Narrating ecological grief and hope through reproduction and translations

• DOI: 10.21606/drs.2022.333
• Publication Date: 2022-06-16T09:56:27Z
• Authors: Li Jönsson; Kristina Lindström

The Swedish government has decided that Sweden will become carbon neutral by 2045. What are the implications for us as citizens in such a transition? What formats allow us to favour careful transformation over progress through radical innovation? In this paper, we attempt to understand grief and hope in the context of this transition. We describe a designerly format of re-production and translation aimed at collectively working through potential future changes, uncertainties and loss. Influenced by plaster moulding techniques used at a closed-down pottery, we invite participants to reproduce and translate original animal and plant motifs into present circumstances. These practical hands-on engagements allow us to notice and articulate change in relation to the past and orient ourselves towards uncertain futures. Hope can be found in the ruins of industries, in locally produced alternative energies and in small-scale attempts to undo biodiversity loss.