MozFest House Amsterdam

Dialogues & Debates | We are Planet: A Conversation About Ecology & AI
2024-06-13 , Main Stage - Galerij

The rapid expansion of data infrastructures, including data centers, telecommunications networks, and cloud computing, presents a growing challenge to global efforts to combat climate change and preserve natural ecosystems. This panel examines the trade-offs between digital expansion and environmental conservation.

Andrea Ixchíu is a Maya K'iche woman from Totonicapán, Guatemala. Land protector and storyteller. For more than 20 years she has been working in community communication processes to care for the life and territories of indigenous peoples. She is co-founder of the initiatives: Hackeo Cultural, Futuros Indígenas, Festivales Solidarios. Cultural manager, producer and audiovisual director. Consultant at Culture Hack Labs to create narratives for systems change. Andrea is a Nobel Women’s Initiative Fellow, Ford Global Fellow, Bertha Foundation Fellow, was awarded with the Sakharov Prize Fellowship which honours individuals and groups who defend human rights and freedom of expression.

Kersti Ruth Wissenbach
Kersti is the founder of Cultiva Lab, a socio-ecology driven consultancy and exploration space that is
rooted in the permaculture principles of People Care, Planet Care, Fair Share. Cultiva Lab works with
citizens, organisations and public sector institutions to embrace all-life-affirming understandings and
approaches in their work.
Kersti is a political sociologist with deep roots in the participatory communication and communication
rights movement. Prior to founding Cultiva Lab she has spent almost twenty years working on the
intersection of digital transformation, sustainability, and justice in the international development
cooperation sector. Kersti has extensively worked with activist groups, NGOs, and public institutions
leading strategic planning, policy advice, and implementation of civic participation processes around the
globe.
As a convinced hybrid, Kersti combined working in academia in practice for many years. In her role as
researcher, she has extensively explored power dynamics within transnational digital activist
communities, and how they translate into the tech we build. She is a vocal advocate for trans-disciplinary
collaborations in academia and practice, questioning dominant understandings of science in her work on
the shaping of Citizen Social Science.
Kersti earned her Bachelor ́s degree in Political Sciences, Sociology and Communication Sciences from
Heinrich-Heine University Düsseldorf and her Master ́s degree in International Development Studies from
University of Amsterdam. She has conducted postgraduate research at the New Media Department of
the University of Amsterdam and the Center on Social Movement Studies at the Scuola Normale
Superiore in Florence. Over the last years she trained in permaculture, systems thinking and feminist
leadership. Kersti operates from her off-grid home and community in rural Spain.

Klarenbeek en Dros focus on eco-technology, circular design and closed cycle production. By studying, designing and remapping complex (bio)processes they create awareness for social, ethical and moral implications of production, from a holistic perspective. With the aim to reduce waste, materials and emissions, for restorative design infrastructures and processes.

The work of Klarenbeek & Dros is known for their pioneering and innovative projects on Mycelium and Algae. And currently exhibited at Hotel d'Arts (Mediterranean Center of Arts), Toulon (FR), MAAT Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology, Lissabon (PT), Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam, (NL) and Centraal Museum, Utrecht, (NL).