*DAISY RIVERS title refers to Daisyworld, a model of an imaginary planet where only two kinds of life live, black and white daisies, which influence life on the planet, balancing it and regulating each other. The model was introduced by scientist James Lovelock in 1983 to illustrate the Gaia theory. This model explores and shows how living organisms both alter and are altered by human interference and climate change, influencing life on the planet and the global environment.
Daisy Rivers project combines two stories about two rivers – Volga river in Russia and Dnieper river in Ukraine, shifting a focus from politics to environmental and ecological issues.
More than one-half of the world's major rivers are being seriously depleted and polluted. The story about the Dnieper river highlights relationships between humans and nature, coexistence and interactions in the past and nowadays. The story about the Volga river questions the influence of choices which people make in their life. It goes around those who move from big cities to rural areas by the Volga river, starting a new life close to nature, and building their new world.
A change in values, from consumerism to ‘green’ living, from the rat race to a life in harmony with nature is a first step.
Daisy Rivers shift discussions to the other levels, thinking about common future and creating space for dialogue and interactions.
