Lunchtime Discussions

Can we integrate art and academic practice to find new ways of representing other-than-human species? How do we engage in storytelling that adequately describes our kinship with the more-than human world?

How do people’s experiences and fears of air pollution transform into new visions of sustainability and creative forms of action? We have invited Mette Halskov Hansen to talk about the Airborne project, exploring the human dimensions of air pollution in China.

Is it time to tell a new story about climate change? Karen O'Brien talks on the potential of stories to empower social change.

What is the relationship between education and sustainable development? Elin Sæther talks about COSER, a research initiative aiming to explore education in light of today's complex sustainable development issues.

Elisabeth Ulrika Sjødahl from the Oslo School of Architecture and Design talks about Beautiful Landscapes and Heavy Pollution.

Can we extract water from Antarctic icebergs? Dr Julia Jabour from the University of Tasmania talks on efforts to design a legal regime to regulate iceberg harvesting.

Eli Rinde from the Norwegian Institute for Water Research (NIVA) talks about threats to the marine biodiversity in Norway and possible solutions.

What are the international law implications of the Anthropocene? For this lunch discussion we have invited Research Professor Davor Vidas, a member of the Anthropocene Working Group of the International Commission on Stratigraphy.

The science is clear: It is understood that we are facing an unprecedented global emergency. We must act now. But how? We have invited Inger Østenstad from Extinction Rebellion to talk about radical honesty and tactics in climate activism.

Why is climate fiction so blue, and what is it good for? We have invited Sissel Furuseth to talk about how anthropogenic climate change is orchestrated in contemporary Norwegian fiction.

Is the information technology industry emerging as an increasing threat to the environment? We have invited Trine Syvertsen, professor of media and communication at UiO, to talk about reactions to toxic media, digital detox, and the 'slow media' movement.

Do scholars fly too much? We have invited Kjerstin Aukrust to talk about academic flightshaming and the 2019 petition to reduce CO2 emissions from UiO flights by 50 percent.

Kristin Asdal from UiO's Centre for Technology, Innovation and Culture (TIK) talks on the whaling controversy in the late 19th century.

Have we been misconcieving matter and the natural world since Descartes? Arne Johan Vetlesen talks about his new book "Cosmologies of the Anthropocene: Panpsychism, Animism, and the Limits of Posthumanism".

How to change educational institutions in times of climate crisis and species extinction? How to "green" schools and universities to build a livable future?  This week, we have invited Sidsel Roalkvam, Director of the Centre for Development and the Environment (SUM) at UiO to talk about sustainability in education.

How to create a multispecies city where nonhuman species feel at home? How to cultivate urban ecological alternatives from ruins? This week, we have invited artist, urban interventionist and beekeper Marius Presterud to share his experiences working with the Oslo Apiary & Aviary.

The Climate House is a brand new initiative at the Natural History Museum in Oslo. We invite project leader Torkjell Leira to talk about the challenges and possibilities of staging climate in a museum.

What are recordings made of, and what happens to them when they are disposed of? Kyle Devine talks on the environmental cost of music.

Are we preventing climate change by large-scale environmental destruction? Jon Erik Finnvold (NOVA, OsloMet) talks on the contestations of wind power investments in Southern Norway.  

How do we link carbon and climate feedbacks to social feedbacks and environmental humanities? Dag O. Hessen talks on Biogeochemistry in the Anthropocene.

Kjersti Kanestrøm Lie, project officer for the Oslo European Green Capital, joins us for a conversation on the 2019 Oslo European Green Capital Initiative.