19 Aug Inaugural WORLDING Program Announced, Five Teams Selected

CAMBRIDGE, Mass, August 18 – Co-Creation Studio at MIT Open Documentary Lab (ODL) is announcing a cohort of five projects for WORLDING, a workshop in partnership with Unity (NYSE: U), the world’s leading platform for creating and operating real-time 3D (RT3D) content. This first-of-its kind research and development workshop explores climate futures at the intersection of documentary, land-use planning, speculative modelling and game-engine technologies, and is supported through a Unity Charitable Fund grant.

During the two-week intensive workshop, teams will have a unique opportunity to develop their projects with researchers and makers from MIT, Unity team members, along with special guests from the field, to explore how they use (or could use) realtime 3D technology to imagine, plan and co-create future worlds within real-life communities. The workshop will include a custom-curated program specifically developed for the teams.

“Now more than ever, we need to forge shared narratives about the world that we live in today and the world that we want to build for the future. Technology can help us visualize and communicate those worlds, and Unity is thrilled to support changemakers and worldbuilders who are doing this important work” said Marina Psaros, Head of Sustainability at Unity.

“We are dedicated to incubating co-creation at our studio and we are honoured to gather these five incredible projects along with a roster of special guests and advisors. We are witnessing the emergence of new ways of both representing and shaping our realities. These teams and advisors are all trailblazing with spatialized storytelling and deep community engagement,’ said Katerina Cizek, Artistic Director and Co-Founder of Co-Creation Studio at MIT Open Documentary Lab.

With the WORLDING call for submission, the studio received 45 nominations from five continents across diverse disciplines led by BIPOC, LGBTQ+ and multi-tier documentarians, designers, technologists, architects, entrepreneurs, urban planners and climate scientists. Due to timezone constraints, the current selected cohort is situated across Pacific time to GMT, but the workshop will involve global meetups of an additional 13 of the submitted projects to share and expand the network.

Some of the presentations and discussions from WORLDING will be made available to the general public, and learnings from this intensive will be made available shortly after the conclusion of the event. To learn more go to https://cocreationstudio.mit.edu/worlding/ and follow us on instagram at @cocreationstudio.

The participants come from a wide range of disciplines and life experience, including architecture, land-use planning, place-making, climate science, filmmaking, creative technology, Indigenous epistemologies, art, curation, theater, journalism, games, community development, entrepreneurship, scholarship, education and activism.

ABOUT THE PROJECTS AND CREATORS

The five selected projects for WORLDING 2022  are:

WAVES OF BUFFALO (CANADA)

Waves of Buffalo is an Indigenous-led, land-based, site-specific installation that seeks to envision a future where once again, the Great Herds of Buffalo walk freely. Following Indigenous story knowledge, the buffalo’s impact reaches the above ground, on the ground, and below the ground. Team members: Tasha Hubbard, Jason Ryle and Marie-Eve Marchand.

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SEABREEZE BOP CITY (USA)

Seabreeze Bop City is a place-based, collaborative project addressing land use and land rights issues that stem from systemic inequalities and climate change. Seabreeze, NC, is a historic Black-owned beach community with a rich but disappearing history characterized by Black land loss, hurricane destruction, and sea-level rise. Team members: Ash Smith, Chris Lasch and Kwakiutl Dreher.

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100TH MERIDIAN (USA)

100th Meridian is an immersive documentary that unpacks multiple perspectives on the longest-running drought in the American West. The project aims to explore how to best utilize watershed analysis data within an open-world environment. Team members: Jon Cohrs and Mint Boonyapanachoti.

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WILD NATURES (U.K.)

WILD NATURES is a co-created initiative with Abandon Normal Devices (AND) Festival, artists and with young people who are excluded from mainstream education in Northwest England. Through a gaming project, this community will explore the intersection of criminal and environmental justice. Team members: Ruth MCullough, Angela YT Chan, Hwa Young Jung.

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YEAR 2180 (USA, BRAZIL)

Year 2180 aims to harness the power of VR to experience a rewilded and re-indigenized future. This iteration of the project explores a transformative São Paulo through experiencing the Yawanawà Shukuvena Village in the rainforests of Brazil. Team members: Vanessa Keith, Roberto Múkaro Borrero, Sachem Hawk Storm.

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The five selected teams will meet virtually this fall for a two week-long intensive workshop that will feature trailblazing makers, technologists, planners, decision-makers, and scholars as guest speakers, who will offer hands-on sessions, inspiration and mentorship opportunities.

“While our workshop is focused on developing and researching these incredible, interdisciplinary projects, we also hope that WORLDING can set an example for similar initiatives across global sectors where distances and varied expertise are not limitations but opportunities to learn from one another,” said Srushti Kamat, WORLDING Producer and MIT CMS/W grad.

WORLDING guest advisors include Mark Atkin of Crossover Labs (UK), Elizabeth Baron of Unity, Gillian Caldwell of USAID, Lafayette Cruise of City of Racine, Julian Etienne of Climate Story Fund, Rashin Fahandej of MIT ODL,  Marisa Jahn, artist and of The New School, Caesar McDowell of MIT Media Lab, Samaneh Moafi of Forensic Architecture,  Milad Mozari of MIT ODL,  Mike Monello of CampfireNYC, Stephanie Owens of Duke University, Tamara Shogaolu of Ado Ato Pictures, Jess Search of Doc Society,  Noelle Selin of the MIT Grand Climate Challenge, Kamal Sinclair of The Music Center, Paisley Smith of Unity, Ben Stokes of American University, Lena Thiele of Miiqlo Studios, William Uricchio Founder of MIT ODL, Amelia Winger-Bearskin of AI Climate Justice Lab at University of Florida, Joanna Wright of MIT ODL, Thomas Winkley of Unity.

The Closing Keynote will be delivered by Marina Psaros, and will be livestreamed as part of the ODL Public Lecture Series. Public registration for the Keynote will be announced soon.