Occupy Climate Change (OCC!)

OCC! started as a research project funded by the Swedish Council for Sustainable Development FORMAS in 2019. Our aim was to research two themes that were quite understudied at that time: the issue of Loss and Damage (L&D) and the impact of climate change on cities. In particular, OCC! wanted to focus on the practices and experiments of grassroots organizations across different cases in order to identify how their diverse, dynamic, self-organized responses to loss try to undo or embrace the damage.

OCC!’s team has delved into the practices of self-organization and solidarity experimented by grassroots groups, researching which kind of knowledge is being produced and whether these practices can be scaled up beyond “militant particularism” (Harvey & Williams 1995) and the specificities of the single case. The project produced documenting cases of grassroots initiatives that tackle climate change and an in-depth case study analysis on urban experiments from Europe (Stockholm, Naples, Istanbul), the US (New York City),and Latin America (Rio De Janeiro).

The project’s main output is a global database (The Atlas of the other worlds) , collecting entries on grassroots and municipal initiatives tackling climate change. The idea is to show that climate change is not only addressed on a global or individual level. The Atlas makes visible the many collective climate actions that are already happening. In the Atlas we have also created a space for people to foster their imagination and share their creative exploration of what an urban future can entail. Since 2022 we have been expanding the Atlas by holding an OCC! winter school dedicated to climate action, climate justice, climate adaptation, and mitigation. So far, we had three editions of the school involving almost 120 students and 40 teachers from all over the world. Why an Atlas of the other worlds? Because we need to see the many new worlds that are born within and against the current socio-ecological crisis. Ours is an invitation to open your ears and eyes and notice the many grassroots social innovations that too often remain completely invisible. The Atlas is a living archive of creativity, resistance, and resilience, but also an invitation to see the present and imagine the future.

Duration: 2019-2021 with funding from Formas, 2022- present, with seed fund grant from KTH Climate Action Centre.