What will planet Earth
ideally be like in the year 2100?

We invite you to share your vision for the Earth in the year 2100. Design your own utopian island and join PAN-utopia 2100 virtual world. Please check our Guidelines, which will help frame your creative work. Then you will be ready to participate in the Utopian Island of the Year Contest (go to Regulations ).

Guidelines

Have you ever thought how important food is, and how it structures your family, academic, professional and social life? Before idealising the food of the future, discuss with your Colleagues the food of the present and how you experience it. The questions below may provide you with a starting point:

  • Who produces food?
  • How is it produced and processed?
  • How is it transported and distributed?
  • What do people eat and drink?
  • How is it prepared?
  • Who prepares it?
  • How is it served?
  • Who serves it?
  • Who cleans up after the meal?
  • What happens to the leftovers?
  • What are the biological and psychological consequences for human health?

You will see that the answers to these questions will lead you to the discussion of a series of related issues, such as:

  • The nature of families and communities;
  • Gender and class relations;
  • Rural/urban relations;
  • The economics and mechanics of production;
  • Distribution;
  • Consumption;
  • Sanitation;
  • The health and well-being of humans;
  • The political system;
  • Decision-making.

Based on the discussion and reflection on these issues, imagine the food of the future. The idea will be to make you understand that societies work as systems, and that if one aspect of the society changes, then the whole society will change.

When imagining the food of the future, you will see that systems of production, distribution, preparation and consumption of different foods may be at the basis of the construction of a more just and sustainable society. That will be your mission!

This exercise of imagination should take into account the mechanisms needed to solve the issues below. You are supposed to divide your description into 5 categories:

  • Integration of the rural and urban lifestyles
    How to integrate the rural/urban ways of life without favouring one or discriminating against the other?
  • Economy and sustainability
    How to produce and prepare food within the framework of a sustainable plan, solving the energetic issues involved in the production, processing, transportation, distribution and preparation of food?
     
  • Health and well-being
    How to produce quality food that contributes to society’s health and its well-being?
     
  • Solutions for the scarcity of resources
    What strategies should be adopted to face the scarcity of food and water in the planet?
     
  • Citizenship
    How to provide society with the awareness that in an inclusive society there are no hierarchies with regard to who prepares, who serves and who eats food?

Do not forget to give your utopian island a name and to create a flag that may stand for its ideals. Remember that you are not supposed to exceed 5,000 characters (including spaces) per category! The file with the drawing of your flag should be sent to utopia@letras.up.pt. You may include, if you wish, other materials meant to complete your work.

Use your utopian island as a lab for the creation of the future!