Living Imaginaries

🎈 𝑾𝑯𝑨𝑻 𝑰𝑭 𝒘𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒔𝒑𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝑹𝑬𝑰𝑴𝑨𝑮𝑰𝑵𝑬 𝒈𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒂𝒕 𝑪𝑶𝑷? 🌏 How exciting to see some of our work at Living Imaginaries, including 𝐑𝐈𝐏𝐏𝐋𝐄, a methodology I developed through my 𝐏𝐡𝐃, make its way to the 𝐔𝐍 𝐁𝐢𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐂𝐎𝐏𝟏𝟕! Last Friday, Katie Minderhoud from the Dutch government agency PBL Planbureau voor de Leefomgeving and partners presented their fantastic work on 𝐛𝐢𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 at the Netherlands Pavilion, exploring what it takes to change how governments think, act and organise. Our journey began in February last year, when Living Imaginaries joined Katie and other partners to explore biodiversity and food systems, and how different narratives of transformation might help navigate polarisation around pathways for change. That collaboration built trust, and when I shared a rather different idea with Katie, she and PBL were willing to take a chance on it: 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐟, 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧 𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐠𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐜𝐬, 𝐰𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐬𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐜𝐬? PBL hosted the first workshop of our RIPPLE series, 𝐫𝐞𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐠𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐍𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐒𝐞𝐚 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬. Since then, we've continued in the UK and Denmark, with Norway hopefully next! 🌊 There are 𝐓𝐖𝐎 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒 I want to highlight: ❶ If we're serious about addressing the systemic drivers of biodiversity loss, 𝐰𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐛𝐢𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐜 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐬𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐭. 𝐁𝐢𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐚 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐬𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬. 🌿 ❷ On a more personal note, this is exactly the kind of relationship I hope to keep building through Living Imaginaries. Collaboration should be about more than delivering a project and moving on. It's about building 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩𝐬, caring for each other and continuing to show up for one another. That trust makes it possible to take chances on each other and ideas that might otherwise never get off the ground! 💛 So grateful to Katie for her friendship and continued support, and for inviting us to contribute to the wonderful work she and her colleagues are leading. I've shared a few slides from Katie's presentation with her permission. Findings are preliminary, with publication forthcoming. And for anyone curious about 𝐑𝐈𝐏𝐏𝐋𝐄, the preprint of our paper is linked in the comments. We'd love your thoughts!

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐟 𝐚 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐎𝐬𝐥𝐨𝐟𝐣𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐠𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫? Yesterday, SoCentral , Oppdrag: Fjorden Vår and Living Imaginaries brought together a small group in Oslo to explore possibilities for collaboration. The conversation connected the extraordinary constellation emerging through Oppdrag: Fjorden Vår and Pådriv, across municipalities, research, business, fisheries, agriculture and civil society , with Living Imaginaries’ bioregional work across the North Sea and connected watersheds. Some of the provocations that arose: 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐝𝐨 𝐰𝐞 𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐚 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡𝐲 𝐟𝐣𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠? How do we remember what has already been lost, make space for ecological grief, and expand our sense of what could return? 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐟 𝐠𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩𝐬 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐝𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬? What changes when we think soil-to-sea, following nutrients, plastics, species and relationships upstream and downstream? 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐠𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐣𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦? If the Oslofjord had rights, how might they be represented, and with what power? Is representation even the right frame? 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐰𝐞 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐣𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥𝐬 and everyday life in ways that cultivate relationship, care and belonging? Could an 𝐄𝐦𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐎𝐬𝐥𝐨𝐟𝐣𝐨𝐫𝐝 create space for the fjord to have a greater political, cultural and democratic presence? 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐍𝐨𝐫𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧? Could it mean not only drawing value from the ocean, but relationships of responsibility and reciprocity? And underneath many of these: 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦, and what prevents people and organisations who already recognise the need for change from acting differently? This is where imagination becomes practical: surfacing the assumptions embedded in how we govern today, opening up different ways of seeing and relating, and exploring the practices and institutions through which different futures could begin to be lived. A first conversation, with lots of exciting threads to keep exploring together. Thank you Thomas Berman for making this possible!

🌊 𝐎𝐒𝐋𝐎 — 𝐓𝐎𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐑𝐎𝐖, 𝐓𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝟔 𝐎𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐫 What if we governed the Oslofjord as a living system we are part of, and learned to govern with? Tomorrow, Thomas Berman and I are bringing together a small group at SoCentral to explore how we might reimagine governance with the Oslofjord and its connections to the North Sea and what it would take to bring different ways of governing into practice. Register here: https://lnkd.in/eBzb345J We will be joined by members of Oppdrag: Fjorden Vår: a collaboration hosted by SoCentral connecting 34 partners working to restore the Oslofjord, alongside others exploring alternative approaches to governance. The conversation connects to a bioregional series developed through Living Imaginaries, with iterations in the Netherlands, UK and Denmark, exploring governance with the North Sea and its connected waters. The process drew on 𝐑𝐈𝐏𝐏𝐋𝐄 methodology: starting from the futures we want to move towards rather than the crises we have inherited; thinking through relationships with ecosystems and more-than-human life; and exploring how alternative imaginaries can become pathways for governance in practice. Tomorrow is the beginning of a conversation centred on the 𝐎𝐬𝐥𝐨𝐟𝐣𝐨𝐫𝐝: a 𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧 to what local partners need, connect people and ideas, identify funding opportunities and co-design what we might collaborate on together, including whether a future Norwegian iteration would be useful and what it could become. 📍 SoCentral, Sentralen, Oslo 🗓 Tomorrow — Tuesday 6 October ⏰ 16:30–18:00 𝐒𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 to keep the conversation small and generative. If you are in Oslo and working around these questions, we’d love you to join us, or tag someone who should.

🔥 Hot off the press! With thanks to the Ambassade van de Noordzee 🐟 ➡️: https://lnkd.in/emyBYHJn

Met trots presenteren we de eerste gezamenlijke publicatie van de 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗹𝘂𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗘𝘂𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗻 𝗪𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗕𝗼𝗱𝗶𝗲𝘀! De publicatie is deze week verschenen bij Edizioni Ca' Foscari - Venice University Press. 🌊🌊🌊 𝗥𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗡𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗘𝘂𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗻 𝗪𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗕𝗼𝗱𝗶𝗲𝘀: 𝗪𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗥𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗹𝘂𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 is de titel van deze speciale (gratis) editie van 𝘓𝘢𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘴. De publicatie brengt bijdragen samen van verschillende kunstenaars, activisten, academici en waterprofessionals uit ons Confluence netwerk. Samen verkennen zij nieuwe manieren van samenleven met de niet-menselijke waterwereld en dagen ze antropocentrische wet- en regelgeving uit. Een vernieuwende blik op de Europese RoN-beweging, met bijzondere aandacht voor de grassroots groepen die hierin het voortouw nemen! 🌊 In de publicatie vind je onder andere het essay dat de Britse schrijver 𝗥𝗼𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘁 𝗠𝗮𝗰𝗳𝗮𝗿𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗲 in 2025 speciaal voor de Confluence schreef. Ook vind je het artikel van Claudia Fernandez de Cordoba Farini: 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘕𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘚𝘦𝘢 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘓𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘋𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘺, geschreven op basis van een interview met Christiane Bosman en Harpo ’t Hart. Het artikel schetst een toekomstbeeld van het jaar 2045 waarin Noordzee bestuur geworteld is in ecologische relaties, vertegenwoordiging van niet - menselijk leven en postgroei-economieën. Met als boodschap: onze verbeelding is een politiek instrument dat recht, cultuur en bestuur kan transformeren! https://lnkd.in/eSz7v3KE Heel veel dank aan: Università Ca' Foscari Venezia, Pietro Consolandi, Martin Hultman, Dr. Angela Snæfellsjökuls Rawlings, Julia Schasfoort, Letizia Artioli, Thomas Fabre, Julian Purrmann, Thomas Laurien, Xandra van der Eijk, Anna Daneri, Markus Schärli, Angelo Breda Katarina Rakušček

📗 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗼 𝘄𝗲 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝘀𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄? Over the coming year, Living Imaginaries will support Wageningen University & Research in developing an 𝗢𝗽𝗲𝗻 𝗧𝗼𝗼𝗹𝗸𝗶𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗗𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗶𝘀𝗲𝗱, 𝗝𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗜𝗻𝗰𝗹𝘂𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗦𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗘𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. The aim is twofold: to make educational tools already used within universities more accessible beyond institutional boundaries, and to connect learners and educators with practices, communities and knowledge traditions that academia has often overlooked, in ways that preserve their context and origins. 🎨 Our role at Living Imaginaries is to help bridge research and practice, connecting academic work with practitioners already working with different ways of learning, relating and imagining futures. We want this exchange to be 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗮𝗹, 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝘅𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗴𝗲𝗻𝘂𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗳𝘂𝗹 to those contributing. 💭 We would love to hear from you: ‣ What pedagogies, toolkits, learning practices or communities should we know about? ‣ What is still missing from sustainability education? ‣ What would make an open resource like this useful to you or your community? 📣 Thank you to the project leads at Wageningen Francesca Leucci, PhD, Camilla 🍉 R., and Jay Marisca Gietzelt. More to come soon! Share your ideas in the comments or get in touch. 💛