In the series of talks organised as part of the Leonardo LASER Network, JRC SciArt is happy to announce this third session - an artist-led discussion which will bring together experts in economics and economic history, extremophile microbiology, the science of groundwater, and critical raw materials policy in Antofogasta (Chile).
This LASER talk, moderated by artist and researcher Penelope Cain, will build upon and expand the dialogue initiated by Cain within the framework of the NaturArchy concept and the resulting work - With Salt and Rocks in our Veins - showcased at the NaturArchy exhibition.
The talk will take place on the 19/09/2024 at 19:00 PM CET, online .You can register to receive the link on the Leonardo LASER website.
Resources:
- Watch a recording of the talk here.
- Penelope Cain Leonardo LASER talk slides
- Elisabeth Lictevout_Leonardo LASER talk slides
- Alicia Valero Leonardo LASER talk slides
- Cristina Dorador Leonardo LASER talk slides
About the talk: The Atacama Desert is the driest in the world with a fragile and unique ecosystem, co-evolved to survive with the small natural hypersaline lagoons on the salt plains. This lithium-rich groundwater is increasingly pumped and evaporated for its lithium salts, making use of lithium as a critical raw material to service a much-needed battery-led transition away from carbon fuel, addressing the existential issue of human-induced climate change. Ultimately, this is also destroying the fragile groundwater balance and its critical nature, lacking effective monitoring systems and putting the unique environment and ecosystem at risk, from unique cyanobacteria to iconic flamingos.
The talk will explore these issues by posing and answering questions such as - how do economies and policies from Western centres of power such as the European Union impact these 'peripheries', and how can conflicting demands be addressed? What, if anything, can be learned from previous 'resource curse' extractive mineral rushes? How could considerations of recycling and reuse be placed at the forefront of a new technological breakthrough such as Li battery-led energy transition? What is the future of this desert site, and why should we care?
More about With Salt and Rocks in our Veins.
Moderator: Penelope Cain - artist and researcher with an artistiv practice centred around land, water and air storytellings from the Anthropocene and Post-Carbon; these occupied, colonised, extracted and transformed lands.
Speakers:
- Graziano Ceddia - social scientist with a background in applied environmental economics and political economy, DG JRC European Commission.
- Prof. Alicia Valero Delgado - head of the industrial ecology group at the Energaia Institute and full professor at the University of Zaragoza in the Mechanical Engineering Department.
- Elisabeth Lictevout - PhD in Water Sciences, MSc in Sustainable Management and Protection of Water Resources, hydrogeologist. Director of IGRAC (International Groundwater Resources Assessment Centre, Delft).
- Cristina Dorador - Chilean scientist, doctor, and former assembly member of the Chilean Constitutional Convention who conducts research in microbiology, microbial ecology, limnology and geomicrobiology.
About Leonardo LASER: Leonardo/ISAST LASER Talks is a program of international gatherings that bring artists, scientists, humanists and technologists together for informal presentations, performances and conversations with the wider public. The mission of LASER is to encourage contribution to the cultural environment of a region by fostering interdisciplinary dialogue and opportunities for community building to over 50 cities and 5 continents worldwide.
What: Entanglement of Desert Water: on the water conflic between demands for energy transition and rights of a fragile ecosystem
Where: Online - register to receive the link on the Leonardo website.
When: 19/09/2024, 19:00 PM CET
Details
- Publication date