Making the Sustainable Development Goals Real: the Role of Emerging Media in Sustainability Transformations

The digital revolution is propelling innovative media forms that are fundamentally changing how we understand the world, communicate, engage and imagine the future.

At the intersection of art, science and technology, “emerging media” (e.g. immersive platforms) are reshaping the human communication and learning architecture.

Despite such profound effects, little is known of the role of emerging media in transformations towards sustainability.In this research I will conduct a comprehensive analysis of the challenges, possibilities, risks and benefits of emerging media in attaining the Agenda 2030.

Building on previous Formas-funded project Arts4SDGs, with mixed methods and in collaboration with pioneers and leading actors in the field I will:Interrogate “emerging media” projects related to the Agenda 2030 in terms of their impacts on creators and audiences.Collaboratively map and critically assess project seedbeds to improve the interactions between sustainability science and practice, digital creative practices and policy;Critically analyse how emerging media is shaping a collective imaginaries of sustainability futures; particular attention will be given to historically marginalized groups and how they are entering the space of emerging media.

This include afrotecnology, decolonial perspectives, indigenous futurism.In the post-pandemic world, it is paramount to examine how to harness digital cultures for sustainability transformations.