
Ministry for the Future Episode 1: Geoengineering
- Informations
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Duration: 2hrs
Meeting point: Bus stop “ETH Hönggerberg,” direction Triemli/Milchbuck.If you arrive late, please call: +41 76 823 84 52
Tickets available at neumarkt.ch.
(self-determined tiered pricing CHF 15.-/30.-/45.-)
How will our near climate future look like? Science fiction author Kim Stanley Robinson’s novel The Ministry for the Future has been celebrated as a science-based yet hopeful appeal to politicians and the public. Set in a near future that, in many ways, feels alarmingly close, the novel follows the efforts of a fictional UN institution based in Zurich and its determined leader as they tackle the devastating impacts of climate change.
Zurich’s Theater Neumarkt and the Collegium Helveticum take the fictional founding year of the Ministry as an opportunity to discuss important climate change issues within scenarios expected in 2034. The theater stages a four-part live series that envisions Zurich in the near future. Experts immerse themselves in these future scenarios to engage with the audience and discuss our shared future.
Episode 1: Geoengineering
February 14, 2034: With temperatures rising, geoengineering has been both condemned and hailed as a possible solution. Aerosol release into the atmosphere to lower global temperatures has shown measurable success, with some efforts achieving noticeable drops in heat. Unregulated use of the technology by private enterprises is already happening. However, the deployment of these technologies also ignited tensions between neighboring states, as phenomena like acid rain, floods, and droughts were increasingly attributed to human intervention in the atmosphere. Public opinion oscillates between hopes and concern. Yram, the minister of the Ministry for the Future, knows this will be a crucial moment for the ministry. Â Â
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In this episode, the Ministry for the Future undertakes the critical task of organizing an international conference on geoengineering. To lay the groundwork, Yram convenes a hearing at ETH Hönggerberg with prominent scientists and members of the Service Citoyen.
The hearing will feature Professor Thomas Stocker, one of the foremost climate physicists who was a key figure in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC); Professor Claudia Mohr, head of the Atmospheric Chemistry Laboratory at the Paul Scherrer Institute and a leading expert in aerosol chemistry; and Sandro Vattioni, an ETH scientist specializing in the climatic impacts of stratospheric solar climate intervention.Â
Together with the Ministry for the Future, the group will examine the opportunities these innovations present, weigh the risks, and outline steps toward a globally agreed-upon framework for action. (Could geoengineering become the cornerstone of a brighter, more resilient future—or are the skeptics right when they say: technology won’t save us?)
Other episodes of this series
- Informations
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Conception Yael Borofsky, Georgia Drew, Charlotte MĂĽller, Eneas N. Prawdzic, Julia Reichert, Sascha Ă–. Soydan, Linus Truninger and Mario WimmerÂ
Set design Birke Beyer, Bettina Bessenyei, Juhee Han, Emily Hugger, Luca Ihns, Josephine Leicht, Ewa Wasilewska, Verena Zenker, students of the HFG Karlsruhe (supervised by Constanze Fischbeck)Â
Dramaturgy Julia Reichert and Eneas N. Prawdzic (Proberaum Zukunft)
Production assistance Linus Truninger
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