Paper 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.

Paper long 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).