An interactive performance organized by the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis will premiere at the WSF
An interactive performance by artists and scientists that investigates the relationship between humans and nature, and aims to reveal robust measures for a sustainable existence, will premiere at the World Science Forum on 22 November 2019.
What might a sustainable world look like? Will small scale, distributed facilities that harness renewable
energy, surrounded by trees, dominate the landscape, or will there be large scale solar farms, smart grids and geoengineering? Science offers multiple options to address the sustainability crisis. While one school of thought focuses on staying within the Earth's boundaries, the other emphasizes humans’ ability to solve problems through technological innovation. Neither approach prevails; the solutions are coexisting and sometimes competing with - rather than complementing - each other.
“This is not surprising when one considers that these solutions are based on different worldviews in terms of how we see our relationship to the planet and our role as humans on this planet. They can be traced to values that have shaped cultures long before the scientific revolution”, observes Gloria Benedikt, Science and Art Project leader at the International Institute of Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA). “Once you understand that values are rooted in worldviews, and once you look at the world through the worldview lens, the notion of plural solutions is apparent. Both are logical, both have strengths and weaknesses. To use the terms of cultural theory, there are no ‘elegant’ solutions that can last long term - but there are robust ‘clumsy’ solutions that emerge from compromise”.
UnEarthing will take the audience on a journey through human history to discover what values and resulting worldviews have brought us to the present. The interactive segment of the production, designed by IIASA research scholar Piotr Magnuszewski, Vienna, October 4th 2019 will provide the audience with the opportunity to affect the course of the unfolding events and develop a viable and responsible path forward.
Concept: Gloria Benedikt
Playwright: Chantal Bilodeau
Interactive design: Piotr Magnuszewski
Choreographed and performed by: Gloria Benedikt, Krisztian Gergye, Marietta Kro, Piotr Magnuszewski, Alexander Mays
UnEarthing will premiere on Nov 22 at 19.30 at the Museum of Fine Arts
Further Information and Registration: www.worldscienceforum.org/programme
PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE THE TRAILER.
About WSF
The 2019 World Science Forum (WSF) will take place between 20-23 November in Budapest under the title “Science, Ethics and Responsibility” as a joint effort of UNESCO, the International Science Council (ISC), the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the InterAcademy Partnership (IAP), TWAS – the World Academy of Sciences, the European Academies Science Advisory Council (EASAC) and the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (MTA) as the host of the 2019 event and the organisation that initiated the WSF series.
WSF2019 will highlight the increasing importance of the ethical considerations that underlie our decisions about the conduct, funding, utilisation, or communication of scientific research in an era of transformative technological, environmental and social developments.
The programme aims to provide an opportunity for scientists, policy-makers, society, industry, and science communicators to be challenged from an ethical standpoint in 6 plenary sessions and allow for more technical debates in 20 thematic sessions and many more special sessions and side events.
Sessions organised by partner organisations will present how the technological revolution in biological engineering, artificial intelligence, and other highly debated fields of scientific research have the potential to radically transform human life.
About IIASA
The International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) is an international scientific institute that conducts research into the critical issues of global environmental, economic, technological, and social change that we face in the twenty-first century. Our findings provide valuable options to policymakers to shape the future of our changing world. IIASA is independent and funded by prestigious research funding agencies in Africa, the Americas, Asia, and Europe. www.iiasa.ac.at