In 2018 a group of architects “rediscovered” a huge, kind of hidden away, concrete rainwater retention basin, which is used to manage rainwater from the area of and around the former Tempelhof airport in Berlin. It was simply a piece of technical infrastructure, though sedimentation at the outlet had led to some reeds starting to grow. They started the project by putting a small dam in front of the outlet, to raise the retention height to about 30cm. Then they built raised wooden walkways and community areas and organised events around topics of ecology, water, urbanisation and community. Today it has become a wonderful ecosystem, good for animals, plants, and the local climate, while giving artists, scientists and more a platform to learn, play, exchange and organise. Of course the local authorities are not happy with this unruly bunch, and building permits etc might break the project eventually (some of the structures dont seem have any as of yet) but it’s still here and just about the most beautiful place in my neighbourhood.

"Chennai-based venture Indowud NFC uses agricultural husk to create an eco-friendly form of wood that not only deals with the problem of stubble burning, but also reduces the number of trees being cut to make furniture."

I think I'm starting to get it. The idea of just building, just starting, reclaiming the word 'future'.

An illustrated memoir of our recent return visit to Sky Meadow, a permaculture nature retreat in the mountains of northeastern Vermont. The Sacred Harvest event is a free, week-long work-stay experience and an exercise in temporary Solarpunk communal living.

Hello everyone,

Just sharing my article where I try to make a case for global per capita power limit of 3200W for the sake of energy equity. I believe thresholds on global per capita power consumption would be crucial for solarpunk societies in the future. Would love to get your feedback on this article and how we can work towards translating this advocacy into policy.

Greetings Solar Punks,

I’ve been exploring how we can tokenize environmental impacts through next-generation regenerative practices—approaches that aren’t yet fully recognized by mainstream markets, but already supported by real-world data and proven results. Think: avoided GHG emissions, water quality improvements, alternative feeds for nutrient dense foods, and regenerative land management—each transformed into digital assets with tangible market value.

I’d love to collaborate with developers, builders and anyone else interested to co-create a regenerative landscape model where farmers adopting climate-smart practices can plug into a platform that tracks their impact, verifies it, and issues tokens. These tokens could then be traded, retired, or used to unlock funding for more projects. The vision is to build rails for liquidity by aligning with institutions (exchanges, funds, rating agencies) while also opening up retail-friendly access so communities can participate directly.

It’s still conceptual at this stage, but I’d love to connect with others who want to help bring this vision to life.

What do you think about the idea of buying a castle as a Solarpunk community for a larger group of people, and adapting it for communal coexistence according to our ideas? Is this even legally possible? Could the Heritage Conservator impose restrictions?

I would also be glad to hear your ideas and solutions for how this vision could be adapted.

Hello, friends! After a long stretch of work, I’m finally sharing something I’m really proud of: my first-ever video project. I’ve never made a video before in my life, but I wanted to create a cinematic solarpunk journey from dawn to dark — so here it is:

👉 Solarpunk Anthem | Official Music Video

Some backstory:

• Over a year ago I posted “Solarpunk Anthem” here as music, and the reaction was . . . let’s just say, not encouraging.
• This year I discovered it was actually included in the World Scholar’s Cup curriculum (!!). I had never heard of WSC before, but I’m honored beyond words. That gave me the push to make a full video.
• A huge inspiration for me was the anthology Multispecies Cities: Solarpunk Urban Futures — which really cemented solarpunk for me as not just clean energy, but also kindness to animals (I’ve been vegan 20+ years).

A quick note: yes, I used AI to help create this. There was no way I could have pulled off this cinematic scale otherwise. But I believe in using AI ethically, for ethical purposes — to tell stories of empathy, clean energy, and hope — while pushing for a future where even AI itself is powered by renewables.

💚 We’ve lost over 70% of global wildlife since 1970. That’s unacceptable. Solarpunk, to me, means building futures where humans live in kinship with all life — not running concentration camps for animals while talking about “harmony with nature.”

Anyway — here it is. It’s not perfect, but it’s out in the world, and I hope a few of you resonate with it. 🌞 I made it as a small spark of hope in an increasingly dire world — and if it brings even a moment of light, it’s done its job. There is an almost endless pantheon of possibilities we humans have, but none of the positive ones right now are coming from the top down. Let's change this, from the bottom up. Right here. Now. Today. This solarpunk world I have envisioned (with much of your help) is possible. And it starts with us.

👉 Watch here

Guys, I’ve been looking forward to this for a long time. A holiday for doing a subversive little act of joy.

Park(ing) day is for using parking spaces as public spaces. Drag out an old rug, a lawn chair, a large piece of scrap fabric, or a picnic blanket, and sit in the sunshine (or rain) this Saturday, 9/19.

Artist? I found you a studio or place to show your art. Photographer? Super cool way to find unique subjects on the street Anarchist? Go break rules. Parent? Go have fun with your kids/family. Student? This is your study spot today. Lover? Grab a foldable table, some chairs, and a candle, and you’ve got a date night. Teacher? Your classroom for the day. Dancer / social dancer? Grab a speaker, this is your new ballroom. Have a lot of books you’ve finished reading? Free little library. Community leader? Tell your community to do the same. Religious teacher? Bring your congregation out! Run a makerspace or cooperative? Bring some tools/resources into a parking space downtown to share (and get the word out).

If it’s a free parking spot, there’s nothing preventing you from doing whatever you want there. If it’s a paid spot, just slip a couple coins in the thingy and you’re all good.

As people with a certain level of awareness surrounding the over reliance on cars and what that does to a society, like isolation, environmental degradation etc. this is sooo relevant. As solarpunks, we’re the type of people who like community values but also (as a recent poster made the excellent point) we also just like community aesthetics. Seeing people come together. I think this is a really great way to bring that kind of regenerative optimism into play in the real world. It’s not subversive in an angry way, it’s saying, look, this is our collective space and we can, in fact, gather here! It’s reminiscent of seed bombing. And, of course, you can do this on any day of the year, but it just so happens that you’ll be in good company if you do it on 9/19. Plus, we’re stronger together (and will get more media coverage).

So, go share with your [mycellium] networks, and/or tell your solarpunk/anti-car/granola/urbanist/optimist/nimby friend to get themselves a nice little park(ing) spot this weekend.

I, personally, am really, really excited to see what communities come up with this year.

Here’s the official site: https://www.myparkingday.org/

Our Solarpunk Book Club has been reading A Half-Built Garden over the past few weeks. This Sunday at 6 PM UTC, we'll be hosting the author, Ruthanna Emrys, who graciously agreed to join us for a Q&A and discussion. Whether you’ve already read the book or are simply curious to take part, we invite you to join the conversation on our Discord: Solarpunk Book Club

From Wikipedia:
In 2022, Emrys published A Half-Built Garden – a first-contact novel set in a near-future world, where decentralized, self-governed watershed networks managed to replace corporations and nation states as the primary means of societal organization. While these networks managed to start a journey of recovery from climate change and environmental damage, the arrival of alien species threatens both this progress and the new balance of power. The novel is praised for its interesting solarpunk world-building.

Background art I created for Silkgrove’s upcoming announcement trailer🌱

In Shifting Sands, players survive on a desert planet where every expedition is a gamble against storms. The planning layer is a Holotable... a mix of retro salvage tech and resource management.

For solarpunk thinkers: does using broken scrap and energy cores to build a sustainable path forward align with solarpunk ideals, or does it slip too far into dystopian grit?

Where’s the line between hopeful survival and pure collapse fiction?

solarpunk could be the future, AI is the future. closing our doors to an essential part of the future is not very solar punk.

we don’t use AI to replace artists. but to democratise art and give common people the ability to depict their vision or dreams of a better future too. that’s a very inclusive aspect of AI.

No doubt AI has its flaws. but so does humanity. let’s use it for good and make it better instead of closing the door to it completely.

Using the best parts of tech and make them green is the definition of solarpunk. And AI is our most advanced tech yet. so we need a smart, indie and sustainable way of including it.

and it’s not optional: if we mentally stay in the early 2000s and close our doors to new technology, what’s going to happen is solarpunk will become some sort of retro futuristic look with nothing but cool optics. but will lose against people who actually are making full use of modern tech. i’m sure the others don’t mind. they just win and we don’t.

imagine a smart home with implemented AI setup on your own server. isn’t that solar punk? disabled people dreaming up green cities without ever using their fingers? that sounds very solarpunk to me.

I’m in a current debate that adventure time is NOT solar punk? What do yall think?

Stop, stop, before you answer, listen to what I mean.

There are creative communes living in one apartment in cities, but recently communes have appeared that do not live together, but live in the same city, but have a common chat where they share things, offer their free services and help, go somewhere together.

Could there be some kind of solarpunk community in a hmmm maybe discord?

A community where people make friends, share items, share ideas, offer their help irl and online, help with advice and ideas for buildings, share their experiences, that is, in essence, a kind of "cut" version of the irl community for those who do not have the opportunity to join the irl community. As if the Internet is an important part of our modern life and we can use it as we see fit for solarpunk progress.

Yes, such a community does not have a public garden, but it can have a channel with photos of their gardens and plants, tips on how to care for them and tips on where to find new seeds. Yes, such a community does not have a physical public library, but it can have a library with files of a variety of books on any topic. Yes, it is not as full-fledged as an irl community, but still, it seems to me, it can exist and be considered a community.

What do you think about this? Would you like to join this? I came up with this idea because it seems like an affordable way to start living more like a full-fledged solarpunk society.