An Introduction
What can you do here?
Civic Interplay is a Think + Do Space. It's inspired by the idea that change not only comes from tools and skills and facts, but also different imaginaries, and different ways of seeing the world.
Learning to be Planetary Citizens: An Introduction
Somehow, in the not too distant past, who we are as citizens changed. Our allegiances shifted, our field of vision changed. Our everyday sensory realities morphed. Somehow, we became citizens of a…
What is Civic Interplay?
Civic Interplay is a space for reflection on a basic question: What does it mean to *become-citizen* in an era of (so-called) sovereign AI? Because the times have become strange - *agentic, even* - the nature of enquiry need not be without philosophy, or play…
Training Grounds
Mapping AI Sovereignties
The data centre boom in Australia is now facing community backlash. The schism points to conflicting government policies shaped by the AI Sovereignty agenda. This living atlas offers a recursive, self-informed interpretive lens through which to monitor the evolving terrain.
Anthropic Civitas
Fighting the US Government through AI civics: Allowing space for Dario Amodei to define AI civics
Cosmic Jack Clark
Paying attention to what is being said, as the models are being trained, and the governance apparatus is laid out.
What time are we living in?
The agentic era may be getting very weird. Oh wait it already was. Reflections during the week of Pope Leo's Encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas.
Civic Interplay Toolkit is live
The Civic Interplay Toolkit Civic Interplay began as a space for reflection on the question: what does it mean to become-citizen in an era of planetary co-intelligence? But reflection without…
They gathered inside a makeshift structure at De Ceuvel.
Irina was there to hug people on arrival. Many had not yet met. Some had cycled here from nearby, others had left their bicycles at home, flown by aircraft, walked, caught the train across Europe.
WeCare
A participatory digital storytelling project for RMIT's City North Social Innovation Precinct
My dear Albert Einstein, what's happening to you?
Einstein's afterlives continue to morph and change. How do we protect what we love most about this creative misfit?
You, me, data and the city
Is the data-rich city taking on a life of its own? And can Hugh Stretton’s Ideas for Australian Cities help us navigate its hazards? Originally published in 2019.
The Guides + Work Sheets
Training grounds for micro-political imaginaries
If planetary institutions govern the digital world, what is the politics of planetary democracy? On imagination as practice, micro-political acts, and seeking spaces of civil repair.
Can we shift our mindset?
Many of us spend huge amounts of time online and connected, but are worried about the negative impacts of digital technology - on the planet, on our mental health, on our politics, maybe in our communities.These are important things to worry about. But we also need to try to make better.
The Active Interface
Learning (again) from Ursula LeGuin The late science fiction writer Ursula LeGuin, in her infinite wisdom, shared a definition of technology that resonates here deeply. Technology, she said, is the…
Mystical language loops: A moment with Walter Benjamin
A refreshed newsletter focus for 2025, and an actual-imaginary encounter with Walter Benjamin to guide a mystical love of language & storytelling.
What's the ecological footprint of your digital life?
What's the material intensity of your digital footprint? This experimental calculator creates a material footprint of a gen-AI conversation.