We seek to generate imaginative speculation on the question of multispecies urban futures. Cities are often seen as an obvious physical manifestation of the ongoing ecological crisis: in order to build them, habitats are destroyed, soil and streams are paved, and species diversity plummets. Yet there are species that thrive in the disturbed edges of human activity. Cities often harbor unintentional landscapes, where we find a diverse range of plant and animal species, including weeds, wildflowers, birds, rodents, insects, and reptiles. The ecologies that emerge in disturbed urban landscapes are both indicative of ecological crisis, and point to new ways of imagining a multispecies urban future. We are curious how new ecological forms might be created from this crisis.
We are particularly interested in the tension between a) a desire to promote biodiversity -- through restoration ecology and attempts to eradicate “invasive” species -- and b) a simple acceptance of the globalized Anthropocene -- marked by a glib trust in the ability of “nature” to recalibrate and adapt to a humanized world. Can a focus on new ways to envision urban ecologies help us move beyond this binary, into a more expansive imagination about futures of multispecies cohabitation?
For this poster session, we invite participants to generate visions for the future of multispecies urban cohabitation. We are interested in encouraging the speculative imagination, and welcome a wide range of visual representation, including maps, plans, schemata, drawings, photography, collage, digitally manipulated imagery, and more. Short poster presentations will be followed by a facilitated discussion in which we work to generate new understandings of the future potential for urban multispecies cohabitation.
Organizers: Amanda Huron & Anna Bierbrauer
Please submit abstracts to Amanda Huron at amanda.huron@udc.edu by 15 December 2023.
Modality: In person