Be part of imagining a radically sustainable and hopeful future
Have you heard about solarpunk? It might just be your new favourite thing! Solarpunk is a movement, a genre, an aesthetic where technology, people and the environment live in harmony.
Solarpunk combines our current technologies and diverse knowledges – including Indigenous knowledges – to envision a radically optimistic future.
Solarpunk has been building momentum in popular culture for years. Marvel’s Black Panther showcases a solarpunk city called Wakanda, where high-technology buildings integrate seamlessly with the surrounding mountains and bodies of water. In Pokémon, the natural world is prioritised, renewable energy is mainstream and relationships between humans and Pokémon are harmonious. You can also spot solarpunk glimpses across Studio Ghibli films (think the anime worlds), puzzle games and even everyday DIY projects!
Supercharge your problem-solving skills
Blue-sky thinking and creative problem-solving are important skills across STEM. When you think outside the box, your problem-solving skills become supercharged!
Solarpunk encourages us to use these skills to imagine a tomorrow where the best parts of our world shine brightly together. It objects to the current status quo and challenges us to think creatively to build a fairer, greener and more connected tomorrow.
Make solarpunk happen
A solarpunk future will need kind, clever and creative people to bring it to life!
- Biologists, Indigenous knowledge holders, farmers: work together to make a more equitable and resource-efficient food supply chain.
- Coders, UX designers, economists: design a non-monetary economic system.
- Architects, entomologists, urban designers: redesign our cities with biomimicry principles, using nature’s time-tested designs to create more sustainable and efficient structures.
- Systems engineers: see the ‘big picture’ to bring interconnected social, digital and environmental systems together.
What skills will you bring to this awesome future?
Tune into the Sci—Burst podcast for more solarpunk fun!
This article was first published in Careers with STEM: Technology.
