What is happening?
String Figures ∞ transforming together ∞ will happen between 29th March and 1st April 2023, in the location of the social activation hub BASIS Vinschgau Venosta. There you will be guided through a lively mix of talks, workshops, walks, exhibitions and paper presentations, while enjoying good food, drinks, music, dance, connection and exchange. See the schedule for more details.
Who is organising it?
The conference is organised by students and professors of the Masters in Eco-Social Design (Faculty of Design and Art, Unibz), with the support of Massimo Eccli. It will take place in partnership with KAUZ (a laboratory for climate justice, work and future) and in collaboration with the Citizen Cooperative Obervinschgau.
Overview of String Figures ∞ transforming together ∞
String figures are a game in which string is woven between fingers to create patterns and illustrate stories. As Donna Haraway suggests, this can be understood as a way of collaborating, weaving together narratives, and co-writing stories »to craft conditions for finite flourishing on terra, on earth« (Donna Haraway, 2016).
This requires the interplay of many actors, building upon each other, interconnecting niches, imagining and experimenting with care and commoning, criticising and supporting each other, passing on knowledge and narrations in collective actions, joining struggles and creating momentum for a movement to overcome patriarchy and capitalism, and their devastating exploitation of humans and nature, in a »process of change towards a Good Life for All based on solidarity. It involves a radical transformation of the global mode of living and production as well as of political institutions, norms/values and the relationship of humans to the living world.« (ILA Kollektiv, 2019).
The conference will be an open space to exchange thoughts across diverse disciplines on forming connections and collectively working on this transformation. This will happen through workshops, talks, and collaborative activities. Everyone is welcome!
Want to know more?
In the location of the social activation hub BASIS Vinschgau Venosta, a former military base in Silandro, you can participate in activities and exchanges for all senses, hands, hearts, and heads. These will embrace topics such as energy, food, space, activism and multispecies co-existence.
We explore these themes from the perspective of transformation-engaged designers and related teachers/researchers at Unibz, a university in the Alps. We invite persons from other fields of work/research and areas of the world to understand better what really can and should be done.
Is this conference for me?
Are you a… student / practitioner / researcher, transformation practitioner / researcher / advocate / activist / entrepreneur, utopist & realist, academic with a focus on social-ecological transformation, and/or human being with an interest in a good life for all?
In the DoD23 conference, we want to focus on practices and related theories of the outlined transformative interplay. There will be contributions tackling diverse scales, aspects and fields. We refer to design in the widest sense, since »Everyone designs who devises courses of action aimed at changing existing situations into preferred ones« (Simon, 1996).
