Living Library #1 Whose Knowledge? Othering knowledge, people and power.

We say that humans have the least experience with how to live and thus the most to learn – we must look to our teachers among the other species for guidance. Their wisdom is apparent in the way they live. They teach us by example. They´ve been on earth far longer than we have been, and had time to figure things out. Robin Wall Kimmerer

The Living Library is a conversational space that takes place in the intersection between fiction, action and research. Over a series of three online sessions facilitated by Pernilla Glaser, academics, activists and artists will gather to share understandings of climate justice, unpacking the scheduled themes of knowledge, listening and action. The Living Library is a Talk Up. You are invited to listen to a conversation between a group with various practices of knowledge. The conversation is followed by a participatory space where you reflect with other participants. Registration is free and you are welcome to attend all three conversations or any of your own choosing.

REGISTER HERE FOR THE ZOOM LINK   http://doit.medfarm.uu.se/kurt20747

In the first Living Library we will be exploring a variety of notions of knowledge, engaging with questions such as:

• Which knowledge is prioritised?
• What is the relationship to power and the othering of people?
• How can knowledge be identified and shared with a diversity of perspectives and experiences?
• How is knowledge given space or becoming blocked by stories and images that sets different hierarchy´s and norms for what counts as knowledge?
• How can artistic practice, research and civil society activism become allies in exploring and understanding knowledge
• What are the systemic repercussions of transformation in the way knowledge is framed and co-developed?

The Living Library is a collaboration between the following organisations: Climate Change Leadership at Uppsala University, Stockholm Resilience Centre at Stockholm University,  Uppsala konstmuseum and Mistra Environmental Communication 

You can read more about contributors and the background to The Living Library below and on our website here . Find the Facebook event here

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 Guests

Anselmo Matusse | PhD Candidate | University of Cape Town Anelmo Matusse is a PhD candidate in Social Anthropology, within the Environmental Humanities – South Project at the University of Cape Town. He is currently working on his thesis Environmental and Ecological Justice in Mozambique, focusing specifically on Mount Mabo and the communities that live in and around it. His research interests include climate change policy and science, militarization of conservation, green grabbing, indigenous knowledges, commons, water-energy-food nexus and landscapes of violence. His master’s degree was in Environmental Science in Sweden, with the thesis focused on the Swedish Innovation System. Read more about Anselmo and the stories of Mount Mabu here:

• On Mount Mabu
• Anselmo’s webpage
• UCT Profile

Per Olsson | Researcher | Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University  Per Olsson is a transdisciplinary researcher who leads the SRC’s work on transformations for sustainability, working with agency and system entrepreneurship. His current research focuses on agency and system entrepreneurship, social-ecological innovations, transformations to sustainability, and how to reverse current trends of crossing critical thresholds and tipping points in the Earth system. He has co-authored several book chapters, and in 2019 he was recognized by the Web of Science as one of the world’s most influential researchers of the past decade. Olsson has invested heavily in facilitating interactions among scientists, policy makers, artists, businesses, and the public through a variety of initiatives. He has developed the concept of T-labs (Transformation labs), a new methodology for generating innovative approaches for re-wiring social-ecological systems. Read more about Per and his research here:

• SRC Profile
• Report: Effects of transformations to climate-neutral societies on low- and middle- income countries

Maria Tengö | Researcher | Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University Maria Tengö’s research focuses on human-nature connections and implications for stewardship. Tengö is a research leader of the Biosphere Stewardship stream at SRC, and is currently leading research projects on co-production of knowledge for syntheses across scientific, local and indigenous knowledge systems; sense of place and cultural ecosystems services in Southern Africa; and emerging stewardship networks in Bangalore, India. As an underlying theme, Tengö’s research sets out to understand how positive connections between people and nature matter for moving towards trajectories of ecosystem-based management for human well-being. In particular, she is interested in the in-tangible, non-material aspects of human-nature interactions, such as local knowledge, sense of place, and biocultural connections, and the implications for building social-ecological resilience and transformative capacity. She has been working with aspects in social-ecological systems in Tanzania, Madagascar, South Africa, India, and Sweden. Read and watch more of Maria’s work here:

• • SRC Profile
  • Watch Maria’s talk on weaving diverse knowledges and evidences here

Ingela Ihrman | Artist Ingela Ihrman lives and works in Malmö. Her work is sparked by the strong emotions of everyday life and a desire to understand, question or express certain aspects of being alive, social and human. It is particularly the pleasures and pain that come with co-existence, autonomy, loneliness and longing for belonging that intrigues her. She has a constant gaze towards the lifeforms and landscapes we refer to as Nature. Her practice includes sculpture, installation, performance, video and writing as well as collaborations within the fields of science, theatre and dance.  Read more about Ingela and her pieces here:

• Artist page

Facilitator 

Pernilla Glaser | Writer, method-developer and teacher | Boiler | RISE (Research Institutes of Sweden) Pernilla Glaser is a writer, method-developer and teacher. She works as Creative Research Force at Interactive Institute and at the University Collage of Arts and Craft.Her background is as a theatre-director. She has worked a lot with participation, place and urban sustainability and has been a recurring guest-teacher at The Institution of Architecture at the Royal Institute of Art. She is currently teaching storytelling at the University College of Arts, Craft and Design Interior Architects. During 2014 she has developed The intersection, a space and toolbox for innovation and collaboration for Luleå University of Technology and two projects for the Swedish county government; toolbox for spatial exploration and toolbox for an inclusive cultural heritage.Pernilla Glaser is also the initiator of Academy of Risk, a network that works with prototyping risk-taking in academia.She is an experienced moderator, frequently working with universities and government agencies hosting seminars and various events. See here to learn more about Pernilla and her work, play and all things between: 

• Pernilla’s webpage
• Forest of Thought Podcast with Pernilla
• Navigating Complexity (2020). Report for RISE by Pernilla Glaser and Lisa Carlgren

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Library Shelf

John Law and Annemarie Mol
Complexities: Social studies of knowledge practices
Kevin K. Kumashiro Against Common Sense: Teaching and Learning Toward Social Justice
Helga Nowotny The cunning of uncertainty