Our idea is to create large lifestyle housing for people that want to go to zero-carbon and live with nature with gardening as well as produce food with modern aquaponic methods. This would increase the speed of sustainable lifestyle change due to peer-learning and innovation and less need for leisure travel. This idea has transformative capacity as it can bring together people and thus speed up innovation to jump to sustainable lifestyles. And we believe this can be done at a mass affordable scale with a carbon-neutral wooden construction.

The idea can be experimented with choosing a few existing housing companies primarily people who have a desire to live ecologically and with nature and using that as the Testbed for things to have in new developments. This session should be interesting for anyone in architecture, construction, food production, property, city or urban planning, as well as people who want to live in the zero-carbon future.  

The Y-Foundation is a Developer and Global Forerunner of the Housing First principle. The Y-Foundation offers affordable rental housing in Finland. 

Twitter handles:  @JKaakinen  @lassyj  @kimmoronka

Website:  https://ysaatio.fi/en/y-foundation

Images:  The Y-Foundation (c)

The COVID Pandemic has forced all the governments in the world to react and change rapidly. However, when we start coming out, the real Transformation work starts. How can governments reimagine themselves, not as agents of industrial growth, but as Arenas of Imagination and experimentation? I nstead of going back to the unsustainable normal, how can we take a new direction? In this conversation, we will discuss these particularly in the context of education and life-long-learning.

The purpose of this session is to find new viewpoints for the current Finnish government from the UNTITLED community. We will explore what education and learning means in a post-industrial and post-growth setting, where the purpose of developing oneself is not solely being able to compete in the labor market, but also to provide a wider benefit to society. 

Li Andersson is the Minister of Education in Finland. She is the Party Leader of the Left Alliance.

 

Twitter: @liandersson

Bio and Photo: Ministry of Education and Culture (c)

In the time of Planetary and Cognitive capitalism, the total, Extractive logics of the market seek to expand and tap into every potential, transaction, aspect and material of our world and bodies – and also our time. No habitable positions remain “outside” the terrain of profit.To Survive, we all develop defenses against it, and adjust the set of compromises made when inhabiting it.

How do we live “within and against” commodified time? What time is love?

Tuomas Toivonen is a Helsinki-based architect and musician. In 2005, he founded NOW Architectural Studio in partnership with his wife Nene Tsuboi. In 2013, Toivonen and Tsoboi notably designed a public sauna called The Culture Sauna. In addition to Solo musical projects, Toivonen also performs with the Giant Robot music group. [ Bio Source: Finnish Design Shop ]

Twitter: @tuomastoivonen

Website: NOW

THE NEW INSTITUTE  is a mission-driven Institute of Advanced Study and a platform for change.  It is based in Hamburg, privately funded and aims at combining the energy of academia and activism to create Meaningful change, Addressing the most pressing ecological, economic and political challenges, developing concrete solutions. One central project is The New Hanse, supporting the city of Hamburg in its attempt to become a green and digital model city in Europe. We want to present this project, led by Francesca Bria, former CTO of Barcelona. We want to workshop this project. And most of all we want to listen to you and learn from your experiences, pool ideas, connect initiatives and Forge new alliances. We cannot do this alone.The goal is to create an Alliance of green digital cities in Europe. Anyone interested in urban / digital / ecological Transformation should attend this session.

The hosts of this session are:

Georg Diez, Editor-in-Chief of THE NEW INSTITUTE, is a writer and long-time journalist.

Geoff Mulgan, Professor at UCL and Senior Advisor at THE NEW INSTITUTE, is a social entrepreneur, policy-maker and author.

Luisa Neubauer , German climate activist, is one of the main organizers of Fridays for Future .

Nina Rismal, Researcher at THE NEW INSTITUTE, is an economist and philosopher.

Website: thenew.institute

Image: The New Institute (c)

 

 

Ecological collapse accelerates as technology advances. To face both, we’ll need a community, or better than that: a network of independent communities or ‘Nodes’. This experiment workshop will explore how such nodes can share a constitution, collaborate online, and make a Universal Basic Income (UBI) for every member. The nation state as an organizing system is broken. Corporations like Facebook are attuned to the accelerating speed of communication and globalization, but they are profit-driven. Let us reimagine a decentralized self-governing system, based in the real world as much as in the blockchain, that is robust in the face of crisis, innovative through cc-license knowledge sharing and life-friendly by design.

To get started we need Ideas, knowledge, inspiration! What would a Constitution for the 2020s look like? How do we set up a self-financed UBI? How can we harness the power of Blockchain/Aragon? How can we create a new social code that proclaims not freedom from harm, but rather the freedom to self actualize? Imagine an international network of physical open spaces – Nodes – that are based on: shared values, self-financed UBI and an internal, privacy-conscious social network. Its goals would be:

  • Cohabiting peacefully / adverting crisis
  • Creating spaces to navigate and inspire change
  • Providing mutual support
  • Using advancing technologies in communications, production, agriculture and energy

Raphael Thelen lives and works on the fault lines of our global society, where our conflicts and aspirations are thrown into their sharpest relief, where the boundaries between personal and political blurr. He experienced the 2011 Liberation struggle of the people in the Middle East, accompanied by Refugees crossing the Balkans, wrote about the crumbling Dreams of today’s Eastern Germany. His writing has appeared in all major German Magazines. Currently he is finishing his second book. He writes not only as a Spectator, but as someone who hopes to change the conditions he finds.

Theresa Leisgang lives her life on the fine line where local practices and global structures meet. She explores the connections between transculturality and climate crisis, between agriculture and biodiversity-loss, between indiginous knowledge and imperialism.Whether she researches how oil companies exploit the people of the Amazon, works on board of civil rescue ships in the Mediterranean or develops PR strategies for public figures like Carola Rackete – to her all these Missions are sides of the same quest: a good life for all on our shared planet.

Raphael and Theresa are collaborating on a project called Pulse Of  The Earth. They have traveled through Southern Africa, Europe and towards the Arctic Circle to examine how communities deal with the impact of the climate crisis. During their meetings with social-entrepreneurs, feminists, psychonauts, shamans, thinkers, politicians and activists, while living in community houses, squatted forests and on spiritual gatherings, they learnt one thing time and again: community is not only making us more resilient, it is also the solution to many of our most problems.

Twitter: @RaphaelThelen @besal

Photos: Raphael Thelen (c)

By 2030 our average carbon footprint should be significantly lower to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees. We need to reimagine our Everyday lives, governance, businesses, work – every aspect of our lives to match the earth’s carrying capacity.

Futures Frequency is a 3 hour workshop developed by Sitra . It challenges our assumptions about the future, leads us to imagine preferred Futures and build actions towards it. We will come together to practice Futures thinking and challenge ourselves to see the possibilities for change making. The maximum amount of participants is 20. We will use Zoom and Miro in the workshop. 

Futures Frequency is a workshop method in progress and at the Untitled Festival we test its Prototype to help develop it. We welcome you to this pilot workshop that aims at using the workshop method as a tool to popularize Futures thinking and strengthen the link between Futures thinking and change making. The workshop will be targeted to people and organizations who are interested in these topics, but does not necessarily have any previous experience about them. The workshop is structured around three themes 1) Challenge existing assumptions about the future, 2) Imagine a preferred future, 3) Take action and shape the future. 

Our aim is to use the workshop method as a tool to popularize Futures thinking and strengthen the link between Futures thinking and change making. If we are going to succeed in the transition to a fair and ecologically sustainable society, we need more people to have agency and ownership and to feel that they can have an impact towards the future and to have skills to do that.

We would like to find partners who would be interested in developing the Futures Frequency method further with Sitra. Also, we will make thematic versions of the workshop, meaning Futures Frequency about climate, democracy, data etc, and would love to find partners who work with a specific theme and would be interested in developing these thematic versions with us.

Sitra is an active fund for the future who studies, researches and brings together partners from different sectors in open-minded Trials and reforms. Its future-oriented works are aimed at making Finland succeed as a pioneer of sustainable wellbeing. This session will be Hosted by Jenna Lähdemäki-Pekkinen and Liisa Poussa. Jenna works as a social foresight specialist in Sitra’s Foresight and insight team and Liisa works in Sitra’s Foresight team, producing long-term foresight data in anticipation of the future.

Twitter handle: @SitraFund ,@jennalahdemaki_,@Lillinen
Website: www.sitra.fi/en 

Related Untitled Themes:  Reimagining Human, Reimagining Climate, Reimagining Economy, Reimagining Work, Reimagining the Contract, Reimagining Cities

Kinship Photo is a moment of contemplation. It is an exploration of the physical and virtual spaces through a Collaborative photogram. The Kinship procedure creates shadowlike images that turn the power structures of photographing upside down, and broaden the meaning of friendship.

Kinship photo is made for a festival participant who are tired of conference calls and seeks for a way to connect.
With this piece two people meet: one of them online and the other onsite at the festival premises or in a nearby location. With the help of gentle instructions and a material Envelope they explore the physical space of their close surroundings. The aim is to find elements, places, or ways of being that both participants feel kin of. When a mutual agreement has taken place, the two people with the chosen kinships get exposed onto a light sensitive paper. During the procedure, all parties have to stay still and focused. It is an opportunity to breath deep and contemplate on the closeness and distance between themselves and other beings. When the exposure is done, the picture on a light sensitive paper remains as a memory of that shared moment.

With this simple gesture we believe it is possible to create and explore new spaces and places that are not only virtual or physical, but genuinely both. They are experienced, shared Moments facilitated by light within communication technologies, and marked by light being trapped on photographic paper.

We, Dominik Fleischmann, Emilia Pennanen, Jenni Toivonen, Kristiina Mäenpää and Tatu Heinämäki, are from the MA Photography program at Aalto University ‘s School of Arts, Design and Architecture . Together with artist and mentor Maija Annikki Savolainen we have developed a photography-based work for the festival which includes multiple Collaborations between human participants and other beings. Our shared interest in photography is to explore its possibilities as a world-making practice.

Please sign up to take part in the project through this Google form:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc_NvujGdO1t-T4Eh_TGGYTvuUymKhIjpm0jIh6Orq7zDOXgg/viewform

Website: instagram.com/kinship.photo.gram/

Related Untitled Agenda Theme : Reimagining human

 

Photos: Kinship Photo Group (c)

The story of the Evolution of Man involves a forever-forward march towards progress, which inherently implies the abandonment of a less-enlightened past. We are made to believe that the only way is the one forward, and that those who cling to traditions are less-evolved: developing, still in progress, in need of guidance and aid. In this story all other ways of knowing, being, and thinking are marginalized and disregarded as irrelevant and as having nothing to offer to modern, industrialized societies walking through the path forward.

On the other hand we see how colonization, limitless growth, and industrialization have wreaked havoc on our planet and our societies. Instead of a utopia, we are experiencing an increase in natural disasters, violence and political unrest, loneliness and depression. We need another way ahead, one that is open to exploring alternative ways of knowing, being, and thinking.

Undoubtedly, innovative ways of addressing these global problems are needed. But perhaps insights may also be gained by looking at our abandoned past.
What can we learn from civilizations that respect and lived in symbiosis with nature?
What can be replicated of a world without borders, which witnessed a free and fair exchange of resources, ideas, and people?
How might we recenter our cities and societies around that which is held sacred, as ancient people did, rather than on profit, progress, and consumption?
What does it mean to be a human who carries the wisdom of millennia, rather than one who is constantly re-inventing anew?
These are ideas we will discuss and explore together in order to arrive at more concrete ideas about how ancient wisdom can inform our visions for the future.

Hajira Qazi is a PhD Researcher in Transition Design at Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, USA. Her research is centered on how conceptions of the Sacred can inform an alternative worldview that moves away from the consumeristic aspects traditionally associated with design towards design that Fosters resilient and Cohesive societies. Past work and research interests include participatory design, decolonization, and design for political change.

 

Twitter handle: @arijah_q
Website: maymoon-design.com

Related Untitled Agenda Theme: Reimagining human

 

Photo: Hajira Qazi (c)

As the world becomes more interconnected than ever, slow adopters of collaborative problem-solving techniques run the risk of being left behind. By 2050, seventy percent of the world’s population will live in an urban corridor. With the confluence of population growth and the desire to live in urban corridors, there is an increased risk for vulnerable populations with the need for new, rapid development to accommodate growing communities. These populations can be supported by centering equity in the work.

Implementing an Equity Framework necessitates the understanding of equity, the practice of institutional assessment and the intention to address structural inequities because of systemic racism.

  • Equity means fair treatment, access, opportunity and advancement for all people. It requires the purposeful identification and elimination of barriers that have prevented the full participation of some groups.
  • Institutional Racial Equity assessments tease out tangible practices demonstrating adherence to principles and behaviors which foster systemic shifts in organizational culture. These lead to the cultivation of cross functional teams that outperform homogeneous ones.
  • Structural Racism is a system of beliefs and practices that, through omission or commission, move people to perpetuate damages against marginalized groups whether or not they intend to. Its foundation consists of social, economic, and political paradigms that require systemic thrusts to move institutions from optimization to cultivation of ecosystems, with human beings at the center.

The proposed ecosystems model seeks to promote racial equity analysis through the creation of new experiences within institutions, leaders, managers, staff, and customers. These would lead changes through innovation and producing viable wireframes that are agile and iterative. We believe that fostering ecosystems will lead to a shift from traditional systems to change models to co-designed models based on a Human Centered Design approach. Organizational and institutional leadership should be particularly involved in experimenting with this idea of ​​re-creating an anti-racist world.

Fred W. Brown Jr. is President & CEO of The Forbes Funds [TFF], a philanthropic organization focused in strengthening the management capacity and impact of community non-profits in the Pittsburgh area. The Forbes Funds (TFF) has a 35 year history of advancing well-being by helping human services and community-based non-profits build their management capacity, increasing the impact of their mission work.

In 2020, The Forbes Funds’ board approved a racial justice equity framework for all of TFF’s work. This framework includes investing in diverse leadership, increasing the capacity of minority-led organizations, and developing scenario planning and collaborative capacity of organizations within the region. Since the onset of COVID-19, TFF has held nearly 1,000 virtual meetings and engaged nearly 11,000 individuals in the region and across the state, Nation, and globe.

 

Twitter handle: @FredBrownPgh   @TheForbesFunds
Website:  https://forbesfunds.org/

Related UNTITLED Agenda Theme: REIMAGINING human, REIMAGINING power

 

Photo: Fred W. Brown Jr., twitter.com/fredbrownpgh

Social media has reshaped forever the way we communicate and get information. Nevertheless, the actions of the big companies behind them often raise a lot of criticism: what if social media belonged to the people?

 

Elina Iida Sofia Hirvonen @interneiti
Freelance journalist, for example
for Ylioppilaslehti, Helsingin Sanomat and Image.

 

What could be reimagined within the social media world?

Elina criticizes the entrepreneurial side of it, wishing that these platforms could belong to the people and not to companies: the current structure influences how information is spread among the population and does not foster equality. Current social media structures and algorithms are making profit out of people’s most intimate feelings and experiences, and it’s creating conflicts and affecting the media as well. 

How would Untitled help to develop your vision?

Elina sees Untitled as an opportunity to discuss how the ideal social network should be built, debating on which instruments would be necessary to undertake challenges such as ensuring privacy for all the users.

Who needs to join the Alliance to make this envision true?

Involving informatic experts for consultancy would allow to realise the technical side of the idea.

Image: Elina Iida Sofia Hirvonen, @interneiti Instagram