1.7.2006

Introduction

The project will seek to provoke new dialogues about the complexity of our interconnected world through collaboration between researchers, publics, artists, NGO’s and the media.

WHY?

• Thinking on environment and development remains fragmented, and the technical language doesn’t connect with the public
• People need space to think about climate change, biodiversity loss, globalization - but the scale of the issues can seem beyond the reach of everyday life
• These issues still fail to lodge in mainstream political debates
• Given the scale of the issues there’s a surprisingly muted cultural response

Demands to save the planet from environmental catastrophe, or to act on poverty are often daunting in scale, distant from daily life. But there is good news: there are acts of compassion, care, curiosity, and creativity that are already part of everyday life, and modes of communication that are already helping these ordinary acts to span great distances. The project brings together people from research communications and the arts people together with wider publics in a dialogue about the potential for rethinking social practices, policy ideas and technologies to change the world for the better. The Interdependence Day project (ID) makes space for all of us to consider new ways of debating and acting on issues around environment, development and globalization.

The idea

• Curate a family of interventions that explore the theme
• Create some thinking space that will allow society to address difficult questions about globalization and environmental change
• Form new dialogues, unexpected partnerships and catalyze new cultural responses
• Test new languages and layers of interpretation that respond to these themes

ID aims to refresh jaded debates about sustainable development, globalization and environmental change through an integrated body of activities comprising:

• - ID Day July 2006: An annual public event comprising of a bundle interactive workshops; well-known speakers, and public debates on key challenges
• New opportunities for new debates and collaborations between policy, academic and cultural worlds
• Published, broadcast and web explorations of the themes

The project binds together interpretation, new knowledge and public participation with the goal of feeding fresh ideas back into policy debate. We start from a series of questions:

1. How can our affluent society respond to the fact that by 2050 we will need 3 planets to support our lifestyle? OR: How do we avoid going to hell in a shopping basket?
2. Why is there so little cultural depth’ to responses to environmental change and development problems?
3. Can thinking about interdependence help us to overcome the conflict between our pursuit of pleasure and our pursuit of justice and environmental security; between our desires to consume, and our knowledge of environmental impacts?

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