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Short abstract

This paper explores how existential threats are translated into local contexts. Using Greece as a paradigmatic case and comparing Greek and international media coverage, it examines how risks are framed as distant dangers or urgent problems and who is portrayed as responsible for action.

Long abstract

Building on the experience we gained from organizing the EASST-funded workshop on global–local interaction (Emblematic Localities Against Existential Threats: STSing Balkans, Balkanizing STS, September 2025), we will present our ongoing study of this interaction in the case of Greece. European but peripherally placed at the borders of East and West, and defined by a geography combining islands and mountains, Greece offers a paradigmatic case for exploring how global existential threats are understood and addressed within specific local contexts. The presentation draws on research undertaken by our group while preparing a report for the newly founded NKUA Observatory for Research on Existential Threats, run by an eight-member faculty committee and supported by a team of three STS researchers. To explore this global–local relationship, we examine how existential threats are portrayed in Greek and international media and compare how they are framed in different contexts. Our analysis covers topics such as the environmental crisis, AI, and biotechnology/biomedicine, and asks how different actors describe the local–global connection of existential threats and how they frame the relevant time horizon for action. More specifically, through media analysis, we ask: How are existential threats presented to the public? Are they portrayed as distant, long-term dangers primarily monitored by experts, or as problems requiring immediate action? What kinds of responses are suggested, and who is presented as responsible for acting? The presentation seeks to contribute to discussions within STS about how catastrophic futures are interpreted, communicated, and connected to present forms of governance and action.