2024 Earth-Space Symposium on ‘Sustainability, Governance, Futures’
Utrecht, The Netherlands | 12-13 November 2024
Charting a Collaborative Research Trajectory: Reflections on the 2024 Earth-Space Symposium, Utrecht, the Netherlands
Blake Harvey, PhD Researcher, PlanetStewards Project, 25/02/2025
In 2022 the concept of ‘earth-space sustainability’ was introduced (Yap & Truffer) to highlight the connectivity between our global sustainability challenges and those pertaining to human activities in space. Consequently, ‘earth-space governance’ was proposed in 2023 (Yap & Kim) as a means to integrate governance approaches for these interrelated sustainability challenges in a multi-planetary context of ‘New Space’ exploration and development. In November 2024, the Earth-Space Symposium on ‘Sustainability, Governance, Futures’ excitedly convened an international cohort of 60 interdisciplinary scholars, policymakers, artists, and practitioners from 21 countries to gather theoretical consideration on our changing earth-space systems and the emerging ecological and social justice challenges, thus defining and charting a new collaborative trajectory for science and policy inquiry.
The first forum of its kind, the Earth-Space Symposium was hosted at Utrecht University in the Netherlands. It opened with a preliminary view of the key elements to be considered as constituting earth-space system(s) and an introduction to Planetary Stewardship in view of Earth-Space Sustainability (PlanetStewards), the European Research Council (ERC)-funded project that for the next four years will investigate current stewardship approaches to these systems and their sustainability challenges. To kick off the symposium, leading experts Pascale Ehrenfreund (President of the Committee on Space Research, Former President of the International Astronautical Federation, and Co-Chair of the Global Future Council on Space of the World Economic Forum), Frank Biermann (Founder and Inaugural Chair of the Earth System Governance Project and 2024 Volvo Environment Prize Winner), and Tanja Masson-Zwaan (President Emerita of the International Institute of Space Law and Vice President of the International Astronautical Federation) outlined a preliminary view of the future of space governance.
The experts shared their insights on the complexities necessitating this paradigmatic shift towards an integrated earth-space governance view, setting the stage for the two days of highly transdisciplinary and collaborative panels and workshops.
The panels began by exploring the challenges of sustainability and resource governance of space with speakers raising questions on disentangling astropolitical and legal conflicts on Earth[i], synthesizing sustainability frameworks for futures on the Moon[ii], and protecting extraterrestrial biodiversity[iii]. Critically, Thomas Cheney (Northumbria University) centered the context of the current climate and societal crises in discussions on the acceleration of space expansionism, necessitating a conceptualization of human interest in space exploration, development, and resources as a problematic continuation of the capitalocene[iv].
At the forefront of discussions lied the problematic approach to understanding space as an isolated realm beyond or exterior to human systems and their impacts, allowing for disjointed and reductionist approaches to governance for sustainability and justice in/with space. Instead delineating ‘earth-space’ as fundamentally a system of interrelation, interconnection, and interdependency, symposium participants engaged in ‘Breaking Captured Futures: Co-Mapping Earth-Space Systems’, a workshop organized by Jeroen Oomen (Utrecht University) in collaboration with the PlanetStewards Project.
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Focusing on the conceptual transition from ‘outer space’ to ‘earth-space’, the workshop gathered participant perspectives on the conceptual divide between earth-space, a relational and governable human construct tied to systems thinking, and outer space, perceived as non-human, unalterable, and beyond cultural or biophysical relatability. Discussions emphasized the challenges of governance, sustainability, and equity within earth-space while highlighting humanity’s limited capacity to influence or inhabit the vast, unbounded realm of outer space.
The symposium continued with a diverse range of panels as experts discussed the ethical and philosophical perspectives of earth-space governance, including normative principles for new theories of justice[v] and questions of a multi-planetary ethics for the ‘New Space’ age[vi]. Critical questions were raised, like those presented by Paloma Puente-Lozano (University of Madrid), on the current hegemonic geo-constructivism of space and the more critical/alternative cosmic imaginations that exist as possibilities otherwise[vii].
The symposium opened up critical discussion on the role of space in future-making and the importance of anticipatory governance. Experts on space governance models highlighted the different trajectories of possibility within an expanding anthroposphere, criticizing the incapacity of current governance and legal frameworks to, among other things, hold powerful actors accountable for unsustainable space practices[viii], foster a communal anti-fragility to new potential discoveries in astrobiology[ix], and to form synergies between fields that will ultimately become enmeshed (for example space law and immigration law)[x]. Participants questioned the ‘shared visions’ of space futures[xi] and how narratives of humanity’s future align with the scientific understanding of necessary sustainability transformations.
The congregation again focused on critical questions of justice and equity in a multi-planetary context, the key concern of the earth-space governance model. Speakers presented on current hegemonic trajectories of astrocolonialism, astrocapitalism, and the frontierization of space, asserting the importance of the pursuit of ‘earth-space sustainability’ as a means to achieve just planetary futures aligned with alternative ‘earth-centered imaginaries’ over the dominant, unrealistic visions of democratization via conquest born of 'human-centered imaginaries'[xii]. Further, discussions on North/South patterns in the access to and transfer of space technologies[xiii] and the applicability of environmental multilateralism for earth-space governance-centered[xiv] questions of global equity and the role various governance approaches may play in perpetuating longstanding systems of marginalization and inequality.
Importantly, experts on pluriversal and cultural perspectives ignited discussion on the perverse uses of ‘sustainability’ to preserve trajectories of exploitation in space and how a strong conceptualization of sustainability for space would instead focus on restraint of such developments and uses[xv]. These discussions called into question the nature of the goals of the dominant framework of sustainable development, necessitating critical perspectives that value alternative priorities for space, Earth, and societies, making it a key part of the collaborative agenda to reimagine current framings of ‘sustainability’. Echoing these concerns and akin to the stewardship approaches that will be analyzed and compared by the PlanetStewards project in the coming years, participants presented on the various indicators for the ‘why’ of space exploration, necessitating research into the study of motivating forces for activities in space and their interrelations[xvi].
Later, a panel on ‘Transdisciplinary Approaches to Earth-Space Systems’ turned to the different methodological approaches used to conceive of the central issues discussed during the symposium, highlighting potential transdisciplinary synergies to address earth-space challenges. The panel featured Francesca Letizia (European Space Agency), Martin Elvis (Harvard & Smithsonian; International Astronomical Union), and Miha Turšič (Waag Futurelab).
The panel respectively presented the European Space Agency’s (ESA’s) Zero Debris Approach to space governance[xvii], astrophysicists’ warnings of the opposing astronomical, exploratory, and commercial interests in the Moon[xviii], and notions of planetary mattering and notions of ‘public outer space’[xix].
While experts in this panel and throughout the symposium asserted the importance of imaginative and creative practices associated with space activities and technologies as powerful mechanisms driving earth-space imaginaries, a multi-piece artistic display titled ‘Space Shadows’ by Sebastian Levar Spivey from the University of Twente exemplified such practices. Spivey’s work used cyanotype prints to display former rocket parts, prompting discussions on the meaning and resonance of space technologies throughout and beyond their ’use’. These discussions on transdisciplinary approaches were further complemented by a creative contribution from Athanasios Tsarouchas from Maastricht University, ‘Immersive Virtual Reality Experience: Exploring Space on the Moon and in Earth's Orbit’, which allowed symposium participants to engage in virtual simulations of earth-space habitats to engage with the unfamiliarity of outside-of-Earth landscapes.
Finally, the symposium rounded out important theorizations on futures and on nature as part of collaborative thinking on how both futuring practices and (social) constructivist theories can reshape current priorities and endeavors in earth-space governance. In the ‘Future Space(s): Strategic Foresight Workshop’ organized by Philipp Kürten and Nina Klimburg-Witjes (University of Vienna), participants mapped future scenarios for Europe to inform European space policy on possible routes to address earth-space relations.
Simultaneously, in ‘Constructing Nature in Space’, a workshop led by Timothy Pape (Bowling Green State University and Research Associate of PlanetStewards), a group engaged in discussions on the plurality of understandings of nature and its role in conceiving of space, sparking an embedded research agenda into diverse formulations of nature in/of/with space to facilitate deeper engagement with how to govern earth-space systems.
The Earth-Space Symposium provided a highly diverse, meaningful, and collaborative space to engage across and beyond disciplines on critical questions shaping the future of research and policy guided by an integrated conception of our earth-space systems. In addition to many new collaborations, participants charted course for a collective science and policy agenda shaped by perspectives gathered throughout the symposium and to be taken forward by the organizing team as part of the five-year PlanetStewards research program (2024-2029). The project, led by Principal Investigator and symposium chair Dr. Xiao-Shan Yap, will build on the critical questions raised during the symposium, driving forward the earth-space paradigm to promote alternative cosmological imaginaries, foster new understandings of multi-planetary sustainability, and achieve holistic governance approaches for equitable and just earth-space futures.
Photos: Ori Morales Hernández, PlanetStewards Project
[i] Presented by Feja Lesniewska, University of Surrey – ‘Sustainably Managing the Triple Planetary Crisis from Space: Disentangling the Astropolitical, (Geo) Ecological and Legal Conflicts on Earth’
[ii] Presented by Marco Janssen, Arizona State University – ‘Synthesizing Frameworks of Sustainability for Futures on the Moon’
[iii] Presented by Marjan Ajevski, Open University – ‘Protecting Extra-Terrestrial Biodiversity: What Space Law Can Learn from
Protecting Biodiversity on Earth’
[iv] Presented by Thomas Cheney, Northumbria University – ‘Space Resources and the Capitalocene’
[v] Presented by Santiago Vrech, Utrecht University – ‘Considerations of Justice for the New Space Age’
[vi] Presented by Claudiu Martin, Complutense University of Madrid – ‘Politics of Space-Making: The Role of Responsibility and Ethics in the MultiPlanetary Paradigm’
[vii] Presented by Paloma Puente-Lozano, University of Madrid – ‘Resonant (off)worlds. Place-Making and “Geoconstructivism” in Cosmic Imaginations’
[viii] Presented by Fiona Naysmith, Open University – ‘Ecocide in Outer Space: Countering Irreversible Harms to the Space
Environment’
[ix] Presented by George Profitiliotis, Blue Marble Space Institute of Science – ‘Situating Astrobiology in a Future-Oriented Earth-Space Governance Model’
[x] Presented by Anna Marie Brennan, University of Waikato – ‘Living Amongst the Stars: Conceptualising Freedom of Movement to and from Future Extraterrestrial Human Settlements’
[xi] Presented by Philipp Kürten (and prepared with Nina Klimburg-Witjes), University of Vienna – ‘No time for the future? Futuring Practices and Conflicting Temporalities in European Space Policy-Making’
[xii] Presented by Loïs Miraux (and prepared with Margaux D’Hont), CNES, France – ‘Socio-technical imaginaries of space utilization in the Anthropocene’
[xiii] Presented by Florian Rabitz, Kaunas University of Technology – ‘The North-South Structure of the Global Satellite Industry’
[xiv] Presented by Philippe Evoy, Université Laval and VU Amsterdam – ‘North-South Dynamics in Global Environmental Governance: Comparing Outer Space with Other Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction’
[xv] Presented by Giuliana Rotola, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna – ‘Integrating Indigenous outlooks in international space law: a relational approach to the environment’
[xvi] Presented by Valentin Hoffman, University of Vienna – ‘Star-Spangled Speeches: Spaceflight’s Agendas in Asia’
[xvii] Presented by Francesca Letizia, European Space Agency – ‘ESA’s Zero Debris Approach’
[xviii] Presented by Martin Elvis, Harvard & Smithsonian; International Astronomical Union (IAU) – ‘Protecting Lunar Sites of Extraordinary Scientific Importance (SESIs)’
[xix] Presented by Miha Turšič, Waag Futurelab – ‘Planetary Public Stack: “More-than-Planet”’