Hugvísindaþing 2026

Í Árnagarði 306, laugardaginn 14. mars kl. 10:00-14:30.

Planetary crises such as climate, biodiversity and pollution are not separate issues but different aspects of the same systematic process. They are also not separate from social and political crises such as war, poverty and injustice. All these are interlinked and need to be tackled together. This has been known by scientists and policy-makers for decades, yet despite the accumulation of scientific knowledge and policies little actual progress seems to be made on reversing the crises. Acknowledging this fact can lead to emotional reactions such as anxiety, frustration, anger and despair - or to apathy and denial. In this situation hope is difficult to maintain and can even seem naïve - especially if it relies on fantasies about future technologies that will save the planet without us having to change anything about our societies today. Nevertheless, some form of hope might be necessary. We might not be able to avoid the effects of the planetary changes caused by human activities, but even so we can and must consider what changes we can make to make life bearable in a changing world. This will require changes in our way of life and to prepare for such changes, we need affective work - work that can prepare us emotionally and socially to relate to each other, to our shared environment and to the future.

The sessions feature members of the network Climate Crisis and Affect (https://climateaffect.hi.is) who present their take on the emotional / affective dimensions of the planetary crisis: How are we affected by the crisis, and what affective work is necessary to deal with it? The sessions are deliberately transdisciplinary, or “undisciplined”, drawing together people from various fields in humanities, social and natural sciences. We are breaking the walls of academic boundaries because the human and the non-human processes are intimately intertwined and the current crises requires that we think beyond traditional academic categories. Our goal is that the different scholars can learn from and inspire each other and see connections between their work which can hopefully lead to more collaboration and better communication around environmental issues.

There will be two sessions with a short break in between. Both sessions will start with brief introductions (maximum 10 minutes) by each of the panelists who will introduce themselves and their topic, followed by focused conversations between all the participants. The conversation will be guided by Ole Martin Sandberg who will provide questions for the participants.

In the first session we will focus on society as we know it, where we are, and how we feel in the contemporary crisis - i.e. how we are affected by the environmental crises

The second session opens for more imaginative explorations about how we might feel in the future and how we can affect that future by creative interventions in the present.

Ole Martin Sandberg organized the session.

 Fyrirlestrar

Ole Martin Sandberg is an environmental philosopher at the Centre for Ethics at the University of Iceland where he leads the research network Climate Crisis and Affect (https://climateaffect.hi.is/). He is also affiliated with the Icelandic collaboration platform for biodiversity, BIODICE. His focus is on the interconnectedness of environmental crises such as climate and biodiversity as well as the associated affective and social crises. He will talk about why it is important to focus on affect and be the moderator of the conversations in this session.

Ólafur is a professor of Philosophy at the School of Education. He will talk about his experiences from teaching sustainability in education and his reflections on the concept of hope in the environmental crisis as well as the potential for relating to the more than human world.

Jean Rémi Chareyre is an independent journalist specialized in climate and energy issues. His articles and interviews can be found on the website http://kolefniogmenn.is. He will talk about the concept of a “just transition” and the factors that influence citizens' perception of climate policies.

Angela Snæfellsjökuls Rawlings is a world-renowned interdisciplinary artist-researcher whose work focuses on ecology and climate. They are currently involved in the research project “Centring Families in Iceland’s Just Transition” (Fókus á fjölskyldur í réttlátum umskiptum: https://fokus.hi.is) which combines sociological interviews and cultural analysis to create a dialogue about how families experience and participate in climate action. Angela will present this research project but also talk about her artistic and political interventions, including the campaign Snæfellsjökul fyrir forseta (https://kjosumjokul.com/).

Helga Ögmundardóttir is an anthropologist at the University of Iceland who specializes in environmental anthropology, resource use and management and human-nature relations. She will talk about her experiences and reflections from interactions with students in teaching climate and environment over several years: how it affects the students (and the teachers), the challenges and changes in environmental education and communication.

Mariana Lucia Tamayo is an ecologist working at the School of engineering and natural sciences and the program for Environment and Natural Resources at the University of Iceland. She works on urban biodiversity and organizes guided nature walks in the capital area with the project Borgarnáttúra: Urban Biodiversity Iceland (www.borgarnattura.org/). Gunndís Ýr Finnbogadóttir is a visual artist and an associate professor at the Iceland University of the Arts. She is currently working on a doctoral project at the University of Iceland examining the relationship between body movement, environment and thinking. They have worked on several projects together exploring the relationship between people and their local environments through embodied and artistic practices, resulting most recently in a book about Hávegur in Kópavogur. They will talk about their work with a focus on why promoting nature and nature-connectedness in cities is important for both the well-being of humans and the more-than-human beings.

Besides being director of the University of Iceland‘s research centre in Hornafjörður, Þorvarður Árnason is an environmental humanist, a glacier-lover and nature photographer. He blends science, art and philosophy to communicate nature appreciation and environmental awareness with a focus on the climate crisis and the disappearing glaciers. He will talk about cryophilia - love for the ice - and why aesthetic sensibility is relevant for climate awareness.

Thomas Edouard Pausz (https://pausz.is/) is a a designer, artist and researcher who creates sculptural and conceptual works that explore post-human ethics, ecological inquiry, environmental storytelling, and the possibility of multispecies coexistence. He is He is currently a PhD candidate in Experimental Humanities at the University of Iceland, where his project explores the sensory ties between humans and non-humans in artificial ecosystem. He will talk about his project, Affective Ecologies and co-creating with non-humans, and discuss how art and design can impact our perception of and relation to climate and nature.

Rán Flygenring (http://ranflygenring.com) is an award-winning artist, author and illustrator whose works often balances between the whimsical and the political, exploring both personal relations to nature and activism for nature. During the past decade, Flygenring has become a voice in Nordic climate communication; besides several award-winning books (e.g. Tjörnin, 2024, and Eldgos, 2022) she also regularly collaborates with NGOs and research institutions on graphic reportage (for example in the 2023 Icelandic climate report: https://www.loftslagsbreytingar.is), bringing together scientists, policy‑makers and young readers around questions of biodiversity and nature. She will talk about the use of creative practices to understand about our place in the world but might also touch upon the darkness that underlie the humour. 

Bergsveinn Þórsson is associate professor at Bifröst University in Iceland where he teaches environment, climate and culture. He has a PhD in museum studies in which he researched the role of museums in engaging with environmental issues - including how cultural institutions can help us think about possible scenarios for the future. He will talk about the connections between museums, imagination and affect in the Anthropocene.
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