New exhibition at the Wardlaw Museum invites participants to Rewrite the Future
A new exhibition at the University of St Andrew’s Wardlaw Museum not only explores how societies can be more sustainable in the future but has also cut down its own exhibition carbon footprint by an estimated three-quarters in the process.
Rewrite the Future, which is free and opens to the public on Saturday 31 May, explores different ways to create a world that benefits the environment and the people who live in it. The ideas span changes in policy, technological advancement and cultural sustainability.
The exhibition is in collaboration with the St Andrews Centre for Critical Sustainabilities (StACCS), and brings together research from across the University to explore options for the future.
Visitors can explore prototype organic material made from algae, which it’s hoped can be used as building material for the construction industry. The experiment, conceived by Studio Bioscene, went from petri dish to usable panels upscaled within St Andrews Botanic Garden to see how these materials would fare in an outdoor setting. With an ever-expanding population, it’s hoped this work can help offset the massive carbon footprint of the construction industry – the production of cement each year accounts for more CO2 than air travel.
Additionally, prototypes from the University’s School of Computer Science have been developed to adapt the AI process using local and culturally sensitive data, so instead of mining homogeneous knowledge, it can be site specific, trained in the distinctions and sensitivities of the culture in which it is used.
The exhibition also highlights the pioneering Refugee Tales project. It explores how society interacts with those who come here to find sanctuary. Their tales are told to well-known writers who document the lived experience, and hundreds of refugees and activists walk together through landscapes in solidarity.
Visitors can explore how their personal choices impact both society and their own lives by playing an interactive game as they tour the exhibition.
Matt Sheard, Head of Experience & Engagement for the University’s Libraries and Museums, said: “We’re excited to present a range of ideas that impact our society and then use a game to ask our visitors which ideas they’d like to take forward. As visitors play, they’ll be able to see in real time how their choices affect how just and sustainable our society is, as well as what impact they have on our individual health, wealth, power and comfort. These are insights that will help individuals think through the choices they have about our future and help us all to understand both the sacrifices and benefits of different ways forward.”
The findings from the game will be discussed as part of an event with politicians towards the end of the exhibition run.
Louise Reid, Senior Lecturer in Sustainable Development and Geography at St Andrews, said: “Stories and storytelling can be incredibly powerful tools to help us imagine and make sustainable futures – they encourage us to find ways to connect our research across disciplines and groups in society – core to what we do in the St Andrews Centre for Critical Sustainabilities. With this exhibition and events program, we hope to encourage and inspire people’s curiosity, getting them to consider a diversity of views and approaches to thinking about sustainable futures, including the roles we can all play in that.”
As well as exploring ideas around sustainability, the project team have sought to design the exhibition in a way that significantly reduces the waste and carbon cost of producing temporary exhibitions. By using an innovative strong cardboard-like material that is partly recycled and can be fully recycled after the exhibition, the organisers aim to have little waste left over at the end of the exhibition in September.