The Anthropocene is a concept that is frequently discussed in relation to the "great acceleration" — a term that underscores the rapid intensification of human activity in the late 20th century, particularly in terms of economic growth, technological advancement, and ecological degradation. However, this framework often overlooks the significant role of urbanization, which has been a driving force in shaping both the physical environment and the broader socio-political landscape. The term Urbanocene, as explored by scholars such as Geoffrey West, Massimo Palme, Agnese Salvati, and Daniele La Rosa, offers a more focused lens, repositioning this accelerated transformation within the context of urbanization. The Urbanocene highlights how cities and their complex processes of growth, development, and environmental impact are integral to understanding the contemporary challenges of ecological crisis, climate change, and sustainability.

This workshop seeks to engage with the ways in which contemporary artists are responding to and intervening in the Urbanocene—the intersection of urban life and environmental change. Artists working in urban public spaces often use these sites to question, critique, and reimagine our relationship with the environment, the human inhabitants of the city and the non-human world. In doing so, they create powerful interspecies interaction for introspection, advocacy, coexistance and resilience.

By analyzing these artistic interventions  we aim to explore whether these artistic practices possess the potential to catalyze collective action and generate a deeper ecological consciousness within urban communities. The workshop engages in the paradigm of 'Animal Turn' initiated by Peter Singer and "the more than human right to the city." Ultimately, we are interested in understanding how artistic interventions may promote a vision of symbiosis between the city dwellers and the broader ecosystem, challenging dominant models of domination over non-humans.

The workshop provides an interdisciplinary platform for examining the transformative potential of art within the Urbanocene. We aim to analyze a range of artistic practices—ranging from installations, murals, and public art to digital media, performance, and theater—while critically exploring their function as vehicles for ecological discourse and social transformation. 

 We invite artists, scholars, urban planners, activists, and practitioners from diverse fields to contribute their perspectives and expertise to foster rich and nuanced discussions that connect the theoretical and the practical, the local and the global, the individual and the collective.