I’m pleased to join a stellar group of artists who have been chosen to create Ecotopian Tools for water justice in the Delaware River watershed.
I’ll be offering a Water Radio workshop at the Independence Seaport Museum in Philadelphia on Saturday June 18!
Learn more about the Delaware River watershed and the toolkit initiative from the project hosts at the Penn Program for Environmental Humanities:
The river runs 330 miles through the traditional homelands of the Lenape people, called the Delaware by English settler colonists. Its multi-species communities have undergone many dramatic changes, many driven by humans, and its current inhabitants face increasing climate risks, including flooding and toxicity. Today, the river provides drinking water for some fifteen million humans, and the basin offers habitat to 400 types of birds; 90 fish species; macro- and microinvertebrates; iconic native species, including shad; and invasives, such as snakeheads.
The river is tidal as far up as Trenton, and it rises and falls six feet twice daily (ten at Trenton). The Delaware River port complex–spanning Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania–is one of the largest shipping areas in the United States and the largest freshwater port in the world, moving vast quantities of petroleum and petrochemical products and more. A recently concluded project to deepen the 103-mile main shipping channel resulted in a considerable expansion to the capacity of the Port of Philadelphia (or PhilaPort). Climate impacts the river and its ten sub-watersheds in a variety of ways. As the region gets hotter and wetter, extreme weather can overwhelm infrastructure built for a bygone climate regime; more severe storms bring larger surges; and sea level rise is already being felt in the river’s tidal section.
Proposals will introduce “ecotopian” tools, whether conceptual or realized, that might be used by inhabitants of the watershed to support its diverse, multi-species community as we learn to adapt and respond to our changing local environment: sinking, submerging, immersing, diving, soaking in climate-changing waters. Inspired by utopian writing and projects across cultures, traditions, and times, the word “ecotopian” is borrowed from Ernest Callenbach’s 1975 novel, “Ecotopia”. An Ecotopian Tool for Water Justice should spark awareness to apprehend and address the multiplying effects of climate change on the basin’s diverse communities. Previous Ecotopian Tools have included guided tours, workshops, community-built floating sculptures, community science initiatives, data visualizations, and more.