POPULUS examines how human and animal populations are constructed and valued in the Nordic region facing both climate crisis and demographic change. Using social science and design research methods, POPULUS investigates scientifically and politically urgent cases of reproduction in liquid surroundings: declining human sperm counts, endangered freshwater mussels, rising toxicity in seals and fluctuating Baltic Sea indicator species. Through document, fieldwork and collaborative workshop data, the project analyses scientific practices that shape the logics of inclusion and exclusion and technological management of reproductive life. POPULUS re-theorizes the idea of population and develops a methodological proof-of-concept for comparative multispecies, multidisciplinary research. It provides new knowledge on situated Anthropocene realities and generates societal impact by cocreating critical visions of shared eco-social futures.

2026

2030