Manifesto

Contemporary mindset has attached the notions of impossibility and fantasy to the concept of utopia. The original meaning in Thomas More’s Utopia, however, was an ideal, not impossible society. A smarter and more moral society is an entirely possible development, not mere fiction. The first step is to recognise that no society can consist of humans only. We live in a huge and complicated symbiosis with all the other life forms, microbes, plants, fungi, and animals who inhabit and surround us – engrained biotopes, huge climatic biomes and finally the whole biosphere. We are part of terrestrial community and as far as we consider ourselves intelligent animals, we have to maintain it balanced, not destroying it. 

Biotoopia is focusing at biotope oriented ideals, where other forms of life are also part of the game and everyone’s quality of life increases due to balanced relations. There is a lot to learn from natural communities how beautiful, persistent and wholesome relationships can be. Old-growth habitats can teach us a lot about beauty and wisdom, and symbiosis of arts with sciences can prepare the ground for new mindsets – a close encounter with terrestrial life forms.

Mass culture is saturated with futuristic dystopias, yet collecting and cataloguing of disastrous developments does not help us to improve. Positive scenarios can only be realised if we formulate, model and practice them. This is why Biotoopia focuses on utopias. Only persistence of biodiversity, richness of life, can secure a future for us all.