Biotoopia’s pre-conference panel focuses on possibility of reaching ‘bioharmony’

This past year, mankind has been faced with devastating floods, ravaging wildfires and unbearable heat—all as a result of the man-made climate crisis. The state of our planet raises serious questions as to whether—and under what conditions—a harmonious balance between humans and nature can be struck. Join us on the road to Biotoopia 2021 conference, with an online discussion on the Citizen OS co-decision platform and a free live-streamed pre-conference panel, August 20^th, to find answers. 

Biotoopia 2021 and Citizen OS Foundation have joined forces to bring attention to the need for a mass societal shift to achieve global bioharmony. The curator of Biotoopia 2021, photographer and artist Mr. Peeter Laurits, explains: “We have asked an international team of scientists and artists to come together for a serious discussion on the possibility of a renaissance of ‘bioharmony’. The brief window of opportunity for solving the problems facing humanity is still open to us. But the question is, how do we get there—what kind of societal agreement for systemic change is required to achieve this? This is the main focus of the pre-conference panel discussion taking place August 20th, as well as the first ever Biotoopia conference taking place in hybrid format a week later.” 

Panelists will consist of artists Timur Si Qin (USA) and Peeter Laurits (Estonia) and researcher Grete Arro (Centre of Innovation in Education, Tallinn University, Estonia). The discussion will be moderated by Margo Loor, deliberative discussions expert and Founder of the Citizen OS Foundation. The free panel will be broadcast live on August 20^th, 2PM CET via Facebook Live.

From 9th August, a dedicated discussion topic will be open on the Citizen OS platform for members of the public to add their comments and raise questions to be considered during the live panel. The aim is to pool the diverse wisdom and experiences of the audience to collectively decide how we can tackle the huge challenges facing humanity. 
The main programme of the three-day Biotoopia 2021 conference kicks off on August 26th, both in person—at Viinistu Art Harbour, Estonia, and virtually—via the Worksup platform. The conference brings together scientists and artists from six countries—Spain, The Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Finland and Estonia. “The reason we’ve brought representatives of various disciplines together is that we’re actively trying to connect art, science and posthumanist ethics. Interdisciplinary cooperation is the only way to reach a societal agreement on the change we need so very much,“ added Laurits.