANA region were paired with AIM members to develop a new mode of audio-description that we call “paired description”. 4) Mobilizing Disability Survival Skills for the Urgencies of the Anthropocene - a series of research-creation projects exploring how disability knowledges can inform the rebuilding of societies amidst rapid environmental decline and the shrinking of habitable worlds. 5) Citational politics - From our “#CiteYourGrannies” stickers to “AIM reads” sessions, we challenge extractivist academic citational trends with a curated citational politic that values multiple knowledges (including those that have historically been undervalued in academia, and those produced outside of it) and modes of knowledge-making that subvert academic ableism.

In-visible moth spells  

Liina Lember

Short abstract:

Sound installation

Abstract:

In-visible Moth Spells is an installation which explores the mutual interests, shared concerns and interconnectedness of moths, humans and other species. The installation examines how light pollution, the changing urban space and dwindling natural resources affect a range species including our own. Invisible Moth Spells creates a space for moths and people to meet through spoken enchanting moth spells.This project has been developed as a response to the alarming declining numbers of ecosystems and insect populations as a result of urbanization, habitat loss, pesticide use, light pollution and climate crisis. This project aims to bring attention to and question existing social stigmas while encouraging care and sharing information about moths. The project's main objective is to make the invisible visible.

An STS teachbook: making recipes for critical pedagogies in undergraduate education  

Emily York (James Madison University)

Short abstract:

This is an interactive workshop hosted by the CREATE/STS Editorial Collective: Emily York, Marisa Brandt, Shannon N. Conley, Megan Halpern, Nicole Mogul, Elizabeth Reddy, Marie Stettler Kleine, David Tomblin

Abstract:

In this Making and Doing session, members of the CREATE/STS Editorial Collective (associated with the NSF-funded project “Collaborative Research and Education Architecture for Transformative Engagement With STS”) invite STSers to craft learning activity and assessment “recipes.” We want visitors to our session to share and connect with the diversity of approaches to critical, feminist, and/or alternative experiential teaching & learning practices that STSers have tried and loved. We see ourselves as part of a growing field that values approaching STS undergraduate education through multiple modalities beyond the standard lecture and discussion method that dominates undergraduate education. With template starters, recipe cards, and posting boards to help us collectively make visible the kinds of learning objectives, activities, and joys and sorrows that we experience and encounter, we imagine a making and doing session that revels in the challenges and occasional successes of STS education that invites learners to do STS. While participants are not required to submit these for possible inclusion in an edited collection, the CREATE/STS Editorial Collective will share its call for an edited collection, An STS Teachbook: Recipes from our Science and Technology Studies Communities for Critical Pedagogies in Undergraduate Education. This Making and Doing session will also be complemented by a workshop. Participants of this session will have an opportunity to work intimately with members of the Editorial Collective on crafting recipes for the book and/or their personal course revisions and development.

Building prototypes to shape museums as creative and participative platforms: lessons from soy stories  

Sjamme van de Voort (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam) Melania-Elena Lorent (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam)

Short abstract:

Based on a conversation piece, 6-10 workshop participants will beta-test the exhibit prototype and will be asked for feedback on how it could be implemented in their fields of research.

Abstract:

Embark on a creative journey as we explore a conceptual prototype for a museum exhibit, harvesting narratives as data to tackle the complexities of ‘soy sustainability’ amidst the Nitrogen Crisis.This proposal concerns a workshop to test an exhibit prototype in which participant groups will be presented with a conversation piece developed for the research project ‘Soy Stories’: an NWO-funded project, which uses transdisciplinary narrative research approaches to engage with sustainability challenges in Brazil and the Netherlands that are geographically dispersed yet intertwined through soy (van der Vleuten & de Hoop, 2022).This prototype aims to engage audiences in conversation on the Dutch nitrogen crisis, allowing for both public deliberation and data collection thereon at the same time (drawing on the notion of situated intervention cf. Zuiderent-Jerak, 2015). As such, it seeks to explore possibilities for museums to relate to current societal concerns by acting as creative and participatory platforms fostering collaboration, deliberation and research (Gorman, 2020). The exhibit prototype will not be designed for one specific museum or place but will include possibilities that allow for embedding it in different museological and socio-cultural contexts. By building on that, the exhibit seeks to stretch and break paradigms and become a novel approach to bridging science, technology and society (Steward, 2006; Raelin, 2012). The goal of this collective effort - both the prototype and the workshop - is to stimulate continuous change based on how visitors in diverse museums engage with it.

Exploring cybersecurity dilemmas through a board game  

Torben Elgaard Jensen (Aalborg University Copenhagen)

Short abstract:

Workshop

Abstract:

In the field of cybersecurity, it is a common frustration for authorities and cybersecurity experts that people in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) do not follow official advice. At times, the ‘incompliant behaviour’ of SMEs is even depicted as a severe risk for digitized societies such Denmark. A hole in the national defense so to speak. Stepping into this rather tense situation of shaming and blaming narratives, we have conducted a large ethnographic study of 30 Danish SMEs. Through more than 50 interviews we examined the intricacies of local practice, and we uncovered what we described as “’good’ organizational reasons for ‘bad’ cybersecurity practices” (Kocksch & Elgaard Jensen 2023). We found that many cybersecurity problems in SME do not come in the shape of a clearly defined problems which can be solved by a technical solution. Instead, SMEs often encounter cybersecurity problems as dilemmas they must endure or manage in ad hoc and sometimes clumsy ways. To bring these practical realities to the attention of authorities and cybersecurity experts we have developed a dilemma board game. Each game starts with the dramatized depiction of a dilemma we have encountered in our field work. The 3-4 players are then asked to develop ideas for handling these dilemmas. The game includes a series of cards that suggest various resources and strategies that are often available to SMEs. The Making & Doing presentation invites participants to play a 20-minute version of the dilemma game.

Reconsidering failed(?) ferments  

Maya Hey (Centre for the Social Study of Microbes, University of Helsinki) Salla Sariola (University of Helsinki)

Short abstract:

This is a participatory troubleshooting session that invites people to bring stories, artifacts (within reason), or documentation about ferments that have gone awry. What happens when undesirable growth or unintended circumstances get the best of us and our ferments? What constitutes failure in these settings?

Abstract:

This is a participatory troubleshooting session that invites people to bring stories, artifacts (within reason), or documentation about ferments that have gone awry. What happens when undesirable growth or unintended circumstances get the best of us and our ferments? What constitutes failure in these settings? Failure, in this context, becomes fruitful for rupturing ideas of human dominion and offers inroads for better understanding the vitality and agency of nonhuman forces (e.g., microbes, environmental preconditions). By interrogating these ‘failures,’ the session will invite participants to reframe/rethink how biology cannot be predicted or contained. This making/doing session invites participants to reflexively analyze their ferments, while also crowdsourcing ways to recuperate, restart, or repurpose a ferment. Depending on the participants’ interests, potential topics for discussion would build on existing research in multispecies STS, citizen science, and feminist technoscience. The session is intended for people who self-identify as beginners as well as experts in fermentation. It also welcomes those engaged in other lines of microbial inquiry (e.g., composting, marine microbes) or the generally curious. The goal will be to create an environment for sharing by putting into practice academic discussions about knowledge hierarchies, ways of knowing, and situated/embodied knowledges. Participants will be encouraged to bring their experiments, or pictures/stories of them, along with all matters pertaining to “I don't know who to ask this.” This will become a chance to bare all and (in some instances, literally) air out our darkest hindrances.

A transdisciplinary approach to experiencing soil perspectives  

Jillian Student (WIMEK, Wageningen University Research) Giulia Bongiorno (Wageningen University and Research) Wietse Wiersma (Wageningen University)

Short abstract:

Workshop featuring a series of interactive ‘Experiencing Soil’ activities interspaced with personal stories from the organizers and with room for collaborative reflection on the impact of such events.

Abstract:

Humans have diverse relationships with soils that can be shaped by personal, cultural and sensorial experiences. Soils matter at many levels since people can feel a deep connection with soil as a source of identity, sustenance and belonging. The academic perspective on soil commonly provides soil scientists with a very particular experience of soils, and they communicate their soil knowledge through publications, graphs and tables. During the Wageningen Soil Conference 2023 we organized an event that invited soil scientists to discover ways of experiencing soil with all their senses, with the goal of increasing their capacity to connect with society and inspiring them to make connections and share their work in ways that resonate with society. We have also shared this Experiencing Soils event with the Wageningen municipal community. During this Making and Doing contribution, we will bring our event to the conference. Participants will explore multiple ‘stations’ dedicated to experiencing soils in unexpected and creative ways (such as via touch, taste, smell, poetry, theater, sounds and painting). In organizing this event, we have brought together a diverse group of early-career scientists and started an ongoing collaboration to broaden the experiences of and perspectives on soil that are accepted in the soil scientific community. Therefore, we will share our motivations, experiences and personal reflections on this process and interact with the audience to collectively increase the impact of such events. Our approach can be of interest to many transdisciplinary scientists exploring innovative connections from the ground up.

Choral microbes: listening to the microbes around us  

Kaajal Modi (University of York) Jose A. Cañada (University of Helsinki) Faidon Papadakis (Centre for the Social Study of Microbes, University of Helsinki)

Short abstract:

Interactive workshop followed by discussion and the creation of a microbial sound repository.

Abstract:

Our imaginaries of the microbial world have tended towards the visual since Leeuwenhoek used glass lenses to see ‘animalcules’. The metaphors we use to talk about microbes have become increasingly adversarial since the advent of the germ theory of disease. Recent computational methods associated with laboratory environments have allowed us new ways to imagine microbes as bioinformatic data. However, our awareness of and relationship to the microbial world predates these innovations, and has historically been understood as relational, spiritual and sensory. In this workshop, we want to create the time and space for exploring human-microbial relations through sound. Sensory methods are an emerging area of study in STS: hygiene and social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic, the observation of fermentation practices, or the management of resistant infections in low-resource settings are some examples. The session invites participants to a process that shifts away from the cultural and pedagogical dominance of the visual, giving primacy to sound as a way into a state of being attentive-otherwise. Microbes, like sounds, require particular effort and tools to be isolated from their environments. Through this exercise, we embrace the messiness of sound as a method for a different kind of exploring the microbial and our entanglements with it.Workshop participants will engage in an exercise of attentive listening and recording, followed by a reflective discussion on the potential of sensory methods to research microbes. Recordings from this session will be uploaded to a newly created sound repository– an open archive of everyday microbial encounters.

Moving through deep adaptation: an interactive installation considering futures through ecogrief  

Ame Min-Venditti (Arizona State University) Risa Schnebly (Arizona State University) Leah M. Friedman (Arizona State University) Lívia Cruz (Arizona State University)

Short abstract:

We offer an interactive installation in stages for participants to “move through”, consisting of stations for self-reflection and expression, interaction with audiovisuals, and synthesis through multiple media.

Abstract:

How can we seriously contend with the futures that will result from the polycrises we forecast, from climate change, biodiversity loss, global pandemic, and economic collapse? What challenges do we experience as we begin to think through deep adaptation to climate change? How does the task of reimagining a socio-ecological context feel for us as researchers? Despite studying these phenomena in depth, academic disciplines fail to encourage researchers to "deeply adapt" beyond surface-level mitigation efforts (Bendell, 2018; Selwyn, 2021). We aim to disrupt the vision of future-as-continuation-of-present and push researchers to contemplate how they could adapt their work in the context of alternative futures (Dator, 2019) through an interactive installation. Participants will first document a project they are working on, what motivates their research and their desired outcomes. Next, we will introduce an audio-visual experience that prompts participants to think through alternative visions of the future if current socio-ecological threats are realized, inviting participants to contribute to our perspectives of what changes the future may bring. Finally, we hope to delve into what emotions reimagining the future evokes in participants and encourage them to contribute to a collaborative collage (see image for submission). In particular, we aim to hold space for participants' feelings of ecological and anticipatory grief (Cunsolo, 2017; Barnett, 2022). We choose to focus on an emotional outcome to problematize dominant research evaluations which elevate productivity. We also aim to create a collaborative experience through asynchronous collaging to acknowledge the centrality of relationships to imagining change (Finn & Wylie, 2021).

The MindReader ESP32® by NeuralChain AI™: a speculative fictional parody of wireless surveillance  

R. Stuart Geiger (University of California, San Diego)

Short abstract:

A speculative fictional parody device that claims extra-sensory perception (ESP) capabilities, reading thoughts from cognitive radiation. The MindReader ESP32 reflects on surveillance systems that are based on capturing background radiation emitted from devices, such as Bluetooth space occupancy systems, which can surveil without notice or consent.

Abstract:

The MindReader ESP32® by NeuralChain AI™ is a speculative fictional parody of an AI-enabled device that claims to have extra-sensory perception (ESP) capabilities. It purports to read minds based on inferring patterns in electromagnetic radiation emitted from the brain during specific cognitive acts. This physical prototype is built on an ESP32 microcontroller, a widely-used low-cost wireless microcontroller. It is equipped with a small screen that scrolls randomly generated descriptions of fictional EASST/4S attendees' presumed thoughts and emotions. The device queries Mistral's Mixtral, an open-source large language model (LLM) hosted on a private server, to generate humorous and self-referential descriptions of attendees' mindsets. The MindReader ESP32 serves as a commentary on the increasing use of surveillance systems that are based on capturing background radiation emitted from devices, such as Bluetooth beacon space occupancy systems, which can surveil without notice or consent. The MindReader ESP32 displays scrolling ‘live’ fictional data based on attendees' emotions, interests, and thoughts, such as: {Excitement: high; Curiosity: moderate; Nostalgia: low; Thoughtfulness: high; Contemplation on the blend of technology and society; Awareness of diverse perspectives in the room; Anxiety about interactive poster session; Anticipation for engaging conversations; Hunger: medium;"} While the data is entirely fictional, it invites participants to consider the implications of real-world systems that collect and analyze personal information. This hands-on demonstration aims to spark discussions on the implications of such ways of knowing on privacy, consent, transparency, regulation, and design principles. This references earlier work such as the CHI 2014 Quantified Toilets performance art.

Kitchen cognition: crafting situated openness  

Sarah Klein (University of Waterloo)

Short abstract:

Installation with film component and interactive component.

Abstract:

Aligning with calls from scholars in STS and Cognitive Science to both resist and revise the terms central to mainstream Open Science ((Penders et al 2019, Leonelli 2023, Whitaker & Guest 2020, Devezer et al 2019, Szollosi et al 2020 ), I have argued for what I call “Situated Openness” as an alternative to information-centric Open Science (Klein 2022). ‘Situated Openness’ orients to the richness of scientific settings, interactions, embodiments and materiality as resources for scientific intersubjectivity, instead of configuring them as either irrelevant, or as sinister threats to scientific integrity. Kitchen Cognition prototypes one configuration for Situated Openness.Kitchen Cognition is an experimental, ethnographic project which playfully intervenes in the material-semiotic craft of experimental design. Situated against the backdrop of ‘reproducibility crises’ in (but not restricted to) the psychological and cognitive sciences, and accelerating methods reforms since ~2015, KitchenCognition was centered around a simple score: it asked cognition researchers, at home in their kitchens, to design an experiment using what materials they had available. This was followed up by a collaborative, analytic feedback process where ethnographer and participants screened and discussed their responses. One result of this creative-reflexive-analytic process is a short film, which will be screened as part of this interactive session. This session will also invite attendees to participate in a ‘touring’ version of the task, mediating attendees’ improvised performances of routine laboratory practices through the mundane materials and routines of the kitchen, envisioning and revisioning the overlapping contexts and contours of experiment.

Minor AI: experiments in ancestral and esoteric intelligence  

Teodora-Sinziana Alata (University of Westminster)

Short abstract:

Installation consisting of Moving Image, Sound, Computer code.

Abstract:

The Minor Ai series consists of experiments in producing small-scale machine learning practices that explore possibilities for alternative frameworks of artificial intelligence. Emerging from the idea of small and slow Ai, these intelligent assemblages refuse the narratives and structures of Big Tech and instead foreground alternatives proposed by data humanism, ancestral knowledges, mystical encounters and feminist practices. Consisting of a series of different experiments, the works propose an exploration of the ways in which feminist diy methods can reveal new ways of doing and thinking with Ai that are esoteric, sensuous, communal and even subversive. The series aims to question the cultural logic of techno-capitalism as it is currently embedded within large-scale Ai systems and to reflect on the ways in which small Ai can become crystallized as a practice through the refiguration of existing ML structures into a “minor language” (Deleuze & Guattari, 1983) for intelligent assemblages. The artifacts consist of experimental software (custom code and small-scale datasets) that takes input in the form of an interactive object and outputs moving image sequences and text.There are currently two nearly-completed experiments (esoteric Ai, which produces algorithmic images through an intelligent software based on numerology and Subversive Ai, which works against its own software structure, seeking to produce glitches in its existing order). Two more experiments are planned to be developed between Feb 2024 - June 2024 (ancestral and feminine) and can feature in the exhibition. The attached file presents the outcomes of the Esoteric project.

Stories in conversation: mobilising oral history and ethnographic storytelling to reflect on environmental collaboration  

Eleanor Hadley Kershaw (University of Exeter)

Short abstract:

Workshop (group listening experiential session)

Abstract:

Paul Merchant (1), Eleanor Hadley Kershaw (2), Angela Cassidy (2), Mary Stewart (1), Rebecca Edgerley (2), Susan Molyneux-Hodgson (2). (1) National Life Stories (British Library). (2) University of Exeter. As part of RENEWing Biodiversity - a large scale, multi-sited, post pandemic-crisis project investigating people’s involvement in biodiversity renewal, our embedded team of STS scholars, social scientists and oral historians has been capturing stories of biodiversity collaboration. This is through ethnographic research documenting interdisciplinarity in real time as the project unfolds; as well as through oral history interviews about the life experiences of academics, naturalists, policy makers, administrators, volunteers, campaigners and others. In this session, we will explore the potential of deep listening – to participants’ stories in their own voices, alongside creative responses to ethnographic fieldwork in RENEW. These stories will juxtapose the experiences of people across ordinarily siloed spaces and domains: academia and professional practice; natural and human sciences; conservation and agriculture, to invite reflections on division, common ground and working together. In turn we will use play, talk and creative tinkering to invite you to reflect, share and create your own - personal and shared - stories of collaboration. Images: - Pinecone at RENEW Collaborations Workshop. Credit: Angela Cassidy. - Man and two children. Credit: John Marshall. Courtesy of John M Marshall. - Men in field. Courtesy of John M Marshall.

Against digital fatalism: resisting technology hype through hopeful and creative interventions with immersive futures  

Andrés Domínguez (The Alan Turing Institute)

Short abstract:

Our contribution consists of an exhibition with three artworks, 1 short film, 1 VR game, 1 raspberry pi installation

Abstract:

Technology hype has been the object of STS critique at a time of grossly inflated expectations and promises about artificial intelligence, the metaverse and other technological ‘frontiers.’ Such critical work has been vital to begin to challenge the soft power hype has in materially shaping the future and creating a downstream sense of inevitability, fatalism, or false hope. In resisting hype, STS scholars are now faced with the world-building imperatives implied in the field’s current turn to making and doing: What kind of practices and narratives could meaningfully supplant hype? How do we transition from just calling out snake oil and bull*hit, to creating more grounded, just and hopeful visions of the future? How can STS work empower diverse audiences to engage in critical thinking about the social, political and ethical aspects of emerging technologies? In our project ‘Against Digital Fatalism,’ we engage with these questions through an experimental and collaborative exchange with artists and creative practitioners. The project materialised in three artworks which touch on specific social and ethical issues linked to extended reality and the metaverse, namely digital escapism and injustice, power and financial speculation in virtual worlds, and hopeful and inclusive engagements with the digital. In this contribution we invite the audience to interact with each of these artworks and join us in a playful and collective exchange about hopeful futures.

Re-drawing the boundaries of platform governance (co-convenors: Karen Huang, Sydney Luken, Akshaya Narayanan)  

Karen Huang (Georgetown University) Akshaya Narayanan (Ethics Lab, Georgetown University)

Short abstract:

Interactive exhibit, featuring poster pin-up space and flexible table-space, and seating arrangements for participants to add their own contributions to the display

Abstract:

Extant paradigms for platform governance, particularly those advanced by platform companies, configure the front-end user interface as the sphere for governance, while simultaneously occluding the back-end operations central to the economic value of the platform. Building on STS research on how this stage management of data relations configures platform governance (Huang & Krafft, in press), as well as research on hacking metaphors for the regulation of emerging technologies (Jones & Millar, 2017), this interactive exhibit animates, through experimental modalities of boundary-drawing, how what is made visible goes hand-in-hand with what is actionable for governance. As designers and STS scholars, we propose an interactive exhibit of critical and speculative drawing, inviting participants to destabilize the boundaries drawn by platform companies, and to reclaim collective power in determining what is actionable for governance. Rooted in architectural approaches to drawing and diagramming, which map spatial relationships in the built environment, this exhibit provides material and discursive tools for interrogating and re-imagining platforms. In the first act, we will utilize the metaphor of stage management to reformulate transparency as a regulatory ideal. Through a series of critical drawing exercises, participants will experiment with visualizing the back-stage operations (e.g., sketching optimization metrics central to a platform’s business model), and with re-drawing the lines of visibility demarcating front- vs. back-stage operations. In the second act, participants will shift from critique to speculation. Discarding “platform” as the metaphorical grounds for sense-making, participants will collectively re-imagine alternative metaphors by which to understand, visualize, design, and govern these sociotechnical systems.

Poetic tactics to counter extraction  

Anne Steele (The Alan Turing Institute) Mirko Febbo (Goldsmiths University of London)

Short abstract:

Performance lecture, interactive workshop

Abstract:

My project aims to bring together a body of work that aims to answer the question: how do we counter the embodied ethos of extraction? How can we gather existing techniques – and develop new ways of engaging with our bodies to combat extraction’s effects? These contradictions are embodied in the commodities that shape our world (and enable economic and social mobility), in the unwaged work required to sustain volunteer communities, and in the natural resources required for computational work (mirrored in our current hunger for data for AI-driven systems). These cognitive dissonances shape our world and ourselves, and while they are often mapped intellectually by scholars and journalists, we are rarely equipped to understand that these broader contradictions can also express themselves as embodied and emotional experiences. Drawing from Ursula Le Guin and Mindy Seu’s notion of gathering, I am currently gathering, connecting, and co-creating a collection of ‘poetic tactics’ that aim to combat the embodied nature of extraction at multiple scales as a School of Commons fellow. This workshop will pilot a few different sensory practices as a part of this ‘poetic tactics’ series: drawing from creative computation, artist and mindfulness practices, and various written and visual mediums.

AWTr Pops: edible prompts for community deliberation around water recylcling  

Christy Spackman (Arizona State University)

Short abstract:

installation/ workshop

Abstract:

The deliberation about recycling water for direct human consumption activates a range of intimate expert engagements with their object(s) of knowledge, as well as different types of expertise, sometimes in the same body. On the one hand sit technocratic experts; On the other hand, sit a different kind of expert/expertise, that of a culturally-informed, perhaps biologically innate disgust at the diverse contaminants present in wastewater. Research demonstrates that as people begin to understand the technological processes behind water recycling, their acceptance of, and trust in, the process increases. That trust, however, is uneven—while people may decide the technology itself is efficacious, they may remain suspicious of other infrastructural aspects (trust in policy makers) or environmental impacts the technology interacts with. How might researchers and stakeholders move the conversation beyond yuck to explore other issues? This making and doing project explores how using community-designed flavor profiles to tell stories engaged stakeholders across the decision-making spectrum in conversations about what futures advanced water treatment technologies might bring about. By “making taste public” (Voss & Guggenheim 2019) through a family friendly product, a gourmet popsicle, this making and doing project highlights new possibilities in expanding public deliberation around sustainability transitions while also revealing new challenges in the process of moving conversations beyond the subjective stage of the “yuck” factor into the realm of concerns about systems.

Carbon cascadia – a playful approach to making carbon dioxide removal landscapes  

Nils Matzner (Technical University Munich)

Short abstract:

Paper-based and online version of the game. Visitors are invited to play and/or see evaluation of test-run with actual CDR-stakeholders. Presented by Nils Matzner, Danny Otto, Linda Heenemann.

Abstract:

In addition to massive reduction of CO2 emissions, it will be necessary to remove CO2 from the atmosphere. Numerous studies have explored the governance of carbon dioxide removal (CDR), modeled pathways, outlined scenarios, or analyzed demonstration projects. A critical gap in the literature are regional CDR case studies investigating dynamics that affect adoption in specific locations. In this making and doing session, we present a playful approach to jointly envision possible CDR landscapes.We developed a serious game called “Carbon Cascadia” that enables stakeholders to express their regional carbon landscape imaginations. Players have the possibility to arrange different biomass production processes and biomass-based CDR methods in cascades. These cascades picture flows of biomass and allow for individual and group reflections on resource usage. The in-game setting brings farmers, foresters, biochar start-ups, CO2 storage operators and other stakeholders together to develop and discuss the most (cost-)effective, long-term and sustainable processes to remove CO2 from the atmosphere using plants and store it long-term. Only with a joint effort and reflections on synergies and trade-offs can such biomass-based CDR measures also function as cascades, i.e. a series of removal and utilization processes. The game is design for online and offline usage. It consists of CDR gaming cards that can be arranged on digital or paper playing boards. The cards provide information on CO2 removal potentials and biomass usage or supply. It enables a novel way to materialize and accessibly discuss about pathways of CDR governance, organization and deployment.

Space shadows: cyanotype impressions of cosmic encounters  

Sebastian Levar Spivey (Universit of Twente)

Short abstract:

Presentation with projected images and printed art objects; activity with prepared cyanotype materials for participants. Attached image is from Moon Trees; images in the workshop will be much smaller.

Abstract:

Space Shadows is an practice of capturing extraterran travelers in cyanotype prints, solidifying their shadows in chemically hardened sunlight. It began with the series Untitled (Moon Trees #1-7) in 2022, and continues now with Untitled (Rocket Parts) in 2024. For each iteration of Space Shadows, I make a series of cyanotype prints by using objects that have traveled through the atmosphere as the image matrix, and then exposing the image using sunlight. In this way, I am able to capture the “shadow” of extraterran travelers. Such a collaboration between earthling, solar energy, and space-artifact materializes a relationship of wonderment, finitude, and release that opposes the extractive national and corporate imaginations that dominate the current space age. It also enacts an immediate relationship of earthlings as creatures already engaged in cosmic encounters, without the mediation of industry. Moon Trees used leaves, twigs, and other detritus collected from the Moon Tree in Sewanee, TN, USA. This is one of several Moon Trees scattered across the USA, all of whom are grown from seeds sent into orbit around the moon on Apollo 14 in 1971 and planted on their return.Rocket Parts will be created by capturing impressions of a small rocket built and launched by Space Society Twente, a student organization at the University of Twente, NL, that seeks to find ways to make space a space for all. In this workshop, I will first present my work and then offer precoated papers for the participants to make their own prints.

In the shadow of ashes  

Ben Yau

Short abstract:

Multimedia installation

Abstract:

In the Shadow of Ashes is an immersive, multi-media installation that sheds light on a dark chapter of British colonial rule. Engaging experimental modes of knowledge production, this counter-narrative aims to generate new reflections of the Batang Kali massacre, its subsequent concealment by successive British governments, and the amnesiac consequences of these injustices. The project presents newly found archival materials and weaves them alongside first-hand testimony by a victim of the massacre. Automated lights and projectors are activated as the narrative unfolds.The installation is set into motion by an audio composition introducing a dialogue with Lim Kok, whose father was massacred by British colonial officers in Malaya, 1948. This conversation makes reference to the arrangement of materials presented on three overhead projectors that activate in succession during the exchange, highlighting various elements. Once the medium of choice for disseminating colonial propaganda, projection is employed subversively in the installation as an ‘anti-redaction’.The exchange proceeds to reveal a shocking discovery: a cover-up by the British Colonial Office known as Operation Legacy. Abruptly, all lights go dark, replaced by the soft glow of an old monitor screen in the corner of the room. Discovered in the private collection of a diplomat stationed in British-colonised Aden, the video depicts people throwing classified documents on the ground, before setting them alight. “I never heard about this,” responds Lim in the audio piece, seeing the footage, “with that extra evidence… we may have won the [court] case.”

Intra-Axion! – epistemic tumbling in QCD axion dark matter physics (photo session)  

Olivier Rossel (Brandenburg University of Technology)

Short abstract:

Workshop. Performative Material Science. Get together with a stack of printed photographs. Related to the method of photo elicitation, associative and wild speculating on dark matter knowledge generation through photographs.

Abstract:

It is not surprising that current physics struggles with arguments regarding the (non-)detection of dark matter. On the one hand, physicists have been theoretically puzzling for nearly 100 years over the composition of said matter, which is supposed to constitute 85% of the total mass of the universe. On the other hand, it remains to be seen which experimental strategies will lead to possible detections in the foreseeable future. However, so far the own observation, current efforts to detect dark matter rely significantly on procedures that are situated far from elaborate wave- or particle-like models and well-established experimental practices. The session, under the scrutiny of STS-informed perspectives, invites following the hypothesis that dark matter exhibits more complex material characteristics than is generally recognized by physics; therefore the question is asked where and how knowledge generation in the field takes on a barely controllable momentum of its own and risks escaping future reproducibility. The workshop negotiates dark matter in the tension between formal physical constitution and collective imagination. After a brief introduction, a common dive into the topic is made by negotiating with/through photographs to re-configures the body of knowledge predominantly governed and disciplined by physics.

Co-creating resilient futures: a collaborative brainstorming card deck  

Benedetta Piantella (NYU Tandon School of Engineering)

Short abstract:

Interactive demo of a card deck alongside templates for activities/formats participants can easily follow.

Abstract:

This making and doing session presents a brainstorming card deck co-created in dialogue with environmental educators, community organizers, digital democracy advocates, and other community experts. Designed to collectively generate ideas for resilience-forward curriculum activities and environmentally responsive media and infrastructure, the deck offers a dynamic opportunity for collaborative design and transformative learning experiences. In this era of deep uncertainty, the card deck provides a structured yet flexible framework for navigating uncertain terrain. Through collaborative brainstorming and ideation, participants can explore a range of potential futures and strategies for addressing environmental challenges with creativity and resilience. The card deck fosters active participation and engagement from community members, emphasizing the importance of community-driven approaches to environmental education and media infrastructure development. At its core, the card deck is about envisioning and co-creating sustainable futures. By sparking conversations and generating ideas for resilient curriculum design and environmentally responsive media infrastructure, it encourages participants to think critically about the intersections between science, technology, and society in shaping a more sustainable world. Through its dynamic and interactive nature, the card deck offers conference attendees the opportunity to engage in collaborative curriculum design and infrastructure futuring, while exploring new perspectives, and co-creating innovative approaches to planetary limits. Overall, the card deck hopes to serve as a practical and symbolic tool for advancing the goals of 4S & EASST communities, embodying the spirit of collaboration, innovation, and public engagement in addressing the complex issues facing our world today.

Are you sitting uncomfortably? Then let’s begin. Storytelling to build an intersectional future in technology  

Sol Martinez Demarco (Harz University of Applied Sciences)

Short abstract:

The workshop will start with an introduction an example story. Then participants will be allocated to groups to develop their stories. It will close with a plenary and a reflection.

Abstract:

The workshop aims to contribute to the transformation of the technology industry by harnessing collaborative and individual scenario planning and feminist imaginaries to empower women and marginalised groups. As part of a bigger project which seeks to challenge existing biases and amplify diverse voices through innovative methodologies, we invite participants to storyboard alternative worlds, envisioning futures that promote diversity and inclusivity in the technology sector. It is by creating parallel worlds in which marginalised groups are not marginalised that will enable the participants to uncover how our world could be changed.The project, and this workshop embrace techno-feminist perspectives, which view technology as a socially constructed entity intertwined with gender relations. It acknowledges the mutual shaping of technology and gender and advocates for a flexible and anti-essentialist approach. Additionally, it aligns with feminist methodologies, emphasising the importance of inclusivity, representation, and critical reflection. It recognises the need for intersectional perspectives that account for multiple dimensions of identity.The workshop draws inspiration from the Fashion Futures project , which uses scenario planning to navigate the complexity of the future in the context of fashion and nature. Scenario planning encourages creative and abstract thinking, fostering inclusivity and diverse decision-making processes. Those wanting to take part in the workshop will come with a point of history to be transformed in mind, to transform the narrative of the current day, and it will be these that are built upon in groups through storyboarding exercises.

AI as in the I of AI  

Nini Zhou (University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign)

Short abstract:

The presentation will require visitors to interact with ChatGPT 4.0 one by one to generate a picture of AI collectively.

Abstract:

In this project, participants would engage in one-on-one interactions with ChatGPT 4.0, contributing to the collaborative creation of a portrait of AI. The goal is to investigate how AI is shaped by the collective intelligence of various users, the users' perceptions of AI and AI's perception of itself. When creating this portrait, users would be free to create as they want. We would also be able to discover how previous interactions between users and AI influence the interaction between the following users and AI. This project invites individuals to partake in an interactive exploration of AI, highlighting the power of collective intelligence in shaping the narrative around this transformative technology. The resulting composite portrait reflects not only the capabilities of ChatGPT but also the diverse perspectives of the human participants, offering a glimpse into the symbiotic relationship between humans and AI.

Evolutions in process: making and doing transformative visions using the ParEvo approach  

Indigo Strudwicke (Australian National University)

Short abstract:

This will be a participatory workshop/collaboration with groups of up to 10 participants. Observers can also attend to be involved in the discussion. Afterwards it will become a poster installation.

Abstract:

The need for transformation in response to grand societal challenges is a crucial but challenging task and motivates the need for new methods to explore how we can collectively vision change.This session seeks to explore new approaches to making and doing alternative futures in STS by engaging participants to create visions of alternative futures through their contribution to evolving storylines. Drawing upon a tool developed for organisational learning, this workshop will explore how the ParEvo (Davies, 2007) process can be used as a reflexive tool to investigate collective narratives held about science and technology and how it can be adapted into a new method in STS to explore participatory co-creation of transformative visions of science and technology.Participants will be directed to respond initially to a seed-story prompt, and then to build on each others' visions over a series of evolutions within the session. N participants will generate n storylines, branching off the seed story, and together generate n unique visions of STS futures. The resulting stories and their potential insights will be discussed with participants and observers, along with a discussion of the method itself to contribute to improvements of the application of the approach for this transformative visioning. The produced storylines will be turned into a display to remain up for the remainder of the conference, and in the weeks following the session they will be turned into a digital 'choose your own adventure' interactive piece of media to explore and communicate STS visions of alternative futures.

Sociotechnical analysis of cable cars as a new mode of public transport  

Sergio Gustavo Astorga (Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana)

Short abstract:

Posters

Abstract:

Through different techniques of sociotechnical analysis, the artifact of cable cars is explored as a new modality of metropolitan public transportation, highlighting sociotechnical alliances, dynamics, and relevant social groups, in the case of Mexico.

My documents, check them out – a serious game about migration infrastructures  

Lorenzo Olivieri (University of Bologna) Annalisa Pelizza (University of Bologna and University of Aarhus)

Short abstract:

workshop/game

Abstract:

"My documents, check them out" is a collaborative, role-playing game simulating the bureaucratic mechanisms shaping migration control. Its main goal is to interest players in the problematization and re-design of the semantic categories and values used in databases for migration management. During the game, players impersonate a fictional character, and they are told that a “document” is needed to legally remain in Italy. To obtain the document, players must fill in and submit an application form containing information about their characters and their migration journey. At the beginning of their turn, players pick up a card from the deck. “Wait” and “Accelerated procedure” cards mimic the temporal dynamics shaping migration management. “Design cards” allow players to choose and introduce a new category, to capture what they consider salient elements of their characters’ migration trajectory. Players are also invited to share stories in order to receive comments and suggestions. Lastly, “Agency cards” provide the possibility to add new elements to the characters’ stories and identities. Applications are then uploaded into a software which takes a decision by producing a negative, long-term positive or short-term positive outcome. The game constitutes a tool for reflection which, according to the differently situated gazes of the players, discloses their competences, assumptions and biases about the dynamics of migration management. My documents, check them out was developed in the context of the Processing Citizenship ERC project (#714463) and was co-designed with asylum seekers, lawyers, students, civil servants.

Sky inside the soil  

Alexandra Toland (Bauhaus-Universität Weimar)

Short abstract:

Interactive, participatory presentation using silkscreen practice as a way of thinking-with materials

Abstract:

Who, or what, mediates pollution? In Bitterfeld-Wolfen, industrial heritage is a fundamental part of the cultural fabric of the city. However, processes of bioremediation have masked ongoing environmental violence through the lush spectacle of reconstructed (urban-industrial) nature, so as to erase the former fly ash and putrid odor from collective consciousness. “Sky inside the Soil” is a multi-phase, co-authored research-creation project that explores the roles of plants and trees as mediators between soil and sky in more-than-human communities of extreme toxicity. Following the seasonal cycle of ruderal plants growing around the notoriously polluted Silbersee (Silver Lake), we imagine through them the historical trajectories of labor, leakage, and repair on a former mining pit once used for wastewater from the Agfa film factory and chemical textiles plant in Bitterfeld-Wolfen. We use archival photographs and pigments derived from plant biomass to reflect on the social, economic, and aesthetic dimensions of pollution through the medium of silkscreen – a tightly woven nylon mesh, not unlike the synthetic nylon products once manufactured in Wolfen. We consider changes in viscosity over time and invite an embodied understanding of such changes though the repetitive process of silkscreen printing: prepare, place, pour, pull, lift, sweep, repeat. Using these motions to structure our reflections, we work-with and think-with vegetal mediators to re(con)textualize ideas about the long-term, more-than-human labor of remediation and regeneration.

Reverb-resonate: a participatory wearable-to-sound performance  

Mona Hedayati

Short abstract:

participatory performance

Abstract:

My proposal is a demo of my ASTS project that hovers across the spaces of biomedicine through biosensors that capture intricate neurophysiological imprints, computation for data and signal processing, and artistic practice through sound design and performance making. My project allows for participatory sound sculpting, reciprocity, and affective communication by sonifying biosignals—indicative of affective and by extension emotional changes—as a way to listen to the language of the body and not the mind. In the initial phase participants are introduced to the workflow by listening to my sonified data to understand how pulse rate and gestural movements reflect in the sound. The second phase, however, engages them in a feedback loop with me by inviting them to try on the wearable that couches the sensors to leverage the same mechanism as a response to mine. I, thus, leverage sound’s capacity to induce neurophysiological and by extension emotional state changes in the body leading to its experience building and event making potential that fundamentally operates on embodied and pre-cognitive level. In this sense, while residual affect from biosignals become the departure point for the sound, I then rely on sound’s affective quality to generate further emotional states as a feedback loop between biosensors and sound. By positing sound as a relatable mess by tying in bio and acoustic signals, the project aims to create a sociality that relies on the feedback loop between bodies, operationalized by the feedback loop between bio and acoustic signals.

Notes on planetary computing – GeoAI in the tropics  

Marc Böhlen (University at Buffalo)

Short abstract:

Storytelling with code

Abstract:

The project explores the logics of GeoAI – the integration of geography and artificial intelligence – to unravel the web of dependencies between data and code in the making of AI models. Because of the instability of GeoAI, I follow a dual track development strategy that allows me to reflect on a territory as a humanist, while at the same time engaging with the territory through the very technical methods defining the territory under observation. The result is a cook-book, a companion book for code centric exploration that accompanies a traditional printed book. Topically, my inquiry is centered on the confluence of multi-spectral, high-resolution satellite sensor data, Geographic Information Systems and classification processes enabled by GeoAI at various levels of computational intensity. The project describes how daily updates from remote sensing assets in the sky create a novel paradigm of planetary assessment, and how this condition alters industries from desktop computing to agriculture, insurance, and compliance. Specifically, I describe field studies in Indonesia that demonstrate how the nexus of artificial intelligence and geospatial practices applied to mapping sustainable land use practices impact post-growth strategies and land use conflicts in the Alas Mertajati of Central Bali, Indonesia. I will show and tell the story of how GeoAI in the tropics came to be, and include with the cook-book a demonstration of the technical infrastructure that enables the first machine learning enabled local knowledge inclusive representation of agroforestry on the island of Bali. Code: https://github.com/realtechsupport/cocktail Cook: http://35.226.46.43:8501/

A different kind of game jam: making games through sts!  

Clara Valdés-Stauber (TUM School of Social Sciences and Technology TUM Center for Culture and Arts) Yigit Ulker (Technical University of Munich) Elisenda Passola i Lizandra (Technical University Munich)

Short abstract:

Workshop with up to 9 participants.

Abstract:

This workshop is an express-version of a one-week teaching format for interdisciplinary groups of students, offered at the Technical University Munich (TUM). At the Making & Doing edition, the STS-participants will learn about the creative potential of video games for reflection, e.g. through world-building, storytelling and decision-making. They develop their video game idea thematizing a STS topic by enabling the creative potential of games to integrate societal and ethical aspects. The game ideas can go into the direction of serious games or speculative fiction. During this process, the participants explore how STS lenses can be transformed into the mechanics and storytelling techniques of (video) games, creating STS-infused game ideas for a broader public.Structure of the workshop:First, the participants will receive an introduction to storytelling through games, then some STS themes to choose from. They then start brainstorming and visualizing (through moodboards, sketches and AI generated images) their game idea in smaller groups. During this process the participants will be consulted by the workshop instructors. At the end, the groups will present each other their game idea to see how it is received by potential players and get feedback on their initial ideas.

Reflective dialogues around a carpet: toward a new geography of responsibilities in addressing digital inequalities  

Nicole Goedhart (Amsterdam UMC)

Short abstract:

A carpet (2x3m)

Abstract:

We designed a carpet to facilitate discussions on the complex problem of digital inequality. The carpet design is a result of our participatory action research on digital inequalities in Amsterdam (2017-2023). During this research policymakers, ICT designers, and other professionals often asked the question: Who are those citizens with a distance to the online world? Digital inequality was often oversimplified, primarily portraying older individuals lacking ICT skills. This stereotype neglects demographic diversity and fails to recognize that digital inequality affects various age groups, including children. Additionally, the emphasis on skills overlooks that ICT use is influenced by the social (technical) space that people live in, for example, the dominant societal norms and values, and the way in which society is organized. A myopic focus on elderly and individual skills risks ignoring that the structural consequences of digitalization for citizens across different backgrounds remain invisible (intersectional invisibility) and delays measures being taken to remedy the negative effects. The carpet challenge participants (policymakers, researcher, ICT designers and others) to reflect critically on their own assumptions and blind spots trough reflective questions, fostering a deeper situated understanding of the complex problem. Moreover, it helps to identify opportunities for systemic actions, recognizing that digital inequality is not solely an individual responsibility but rather a complex interplay involving macro-societal, meso-organizational, and micro-individual factors.Authors: Nicole Goedhart and Christine Dedding

Hiring black box – are you better at job recruitment than an AI?  

Shan Wang (Norwegian University of Science and Technology)

Short abstract:

A physical installation with some technical setup.

Abstract:

Artificial Intelligence is being used more and more in the human resource management for selecting, training or evaluating workers. In this making and doing session we will explore questions on fairness of the recruitment process and how AI can mitigate the human bias or exacerbate discrimination. With this installation, we invite participants to experience an initial screening process in hiring activities from the side of artificial intelligence, and their own human side. Participants will firstly read a job description and indicate the ranking criteria that they deem important for the job, for example previous experience, education, language, or other. Secondly, the recruiter AI will make an assessment based on the human input, while the humans go into the black box to make their own selection and ranking of the given job candidates. Thirdly, as they exit the black box, participants compare their human choices with the AI’s choices to see if and how it differed. We finally invite participants to provide feedback on the activity to map how the STS community can help our project, BIAS, to rethink AI-enhanced hiring processes.

AI Utopia: convivial technologies there and then  

Andreas Liesenfeld

Short abstract:

We propose an installation of around a dozen poster size (A0) cityscape photographs that together form an photo exhibition.

Abstract:

What if AI technologies were build by the people, for the people - serving everybody equally well, safe and fair. In short, what if they were tools for conviviality (Illich 1973)? This foto installation explores what a utopian AI technology landscape looks like, inspired by transformations of public space and technologies here in the Netherlands. Through a series of poster-size (A0) contrastive cityscape photographs, we show how Dutch cityscapes transformed over the past decades, from the car-infested molochs of the 70s, into spaces for bicycles, trees and pedestrians of today. Retracing how Dutch landscapes evolved into more convivial spaces: what would a more convivial AI technoscape look like?

Stitching solutions: determining policy for AI accountability  

Alka Menon (Yale University)

Short abstract:

It is a short activity that's a cross between an interactive presentation and an installation.

Abstract:

As regulation to hold AI accountable picks up steam with the advent of the EU AI Act, we reimagine policy construction as a community learning process rather than a top-down prescription from authorities. This activity invites conference attendees to assemble their idealAI accountability policy by combining snippets from a pool of potential printed options. Participants will select a regulatory scenario among domains of finance, medicine, or recommender-systems and put together text that aligns with the values they want to prioritize for policy. They will physically organize their policy by rearranging fabric pieces with individual requirements onto a corkboard. The policy text samples are drawn from a collaborative research exercise in which a sociology and computer science undergraduates simultaneously designed AI systems and policies governing explanations for inscrutable AI systems. This exercise invites conference attendees to confront some of the same tradeoffs that we found in our research on explainability for AI systems, like the balance between comprehensiveness and user understandability, and extend our research into further possibilities. We will pin together each attendee-generated policy on a corkboard and take a photograph. These policies will subsequently be uploaded to a website that will feature a digital version of the activity to gather input from the general public. Additionally, users will be able to view and comment on the configurations of other AI policies.

Bringing climate science and society closer together: a citizens’ assembly tasting session  

Eline Ramaaker (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam)

Short abstract:

Workshop

Abstract:

The sense of urgency surrounding climate change is increasing in research and policy domains, yet many citizens feel distanced from science and politics. Traditional science communication methods do not seem to reduce the distance between citizens and (knowledge) institutes. In our project “Climate Research in Dialogue”, we experiment with citizens’ assemblies as a new form of science communication to bridge this gap between society and science and to better align scientific knowledge with citizens’ lived experiences. In this workshop, attendees will experience how citizens' assemblies can be used as a new form of research and science communication. We will guide attendees through a practice citizens’ assembly regarding the roles climate scientists (can) take in mitigating the climate crisis and on preferred methods to engage with citizens and other societal actors. The aim of this session is to help attendees to reflect on their roles as researchers in society, how their roles can help address the climate crisis, and to provide an example of how they themselves can engage with societal actors. After this practice session we will hold a brief presentation on our own citizens’ assembly experiences and findings. We will discuss: 1. Theoretical and methodological underpinnings of the climate citizen assemblies;   2. Activities used during the assemblies and how the assemblies may help build relations between scientists and citizens; 3. Preliminary findings and themes from the climate citizen assemblies (e.g. proposed climate science research-questions; roles and collaborations between citizens, scientists); 4. Efforts to ensure social impact, e.g. through cross-sector collaboration.  

Post-growth control wars  

Andreu Belsunces (Universitat Oberta de Catalunya)

Short abstract:

Collaborative workshops will involve four groups, each comprising a maximum of seven persons, making a total of 28 participants.

Abstract:

Post-Growth Control Wars (PGCW) is an ethnographic futures living lab and a collaborative action-research method that integrates strategic, systems, and transition design, play, generative conflict, and performance. It conceptualizes individuals and groups as key holders and catalysts of socio-technical imaginaries. Consequently, it aims to achieve several objectives.The primary goal is to create conditions conducive to observing how contested visions of the future and controversies surrounding degrowth and sustainability converge, colliding and co-evolving together in the realms of industry, governance, technology, and the economy.Additionally, PGCW aims to stimulate social (and scholarly) imagination by simulating sociotechnical scenarios framed by planetary boundaries. It seeks to challenge modern optimism rooted in the myth that techno-scientific progress can solve all challenges, including the futures it produces. PGCW also strives to decolonize imaginaries captured by technocapitalist logics and to rehearse socio-technical transition strategies towards a post-growth society.PGCW represents the latest iteration of "Control Wars," a method previously focused on automated technologies, technological sovereignty, data commons (including an adaptation for primary schools), climate change, and the potential consequences of Covid-19. Since 2018, it has been implemented in academic, activist, artistic, and design contexts in various cities, including Barcelona, Madrid, Paris, New York, Eindhoven, Porto, Mexico City, Amsterdam, and Bilbao.Specifically, PGCW has been conducted on three occasions, serving to build an archive of the post-growth imagination, create stories about post-growth transitions, identify commonplaces within the post-growth imagination, develop a catalog of possible transitional tactics, and re-enchant the discourse and potential practices around degrowth.

Templatic games - play your research  

Ulrike Zeshan (University of Central Lancashire and Ishara Press CIC)

Short abstract:

Interactive exhibition and test-playing of Serious Games, followed by discussions on turning participants' research into templatic games.

Abstract:

This contribution introduces a sub-type of Serious Games, namely templatic games. As the name suggests, Serious Games are played not for entertainment but for other purposes, e.g. awareness raising, education, or collaboration. They offer alternative ways of engaging with audiences in an interactive manner. Usually, developing a Serious Game is complex and time-intensive, and a playable outcome is not guaranteed. However, in a templatic game the materials, rules and choreography have already been tested, and new games can easily be created by swapping the content that underpins the game and adjusting the rules. Two examples of templatic games are introduced: Transition Games are board games where players take on the roles of stakeholders and walk their tokens through transition phases while uncovering scenarios that either help or hinder the transition. Regen-D Games use wooden disks with QR-codes linked to multimedia materials that describe different aspects of a sustainability/regeneration initiative. Chance selection with a spinning wheel prompts players to uncover the initiative step-by-step, and to deploy LINK, EVALUATE or JOKER tokens. Regen-D is particularly useful for dissemination and for onboarding new project members. A selection of published games is available for flexible test-playing (10-15mins): "Pollinators" (Transition Game), "Water management in an Indian eco-village" (Regen-D), and "Collaborative finance" (Regen-D). After test-playing, participants can discuss how to turn their own research into templatic games and how to use them, e.g. playing through research findings with non-academic audiences, developing games with students, or induction for new team members.

Reconfiguring contraceptive development: speculative timescapes to ask ‘what’s otherwise?’ For pregnancy prevention  

Cecily Klim (University of New South Wales, Sydney)

Short abstract:

Participatory workshop. Participants will be divided into small groups to work on the tasks collaboratively.

Abstract:

From tracking apps and wearables, to ‘smart’ condoms, hormonal profiling and implantable microchips, digital contraceptive technologies offer a potential ‘solution’ to unintended pregnancy, limited pharmaceutical innovation, and enduring user dissatisfaction of modern pharmaceutical contraceptives. Femtech companies leading this development appear to be user-led and pride their technologies for meeting various user-defined contraceptive priorities, such as non-hormonal, non-invasive, and user-controlled. While a promising glimpse of hope for a landscape long overdue for change, the transformation of pregnancy prevention from a pharmaceutical drug to a direct-to-consumer digital technology brings about novel risks regarding efficacy, safety, security, and accountability. Indeed, the very ‘novelty’ of these technologies and their ‘transformative’ potential is debatable given the homogeneity of Femtech companies, the similarity of tracking apps to fertility-awareness methods, and their position within a broader landscape of retrogressing reproductive rights.This workshop invites participants to collaboratively explore contraceptive development trajectories. Adapted from a creative qualitative workshop, it is structured around three tasks: (1) prompts participants to think about the past and present by mapping contraceptive methods along a self-defined timeline; (2) introduces various ‘novel’ digital contraceptives for discussion and mapping; and (3) invites participants to speculatively imagine ‘what’s otherwise’ for contraception. While framed around transformation, innovation, and timelines, this workshop ‘troubles time’ by engaging with non-linear trajectories of change that draw attention to the continual co-production of past, present, and future timescapes. Inviting diverse perspectives to reconfigure the future of contraception aims to challenge a solutionist agenda and the normative values ascribed to ‘old’ and ‘new’.

Designing AI agents simulations for STS (post)qualitative research  

Denisa Kera (Bar Ilan University)

Short abstract:

workshop and demo

Abstract:

We will explore the use AI agents based on GPT4 in Theatrical Technology Assessment (TTA) methodology, focusing on co-designing the agents with participants to simulate stakeholder interactions. On the technology side, the format leverages on the LangChain framework and draws inspiration from models like AutoGPT to create a sandbox for stakeholders-to-AI agents interactions. The co-design process allows for the exploration of stakeholder negotiations on STS issues, such as AI regulations, through simulations that capture diverse perspectives and outcomes. TTA, embedded within the Constructive Technology Assessment framework, facilitates proactive learning among stakeholders at the nascent stages of technology development, highlighting the importance of stakeholder engagement in steering technology. The workshop will employ an iterative design process for AI agents, balancing the views of technology promoters and critics, and experimenting with how simulated outcomes are presented to the public. This approach is informed by new materialist philosophies (and discussion of post-qualitative research), particularly Karen Barad's agential realism, emphasizing the entangled nature of material and discursive elements in societal outcomes. By simulating technoscientific negotiations, such as those around AI governance, we aim to produce insights into the ethical, social, and political dimensions of technology, fostering a participatory public discourse reminiscent of the 18th century's public demonstrations of science and technology. This workshop sets the stage for a rethinking of public engagement in science and technology, proposing AI-simulated negotiations as a method for integrating societal considerations into science and technology debates and regulation.

Olive stories: complicating the plantationocene by revealing oily relations  

Efe Cengiz (University of Groningen) Julide Sezer Carol Garzon-Lopez (Campus Fryslan, university of Groningen) Anne Beaulieu (University of Groningen)

Short abstract:

Interactive installation incorporating audio-visual storytelling devices, field equipment, background videos playing on loop, posters, booklets, food tasting. 4 media players will be used for 4 different containers with 4 earphones attached.

Abstract:

How can we understand concerns for sustainable development, food security and sovereignty beyond longstanding mainstream agricultural production schemes? When we focus too much on yield and feasibility, we ignore the mutual meanings of landscapes that were (or are becoming) plantations and the species that live (or used to live) within them. To foreground these relations, our interactive installation complicates olives by revealing more-than-human, infrastructural, and sociopolitical relations through the method of interactive storytelling. Employing a plethora of sounds, images and materials, we invite the participants to lose their sure footing in an oily world, where olives stop becoming just food and are called to appear and become significant in their other forms; as seed, fruit, tree, wood, symbol, landscape, companion and tool. We invite you to taste, touch, smell, listen and walk through the olive stories of our representation (do not mistake it for a concrete reality!). We complicate the matter of knowing and producing olive oil, as well as of knowing sustainability and development through comparing, contrasting and reflecting on stories of olive entangled lives and landscapes in Turkey, Palestine, Italy and Spain. As we invite olives to become agents in their own stories, we also make noticeable the agency of other non-humans. Instead of mastery over them, or a letting be that falls within the old dreams of a pristine nature, we propose an uneasy companionship and mutual affection within the smelly, messy and oily relations of future olive landscapes.

Participatory conservation  

Jéssica Sacramento da Hora Barros (Universidade Federal da Bahia (UFBA)) Gabriela De La Rosa (Wageningen University and Research) Charbel El-Hani (Federal University of Bahia)

Short abstract:

Photography exhibition

Abstract:

There is a lot of evidence that the dialogue between academic and local stakeholders can significantly enhance the conservation of biodiversity. However, local knowledge continues to be marginalised even though local communities are the ones most directly affected by the implementation of environmental policies. Mutual engagement and dialogue between different types of knowledge are crucial for robust and just policies. Ethnoornithological studies are being carried out around the world in recognition of contributions of local knowledge as tools for conservation. Thus, the aim of this project is to investigate the local knowledge of the community of Conde (Bahia, Brazil) about Pyrrhura griseipectus (endemic endangered parakeet) as part of a process of management and conservation of the species, with a view to engaging the community in decision-making processes for environmental and community identity conservation. To achieve the main objective of this project, activities are being carried out with the local communities: participant observation; interviews to inquire into the local knowledge about the biology and ecology of the the parakeet population; workshops and artistic methodologies to increase community engagement; experiments with nest boxes with the aim of recovering the species with the participation of members from the local community. Community participation is crucial not only to build relations based on trust, as provided by long-term conviviality and direct engagement, which may ultimately have consequences to the success of conservation efforts, but above all to provide a space for the voice, perspectives, and decision making of communities often silenced in conservation governance.