IMPAKT Festival 2020 Zero Footprint IMPAKT Festival

Douglas Rushkoff was named one of the “world’s ten most influential intellectuals” by MIT. His work explores what it means to be human in a world dominated by social media, algorithms and robots. For the IMPAKT Festival he talks to anthropologist, environmental activist and landscape designer Julia Watson about her new book LO-TEK: Design by Radical Indigenism, which offers a new take on technology.

Whereas high-tech digital technology alienates us from one another and from our environment, the Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) is all about a symbiotic relationship with nature. Indigenous communities are among the groups hardest hit by climate change; yet, their knowledge can teach us how to deal with extreme situations. We need as much diversity and innovation as possible in order to create a climate-proof living environment. What can we learn from this ancient knowledge? Which solutions can it provide us to survive the climate crisis? How do we create a space for natural systems in a world dominated by digital technology and capitalism?

Douglas Rushkoff was named one of the “world’s ten most influential intellectuals” by MIT. For the IMPAKT Festival he talks to investigative journalist Sonia Shah. They present us with a provocative statement: migration is a natural phenomenon. As such, it is only natural that people move away from places affected by the climate crisis. Why is migration still such a contested topic? 

In this online conversation Rushkoff and Shah will talk about the climate crisis, the migration of people, animals and plants. Where does our idea of a permanent habitat come from? Can we shift the political debate that is demonizing migration, and focus on the benefits instead? We are living together on a planet on the move; animals and other organisms are moving en masse to the poles or high altitudes, and some people are already being pushed away from their countries by war, floods, rising sea-levels and expanding deserts.

In her most recent book The Next Great Migration: The Beauty and Terror of Life on the Move, Shah proposes to see migration as a solution, rather than a problem. Rushkoff and Shah will also discuss Pandemic, Shah’s book from 2016 about the history of viral infections. In this book she makes a connection between the way we treat our planet (through the burning of fossil fuels, loss of biodiversity, deforestation, intensive agriculture, wildlife trade and more) and the spread of infectious diseases.