Invitation to a Networking Workshop on Post-human Resilience in Major Emergencies
Preliminary WORKSHOP AGENDA
Organisers: Prof. Agnes Kukulska-Hulme, Prof. Helen Yanacopulos, Dr Shonil Bhagwat, Dr Paul Piwek, Dr David Roden, Dr Susanne Schwenzer, Dr Sungwoo Lim, Dr Geraint Morgan, Alice Peasgood
Venue: The Open University in London, 1 Hawley Crescent, Camden Town, London NW1 8NP
Date: 19 October, 2016
Registration: Please e-mail . No registration fee, but places are limited.
The event is primarily a networking event, to which we welcome your contribution as a poster presentation (posters can be any size between A2 and A0). Please submit your title alongside a ~50 word description of your research interests, and/or organization and ~150 word abstract about the poster content to us at the registration email address.
The Open University is funding a networking workshop to discuss emerging challenges and ideas in the area of post-human resilience in major emergencies with a view to future cooperation and project proposals. The main aim of the workshop is to bring together researchers and stakeholders from a variety of fields within the future technologies area.
We are focusing on emergency situations, particularly in major events and disasters, which in today’s connected world require sophisticated responses involving extraordinarily close collaboration between humans and technologies. The concept of resilience has been identified as encapsulating a highly desirable characteristic of both humans and technologies in these settings. Although resilience has been the subject of extensive research in various academic and technical domains, it needs to be thoroughly re-examined in relation to the prospect of a post-human future, e.g. in 50 to 100 years, in which human capacities may be manipulated and radically enhanced. If you are interested in this challenge and have relevant ideas or expertise, you are invited to join us in our upcoming workshop where the concept of resilience will be a core aspect.
A posthuman approach to resilience might analyse networks of which humans are only a part, or assemblages composed entirely of non-humans. It may involve applying abstract concepts of resilience to humans and nonhumans alike; or "pluralizing" the concept to acknowledge different ways in which things or subjects can exhibit resilience. It may explore the contribution of nonhuman actors to forms of stability traditionally viewed in human terms, or seek greater recognition of diverse interests in being resilient.
Emergencies range in scale from affecting one person to disasters affecting hundreds or even thousands of people; some are foreseeable, while others strike with no prior warning. Their causes range from illness and infection to human violence and natural disasters. As diverse as they seem, what they have in common is that they deeply impact on the wellbeing of the humans affected and that they may have a large and catastrophic impact on economic standing - affecting a single person or an entire region or nation. As a consequence, measures and technologies are put in place and constantly refined, which try to minimize the impact (e.g. early detection of cancer by screening, or evacuation plans for buildings) and to deal with the aftermath (e.g. rescue and emergency response plans for hurricane affected areas). The practical aspects of planning, training, and technological preparedness are constantly evolving. It is therefore important to think about the day-to-day aspects, but it is equally important to think into the future and enable improvements not currently possible but in line with expected technology developments.
This workshop aims to bring together a wide range of stakeholders, industry partners and researchers from all disciplines thinking about resilience in the face of emergencies -- philosophers, social scientists, medical scientists, earth and environmental scientists, engineers, computer scientists, developers and others -- who can contribute relevant expertise to the study of emergencies from their perspective, and use this as an opportunity to think beyond disciplinary boundaries and beyond the current state-of-the-art with the aim to increase resilience in major disaster situations in the future.
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