Multispecies campus and speculative fiction as practices for changing meanings, connections, and power

Abstract

To create multispecies cities of truly radical coexistence we must first be able to imagine them. But bringing these places into being also requires a reconfiguration of existing structures and relationships on the ground. In this research, we examine three creative projects: the two solar punk-inspired speculative fiction anthologies Multispecies Cities and Solarpunk Creatures, and the Ehime University Multispecies Campus initiative. Published in 2021 and forthcoming 2024 respectively, the anthologies bring together authors from all around the world to examine more-than-human relationships in cities and beyond, delving deep into emotional and ecological ramifications alike while remaining loosely rooted in scientific research. On the other hand, the Multispecies Campus initiative combines a more-than-human perspective of the campus with a (re)forging of multispecies relations, while refusing to be contained in organizational categories such as scientific experimentation plots. We experimentally apply the EU CreaTures project framework of nine dimensions to talk about creative practice and change to think through how these projects aim to change meanings, connections and power both imaginary and implemented on the ground.