[s]ây project

[s]ây invites Vietnamese youth into a transformative exploration of climate action rooted in local perspectives and collective vision. Designed as a platform for horizontal learning, local knowledge-sharing, and collective imagination, [s]ây sought to challenge mainstream climate narratives and emphasise the essential role of Indigenous and local voices in climate solutions. Through interactive workshops, we created a space for an exchange of local knowledge that explored the environmental challenges impacting Vietnamese communities. Creative expression, through art, storytelling, and poetry, became a tool for processing climate anxiety and envisioning resilient, alternative futures, allowing participants to explore systemic issues in new ways.

Reflecting on the project, we observed how Vietnamese cultural norms and colonial legacies affect local knowledge systems. The project emphasised the importance of reimagining not only climate futures but also how knowledge flows within communities, advancing a vision for pluriversal futures. This zine captures [s]ây journey, offering a guide and inspiration for future climate justice endeavours.

Questions for the next LAB

1. In a time of chaos with extensive colonial propaganda, what kind of decolonial knowledge or wisdom are you looking into?
2. How do you ensure a truly safe environment for a diverse group of different backgrounds and different levels of privilege (and the lack of it)?

Our answer to the question from the previous LAB

How have you embraced chaos as part of the School of Commons this year?

The fact that some people refused to look away at the severity of the genocide in Palestine and the root causes of the problem that we brought up, and instead chose to focus on the way we brought it up created chaos itself. In this chaos, we have to redirect attention from us to the real problem. This navigation was how we embraced chaos, but it was taking an emotional toll on all of us. We felt somehow it hindered our openness with one another. Embracing chaos does not always mean that we need to stick to the end. Knowing when to take a decisive move away from shared spaces to stay true to our values and the bigger decolonial movement that we committed to is our way to embrace the chaos, our mental health, and the long-term battle with the oppressive system.