There’s a movement that’s radically reimagining the future where tech and nature work together in harmony.
It’s called solarpunk.
Coined in 2008, solarpunk is an art genre that’s grown into a practical movement and subculture.
Solarpunk offers a vision for the future far removed from the gripping dystopian narrative. And for so many with dystopia fatigue, that’s a welcomed reprieve.
We’re taking a quick detour from our regular boots-on-the-ground, tactical content to the dreamy realm of inspiration and optimism with solarpunk.
So, what would an optimistic solarpunk future look like?
Solarpunk envisions…
- Decentralization. Currently, global power structures can get in the way of real regenerative changes. Solarpunk suggests healing and strengthening fractured communities, starting with local, grassroots change that filters up. Practically, this could look like replacing unhelpful conglomerates, hierarchies, and centralized wealth with open-sourced technologies, community cooperation, and shared knowledge and resources.
- Climate solutions and adaptation. In the ideal solarpunk future, people would face challenges from a solution-oriented and adaptive perspective. Clean energy*–*like solar, hydro, and wind–would fuel gadgets and buildings would be constructed with **climate solution technology. Our food would be grown regeneratively with permaculture principles, replenishing soil and ecosystems along the way and with support for farmers and agriculturalists.
- Harmony between nature and technology. A stark contrast to the idea of technological destruction, solarpunk envisions symbiosis between technology and nature. **Rather than extraction and exploitation, technology would serve human needs as a tool for coexistence with nature. In this vision, we can say goodbye to technology that exerts control over humans and destroys the natural world.
- Circular economies. In the solarpunk world, everything would be reused or repurposed so that all resources and transport are sustainable and clean, and things would be built to last. No more litter and no more waste would damage landfills and oceans!
- Freedom and cooperation. In the solarpunk future, wealth would be more evenly distributed and necessities like healthcare would be accessible. Wise indigenous and ancestral knowledge would be integrated with innovation and societal advancements.
While solarpunk is a vision now, many can feel the opportunity it presents in every part of their being. With regenerative agriculture, biophilic buildings, and community organizing,
that future is being built today.