Joana Rafael is an architect, researcher and lecturer. Her work focuses on (issues of) ecology, human geography and natural sciences, encompassing contemporary culture, media studies, art and technology. She combines architecture as a discipline of thought and design practice, reflecting on the boundaries of buildings, infrastructures and (radiological-)contaminated territories. Engages in speculative thinking and writing to develop a critical distance from anthropocentric understandings and attend to reciprocal relationships between humans and nature. Joana teaches Contextual Studies and Contemporary Culture-related courses. She is a member of CEGOT (Center for Studies in Geography and Spatial Planning) and CEAA (Centro de Estudos Arnaldo Araújo). Joana is a cofounder of REFINERY BOARD.
Dirty Paths for a Green Mandate
+ ATLAS - Mapping the Nuclear Grave and Remediation-Related Campaigns
Presented / Published in portuguese as Caminho Sujo para um Mandato Limpo
in FIACED II, Penafiel, Portugal
Dirty Paths for a Green Mandate focuses on causes and solutions for environmental and planetary crises such as that brought by the huge amount of waste that we produce and dispose of globally, and on interests that offer objectives to be achieved through the mobilization of technical innovation: ie manufacturing, purchasing and using materials that reduce the volume and toxicity of the waste generated and favour reuse, recycling and composting instead of disposal. Within this focus, this paper highlights the requirements of additional investment in factories, machines and the replacement of one type of waste with another. It argues, that these are solutions that, although they are perceived as achievements towards sustainability goals, idealize the life cycle and endless renewal, ignore resources and act involved in the production of more waste, inherent in the design of alternative processes and substitute products, exacerbating even more environmental and ethical problems. As part of this hypothesis and through notes for research on waste reserves, this paper propels that the objectives set out highlight the fact that this set of solutions is governed by a mandate, in fact, still green and calls for comprehensive programs to discuss methods and techniques, together with a better understanding of the problems, in current education systems and campaigns.
