MISI Annual Summit: The Need for Roots in a Digital Society

About this event

In a 21st century digital society, what does it mean to be rooted? On November 6th, MISI's second annual summit brings together scholars, civic leaders, scientists, journalists, technologists, and community voices to explore how we can move from passive acceptance to active engagement in shaping a more human-centered digital future.

Panels and workshops will explore the problem of uprootedness related to three intersecting areas: community, ecology and attention, and practical questions about how digital tools can foster — rather than stunt — genuine rootedness. Ecologists and foresters will show how they use digital tools to share their love of the living world and connect to likeminded communities, municipal leaders will explain how they are bridging digital divides, and scientists and engineers will explore how best to pierce the digital distortions to communicate their findings with a skeptical public.

The question is not whether we need roots, but how, in our current conditions, we grow them.