Therme Art and Impact One attended the Aya Conference held in the Cidade Matarazzo of São Paulo on 30th September and participated in two roundtable discussions co-hosted with our partner Aya Earth Partners. 

Impact One seeks to address social practices and structural issues that have the power to shape our culture and thereby the wellbeing of our bodies, just as much as that of our environment.

The Future of Cities roundtable discussion, moderated by Co-Founder of Aya Earth Patricia Ellen, invited guests to consider and speak about the necessity of developing our cities to house a sustainable and regenerative future. Representatives of the transdisciplinary collaboration necessary for the creation of future cities included Isku Hua of the Yawanawa community, indigenous to the Amazon in the Brazilian State of Acre, media artist Refik Anadol, Impact One and Therme Art founder Mikolaj Sekutowicz and Impact One chairwoman Roksana Ciurysek Gedir. The participants discussed how cultural practices from across the world, both physical and virtual, could be adapted to transform cities from primary threats to the balancing force of our planetary ecosystem, and drivers of its regeneration. 

The roundtable discussion on Living Labs: The Cities’ Opportunity for Innovation invited guests to reflect on the possibilities for cities to act as hubs for sustainable innovation and activation. Participants included the Yawanawa Representative Isku Hua, developer of Cidade Matarazzo Alexandre Allard, Kei Cities Board Member and Founding Partner of Ihaka Capital Robert Pittmann, Senior Advisor of UNDP Haroldo Machado-Filho, Senior Agricultural Economist at the World Bank Leonardo Bichara, Impact One and Therme Art Founder Mikolaj Sekutowicz, CEO and Founder of Future of Cities Tony Cho and New Media Artist Refik Anadol. 

Following the roundtable, a Memorandum of Understanding between the city of São Paulo, Mata, KEI Cities, Impact One and Future of Cities was reached. The participants will announce a partnership that will act in the creation of future cities by testing and implementing technological solutions to revert the impact of carbon emissions and ultimately deliver greater health and prosperity to humanity.

Read more on One Health Research Centre’s website here.