Which way forward? A conversation with the Environmental Humanities for accelerating climate action in the Swedish water sector
Join the first webinar in our seminar series on climate action in the Swedish water sector, where we explore climate action through different perspectives and spaces. During this first webinar, we have invited scholars Pietro Daniel Omodeo and Sumit Vij, that will share their experiences of exploring the water sector both historically as well as contemporary using the lenses of imaginaries, climate knowledge and lived experiences.
Sweden is set to experience much more extreme weather conditions, and this will affect water infrastructure in complex and often unpredictable ways. Extreme incidents of both flooding and acute water scarcity are regularly being lifted in the mainstream media and popular discourse. However, Sweden’s history as a relatively water secure country has meant that adaptation to climate change is to a large extent moving slowly. Today only 2% of water utilities in Sweden are adequately adapted in the face of climate change. While this is puzzling, what is more, climate adaptation of the water sector is often framed as a techno-managerial challenge with little or scarce inputs from the humanities.
In the project ImagineAction (2024- 2027), the research takes off from a different starting point. Accelerating climate action in the water sector is not purely a techno-managerial challenge, rather it is a challenge of understanding how imaginaries – our ways of seeing and thinking about the world - shape action. We also want to explore the importance of the lived historical experiences of extreme weather alongside with the scientific climate knowledge. How can the human experience and imagination increase preparedness in society?
As part of a seminar series by the KTH Environmental Humanities Laboratory during 2025-2026 on the topic of climate action in the Swedish water sector, we will explore climate action through different perspectives. During this first webinar, we have invited two scholars that will share their experiences of exploring the water sector both historically as well as contemporary using the lenses of imaginaries, climate knowledge and lived experience. We will draw upon international cases and experiences to learn from and understand better the Swedish context in an open discussion.
Questions explored at the webinar:
What are the main forms of imaginaries in the water sector?
How do actors in the water sector mobilise different kinds of knowledge?
How does climate change shape action historically and contemporary?
Please register so we can estimate how many will be in the final discussion: www.kth.se/form/imagineaction . Link for webinar will be sent out when you register.
Webinar is co-organized by the research project ImagineAction and KTH Environmental Humanities Laboratory
Speakers
Pietro Daniel Omodeo , cultural historian of science and a professor of historical epistemology at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, Italy. His talk will be on Watercity Venice: Past and Future.
Sumit Vij , Assistant Professor, Sociology of Development and Change, Wageningen University. His talk will be on experiences from India and learning to live with floods.
