Short Abstract:

This panel considers indigenous spatial imaginaries that enable environmental sustainability and food security across the globe

Long Abstract:

In times of crisis such as the recent pandemic, farming activities proved to be a crucial support for millions worldwide (FAO 2021). Yet, such resilience should not be taken for granted and we are all called to rethink the future that we are moving towards. While on the one hand futuristic design dominates public discourses that build on never-ending equilibria of power, on the other hand urban congestion and deforestation are not far from degenerating into dystopic landscapes, with such scenarios already visible particularly at the peripheries of the world. This panel invites researchers to discuss their findings, work in progress, or projects proposals for the anthropology of imagination that looks at indigenous creative engagements with space, particularly those that bring nature back into the urban world in the perspective of well-being enhancement. We are interested in evaluating imagined and/or emerging infrastructures, including for example bridges, housing, canals, renewable energies and urban gardens at the hands of local people, whether lay, field experts, practitioners or artists. Theoretically, contributions might consider collaborative artistic methodologies to express local imaginations, the role of the past in articulating ideas of future, and how local media (whether in institutional or alternative forms) collaborate to shape emic imaginaries. Ultimately, we will seek to understand how emerging indigenous notions and practices of sustainability can allow us to address spatial and livelihood vulnerabilities around the world, and to envisage and promote appropriate responses to craft collaboratively sustainable futures.