[Environment-readinggroup] critical infrastructure lab launch event April 13 - 14 // Save-the-Date and Call-for-Contributions

[Fieke Jansen]

*Executive summary / TL;DR*
- The critical infrastructure lab launches on April 13-14, 2023 at the 
University of Amsterdam
- Send in your session proposals for interactive workshops on April 13th 
(the lab day)
- Send in your extended abstracts (academics) or position statements 
(practitioners) for the panel sessions on April 14th (the research day)
- Send submissions to submission at criticalinfralab.net by March 1st 
(750-1000 words)

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"Infrastructure makes worlds" -- Ned Rossiter

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Dear colleague, friend, comrade,

Communications infrastructures constitute the invisible scaffolding of 
social life. Largely concealed to their end-users, they are becoming the 
main stage where local and global economic, social, environmental, and 
geopolitical conflicts are played out. Once established,  
infrastructures shape societies for decades to come.

On the *13th and 14th of April we will launch the critical 
infrastructure lab* to discuss and develop visions of how communication 
infrastructures can serve the public interest -- and we want to do that 
with you!

Work in the critical infrastructure lab will focus on the development of 
new infrastructural futures that center people and planet over profit 
and capital. Hosted at the University of Amsterdam and led by Fieke 
Jansen, Niels ten Oever, and Maxigas, the lab will bring together 
activists, advocates, scholars, policymakers, and industry actors. Three 
analytical lenses of standards, geopolitics and environment will be 
applied to built an evidence base, investigate and develop 
infrastructural imaginaries, and create actionable research for 
infrastructures that serve the public interest.

*About the launch event*
The two-day event at the University of Amsterdam will take place on the 
13th and 14th of April. It will be a mix of keynote speakers, hands-on 
workshops, infrastructure walks, and panel discussions. Both days will 
be in person, but day 1 will be streamed. For both days, we invite 
session proposals from activists, advocates, scholars, policymakers, and 
industry.

Day zero, 13th of April, will be a hands-on lab day. It will offer space 
for interactive sessions on geopolitics, environment, and standards. We 
invite proposals for sessions of 2.5 hours.  For instance, workshops, 
infrastructure walks, policy challenges, simulations, etc. Pretty much 
everything that is _not_ a panel or paper presentation.

Day one, 14th of April, will have a more academic structure. It will 
kick off with three keynote presentations followed by panel sessions. 
The keynote speakers - Ksennia Ermoshina, Svitlana Matviyenko, and Yu 
Hong - will inspire and challenge us. The keynotes are followed by 
Corinne Cath, who will present her research on exclusionary cultures of 
internet governance.

The afternoon will be dedicated to simultaneous panel sessions in the 
areas of infrastructure and geopolitics, infrastructure and environment, 
and infrastructure and standards. Academics can submit an extended 
abstract (research question, theory/literature, method, data, 
preliminary findings) and practitioners can submit a position statement. 
These contributions should be between 750 and 1000 words.

*Want to submit*
Do you have an idea you want to workshop, a discussion you want to host, 
or some research that you want to present?

State clearly in an email:

    - your name and affiliation,
    - whether you are submitting for day zero or day one,
    - the research area (infrastructure and geopolitics, infrastructure 
and environment, or infrastructure and standards)
    - include an abstract, position statement or a blurb for an 
interactive session!

Send your submission to submission at criticalinfralab.net by March 1st.

The lab and its research is supported by the Ford Foundation, the 
Internet Society Foundation, and Omidyar Network.

Best,

Fieke, Niels and Maxigas
https://www.criticalinfralab.net/