VIRTUAL Barcelona
Abstract
The Japanese government’s Moonshot Goal 8 is the “[r]ealization of a society safe from the threat of extreme winds and rains by controlling and modifying the weather by 2050.” (https://www.jst.go.jp/moonshot/en/program/goal8/index.html). Within this program the remit of our Weather Commons Research Group (Faculty of Collaborative Regional Innovation, Ehime University) is to conduct “comprehensive research on regional collaboration for the social implementation of heavy rainfall control”, with a focus on developing and operationalising the concept of a ‘weather commons’ that modulates relations between society, nature, and weather control technologies. The opposition between institutional, market-maintaining approaches to the commons (à la Ostrom) and more radical market-escaping commoning approaches (e.g. Federici) is illustrated by the contrasting stakeholder views of ‘weather commons’ that we have encountered, spanning from techno-optimistic (Königs, 2022) and techno-neutral (Heyndels, 2023) to sceptical and critical (in the vein of Illich, etc.) To explore this tension about “what a weather commons could be” and to contribute to the development of a shared yet contested Weather Commons Framework we brought independent artist-researchers into conversation with the Moonshot 8 team for a project of critical art, research and experimentation (C.A.R.E.) This paper presents an overview of the project, provocative documentation, and a reflection on the conversation between the independent perspective of the artists, the convivial focus of the Weather Commons Research Group, and the techno-solution driven activities of the R&D teams. We conclude with a tentative Weather Commons Framework which will inform future activities in the Moonshot Goal 8 Project for Weather Control.
Chris Berthelsen is an artist-researcher who explores environments for creative activity, resident-led modification of the everyday environment, and alternative education(s). He is a researcher at the Faculty of Collaborative Regional Innovation (Ehime University) in the Moonshot Goal 8 Project for Weather Control and a doctoral candidate focusing on tōjisha-kenkyū (当事者研究) at the Elam School of Fine Arts (Waipapa Taumata Rau | The University of Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand). He is also co-chairperson of Activities and Research in Environments for Creativity Charitable Trust (Aotearoa).
Tsuyoshi Hatori is a researcher working on urban and regional planning, disaster management, and consensus building. He is a professor at the Department of Environmental Design, Faculty of Collaborative Regional Innovation and the head of the Disaster Resilience Research Unit at Ehime University. He is also the Principal Initiator (PI) of the R&D studies related to weather commons and regional collaboration in the Moonshot Goal 8 Project for Weather Control.
Christoph Rupprecht is a geographer working on sustainability and cities from the perspectives of food, agriculture, green space, degrowth, multispecies/more-than-human thinking and solarpunk. An Associate Professor at the Department of Environmental Design, Faculty of Collaborative Regional Innovation at Ehime University, he’s also a founding member and Director at the non-profit organization FEAST. Recent work includes “Multispecies sustainability”, “Sustainable agrifood systems for a post-growth world”, and the science fiction anthologies “Multispecies Cities” and “Solarpunk Creatures” (World Weaver Press).
Adam Ben-Dror is a multidisciplinary artist, designer and inventor based in Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland. With Xin Cheng he co-runs Local Making, a neighbourhood-scaled laboratory for living and making together amongst the more-than-human Anthropocene. He is co-founder of the NEWS Programme (Negative Emissions and Waste Studies Programme). He holds a Bachelor of Design Innovation from Te Herenga Waka | Victoria University of Wellington and a Post Graduate Diploma in Fine Arts from Waipapa Taumata Rau | The University of Auckland. Currently Adam teaches design at Waipapa Taumata Rau | The University of Auckland and Composting with the Compost Collective.
Rumen Rachev
Xin Cheng