This discussion event officially launches
FuturePerfect, a project showcasing stories of individuals and their innovative efforts to build a better future.
FuturePerfect features stories from pioneers all over the world who are working in their communities in areas like energy, food security, textile production, mobility and the arts.
FuturePerfect stories show that the transformation of modern society toward sustainability is not principally the domain of experts in the fields of science, economics, and politics. It is the business of each individual to use their scope of action to experiment with what is possible in the here and now. FuturePerfect is a joint venture of the German foundation FUTURZWEI and the Goethe-Institut. Since its launch in 2012, FUTURZWEI has presented the stories of hundreds of pioneers of new and different economic, social, and cultural practices.
This panel discussion will explore how art and narratives can change the world by spreading visions of a utopian future. Questions to be discussed will include: Is art just utopia? Can stories lead people to change their behavior and work towards a better future? And what is the best way to make people pay attention to the problem of sustainability and to act on it?
Panelists:
KAL (Kevin Kallaugher) – KAL is an editorial cartoonist for The Economist magazine and The Baltimore Sun. He won the 2014 Grand Prix for Cartoon of the Year in Europe as presented by Press Cartoon Europe, and his work has appeared in more than 100 publications worldwide. KAL's work has been widely displayed at exhibitions including at the Tate Gallery in London and the Library of Congress in Washington. Many of his cartoons deal with climate change, the dependence on oil, and environmental pollution.
Sarah Browning – Browning is a poet and co-founder and executive director of Split This Rock (a project that calls poets to a greater role in public life). She is an Associate Fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies and a featured writer for Other Words. She is the recipient of artist fellowships from the DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities, and has been a community organizer for Boston public housing and a grassroots political organizer on a host of social and political issues.
Marc Gunther – Gunther is an editor-at-large for Guardian Sustainable Business US and a contributor at Fortune where he writes about business and sustainability. He is the creator and co-chair of Brainstorm Green, Fortune's annual conference on business and the environment. Gunther is the author or co-author of four books, including Faith and Fortune: How Compassionate Capitalism is Transforming American Business. His newest book, Suck It Up: How Capturing Carbon from the Air Can Help Solve the Climate Crisis, was published in 2012.
Nancy Averett – Averett is a freelance science journalist who writes for a variety of national publications like Pacific Standard, E! The Environmental Magazine, Inc., and Discover.com. She is a member of the Society for Environmental Journalists and a contributor to FuturePerfect.
Erik Assadourian – Assadourian is a Senior Fellow at the Worldwatch Institute, contributing editor to Adbusters and Managing Editor of FuturePerfect (US). He has published two editions of Vital Signs and four editions of State of the World, including State of the World 2013: Is Sustainability Still Possible? He is currently producing Yardfarmers, a reality TV show about young Americans moving back in with their parents to farm their yards and neighborhood green spaces, and in the process help solve issues such as the obesity epidemic and food insecurity.
A reception follows the discussion.
This event is part of the Forging the Future series.
Promoted by the Institute for Governance and Sustainable Development and the Heinrich Böll Foundation
Forging the Future is supported by a generous contribution from the Elysée-Fonds for German-French cultural programs abroad. This event is also made possible with support from Friends of the Goethe-Institut.
But, strangely, the film echoes an older and quite obscure piece of animated cartooning: a 1944 movie made during wartime for the U.S. Coast Guard, The Inside Story. That film, now preserved in the historical audiovisual collection of the National Library of Medicine, deals with the typical emotional problems suffered by men entering the military service and argues that psychotherapeutic approaches may help.
