Organized in collaboration with Transparent Eyeball, the Synthetic Ecosystems Lab and Parsons School of Design, this symposium explores the perception and mapping of dynamic processes through a series of talks and discussions.

The symposium approaches life as a dynamic process, unfolding across geological, technological, ecological, and cultural dimensions. Speakers explore planetary tipping points and nonlinear feedbacks shaping Earth’s history, convergences between living systems and technology, and the entanglement of ecological processes with human infrastructures. Bringing together critical perspectives on resilience, adaptation, and poetic ecological imaginaries to reframe life as an ever-transforming force.

Prof. Daniel H. Rothman’s keynote explores how life and the environment have never been in balance. Extinctions occur when the pace of change exceeds the capacity to adapt, while microbial life persists by slowing its metabolism and keeping the environment from ever reaching equilibrium. Together, they reveal an Earth where the imbalance of nature and the persistence of life are inseparable.

Designer and researcher Harpreet Sareen introduces his research into biohybrid systems and convergent design. Drawing from electronics, plant biology, and material science, Sareen develops living sensors and responsive interfaces that reconfigure the boundaries between natural and synthetic. His work demonstrates new possibilities for designing in collaboration with living organisms, offering an embodied and ecological model for technological innovation.

Biologist and philosopher Andreas Weber presents his theory of “poetic ecology,” in which organisms are seen as sentient, meaning-making beings. Rethinking the biosphere not as a system of inputs and outputs but as a realm of subjectivity and feeling, Weber proposes an ecology grounded in empathy, imagination, and embodied experience. His work deepens the notion of sensing to include inner worlds and emotional intelligence across species boundaries.

This symposium was part of Sensing Change Festival, a citywide Festival presented in collaboration with Transparent Eyeball, with the support of the Ministry of Culture Czech Republic, Teiger Foundation, and 1014 Space for Ideas.