The Franco Namibian Cultural Centre (FNCC) came alive on 30 October 2025 as art lovers, sustainability advocates and curious visitors gathered for the opening of Solarpunk: A Story of Sand and Energy, an interactive exhibition inviting audiences to imagine Namibia’s future powered by creativity and renewable energy.
The exhibition marks the first public presentation of works by Namibian artist Vitjitua Ndjiharine and Spanish artist Rocío Asensi, created during their joint residency in Swakopmund in August 2025. Their collaboration blends science fiction, environmental awareness and cultural storytelling, a visual dialogue between sand, sun and imagination.
Here, the Solarpunk movement challenges us to be radical optimists. To reject dystopian and pessimistic world views that want us to be apathetic and encourage inaction. Hope is what enables us to dream and build. If you can envision a better future, you are more likely to want to contribute to making that future a reality. To hope is the greatest gift we can give our children.
I invite all of us to imagine today, to look through the coloured glass into the visions of solarpunk, and see the future we wish to create together.
Pocket ferns! A big embroidery to cover one tiny hoke. Something’s still not right with the lowest leaves, but all in all I’m really pleased.
I used two strands of embroidery floss, one yellow green and one mid green, because I didn’t have the color i wanted. I’m glad I did; I love the effect of two different colors!
A $375M landmark partnership is backing Indigenous-led conservation and development across the Northwest Territories
In an unprecedented partnership, 21 Indigenous governments, the Government of Canada, the Government of the Northwest Territories and private donors are investing $375 million in Indigenous-led conservation, stewardship and economic development across the Northwest Territories.
The Northwest Territories, a region of significant ecological value, hosts one of the largest and most intact forest ecosystems around the globe, along with two of the world’s largest freshwater lakes and the eighth largest river. These lands and waters support an abundance of animals, including migratory birds and arctic mammals, including caribou (Rangifer tarandus), grizzly bears (Ursus arctos), polar bears (Ursus maritimus), wolves (Canis lupus), lynx (Lynx canadensis) and wolverines (Gulo gulo).
Through the “Our Land for the Future” initiative, the partners involved aim to build community capacity by supporting the Indigenous Guardians program, which is a stewardship program that includes trained experts who manage lands and waters on behalf of their Nations. The funding will support training and career development of Indigenous people that will then monitor the ecosystems and cultural sites as part of the program. The money that the “Our Land for the Future” initiative receives will also advance climate action, support new and existing protected areas and promote sustainable, conservation-based Indigenous economies, which is key in the Arctic region.
“We belong to the land, and the land belongs to us,” said Grand Chief Herb Norwegian, Dehcho First Nations. “The investment announced today will help us steward our sacred responsibilities.”
By using a regional, community-driven approach, those involved in the initiative hope to help identify ecologically and culturally significant areas, provide greater clarity for industry and streamline conservation planning while protecting this vital landscape for future generations.
PHNOM PENH — Cambodian and international artists recently incorporated ideas of green technologies and sustainable strategies into their artworks to reflect the need for sustainable development and climate action.
To mark Clean Energy Week held Oct. 2 through 9 in Cambodia and numerous countries around the world, the Solarpunk Art Exhibition brought together on Oct. 4 artworks that artists had created during a weeklong workshop in Kampong Thom province in late September. The exhibition also included digital works contributed by artists from across Southeast Asia.
“I’m excited to see an increasing number of people in the capital embracing Solarpunk attitudes…such as creating small gardens in front of their houses, recycling, and repurposing existing materials [which is] truly beautiful,” Jerónimo said. Still, a great deal remains to be done to minimize environmental impact and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, he said, whether in the country, the region or throughout the world.
Sarah Wong, a Cambodian-Chinese artist who has lived in Siem Reap province for many years, said that the motifs, temple architecture and Kui culture inspired her to create a Solarpunk vision of Siem Reap: a reimagining of the riverfront full of potential for the community to get together and come up with creative solutions and innovations.
Adam visits the testing site for ICON, a company that designs and makes 3D printers for printing entire structures and houses! We learn how printing reinforced concrete works and get a preview of their next-gen multistory printer. How long does it take to print an entire house?
Imagine a field where solar panels and crops coexist—with no trade-off. It sounds like science fiction, but that’s precisely what researchers from Aarhus University have now documented in a full-scale agrivoltaic pilot project in the Danish countryside.
“Our measurements show that wheat and grass-clover mixtures grow just as well between vertical solar panels as in open fields. At the same time, the panels produce electricity in a daily pattern that better matches energy demand. It’s a win-win,” says Marta Victoria, lead author of the study and Associate Professor at the Department of Mechanical and Production Engineering, Aarhus University.
“Even with some shade, the yield per square meter is almost the same. The crops don’t seem to mind the presence of solar panels and they like the wind protection that they provide,” explains Professor Uffe Jørgensen from the Department of Agroecology, Aarhus University.
Artists from across the region are invited to apply for a new “solarpunk”-inspired digital art exhibition and Cambodia-based residency that reimagines a sustainable future rooted in local culture and community resilience
Starting next summer, the major downtown areas of Hanoi will ban all gasoline-powered motorcycles as part of a program to cut down on emissions.
The plan will go into effect on July 1, 2026, and then will expand the following year to cover more districts outside of downtown, and eventually include gasoline-powered cars as well. Other major cities like Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang are now studying similar measures.
The plan is part of Vietnam’s national goal to phase out gas-powered two-wheelers entirely by 2045. And in a country where motorcycles are the lifeblood of daily transportation, with an estimated 72 million of them on the road, this marks a seismic shift.
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