On the 28th of August 2022, the embassy hosted the first annual Solander Seminar. The professors Sverker Sörlin, Sigríður Þorgeirsdóttir and Gísli Pálsson inaugurated the seminar held under the theme "New Perspectives in Environmental History - Solander 250".
The Solander Seminar is an innovation held annually at the embassy's initiative. At the first seminar, hosted on the 28th of August, each guest speaker gave a short lecture that approached the overarching theme "New Perspectives in Environmental History - Solander 250" from different directions. At the end of the session, the floor was open for guests to reflect on the various topics. The participants' thoughts led to a fruitful discussion which related the three diverse dimensions.
Sverker Sörlin is an award-winning author and professor in the KTH Environmental Humanities Laboratory at the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. Sörlin lectured on extinction in the age of the Anthropocene and the feeling of loss. The analysis departed from the Swedish context and shed light on current issues. Sverker Sörlin discussed how the extinction rate has increased, from being part of a natural process to growing under the influence of human activities. In his speech Sörlin empathised that the concept of loss carries more meaning than the notion of extinction.
Professor Sigríður Þorgeirsdóttir added a philosophical lens and spoke about the relationship of the individual to the scorched earth. Þorgeirsdóttir elaborated on the idea of a Green Economy and how it does not face the challenges of climate change and species extinction. Þorgeirsdóttir also reflected on the process ontology of Goethe and Nietzsche. Sigríður Þorgeirsdóttir is a professor of philosophy at the University of Iceland. She specialises in the philosophy of Nietzsche, feminist philosophy, women in the history of philosophy, and philosophy of nature. She has published several books on these subjects.
Additionally, professor Gísli Pálsson lectured on the origin of extinction, the species concept, and its importance in the Anthropocene. Pálsson reflected on events that set extinction on the agenda in the Victorian Age and problematised the ideas of species and extinction considering recent theoretical developments and the unfolding of the age of the Anthropocene. Gísli Pálsson is a professor of anthropology at the University of Iceland. Furthermore, he is a well-known author and editor of several books.
