Mia Shu
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Annihilation of Refugees

Climate change is already happening and we are facing
a direct existential threat. Our dominant role and the system we have created have trans- formed the planet, impacting every life form. Up to 1 million species are at risk of extinction, many within decades. It is hard to grasp the magnitude of this problem, especially when this is unseen by most of us. But we humans are intertwined with the fate of other species.

We heavily depend on the balance of this intricate system, where they provide us not only with food, clean air, and medicine, but also social cohesion, identity, and liveable home. This emergency is happening now and not something that will only start to manifest itself in the future. We, humans and non-humans, will become refugees and possibly face annihilation if we do not change our current system.

I have written stories about how humans are impacting the wildlife, spoken from their voice. These stories are followed with text about what would happen when these species were to disappear. Through these stories, I want us to reconsider our relationship with nature, “develop a greater sensitivity towards everything with which we are inextricably and intimately connected.” I hope I can inspire you a new way of thinking that can help us redesign a world and future that encompasses more than human.

 

Annihilation of Refugees

Experiencing the more-than-human world through storytelling

MSc Design in Linköping University, 2019

 
 

we are all refugees

Climate change is already happening and we are facing a direct existential threat. Our dominant role and the system we have created have transformed the planet, impacting every life form. Up to 1 million species are at risk of extinction, many within decades. It is hard to grasp the magnitude of this problem, especially when this is unseen by most of us. But we humans are intertwined with the fate of other species. We heavily depend on the balance of this intricate system, where they provide us not only with food, clean air, and medicine, but also social cohesion, identity, and liveable home. This emergency is happening now and not something that will only start to manifest itself in the future. We, humans and non-humans, will become refugees and possibly face annihilation if we do not change our current system.

Alternative storytelling

I have written stories about how humans are impacting the wildlife, with an attempt to speak from their voices. These stories are followed by an excerpt of what would happen when these species were to disappear. Through these stories, I want us to reconsider our relationship with nature, “develop a greater sensitivity towards everything with which we are inextricably and intimately connected.” I hope I can inspire you with a new way of thinking that can help us redesign a world and future that encompasses more than humans.

Click here to download the stories.