For the Governing Bodies Östersund workshop the group that organises the project will collectively take a closer look at the value of microbes and the value of studying microbes. What makes them valuable to humans? What can microbes teach us about value? Can they shape what we value?

We all use value judgements in our everyday, for instance when we decide what to buy and what to eat. We all have our likes and dislikes, things we are drawn to and think are important in life. It does not seem, when asked, as if we have any trouble identifying what is “really valuable” to us. But when we try to explain what value really is, we run into trouble. Philosophers have been trying to explain what value is for thousands of years and the study of value actually has its own philosophical field, called axiology.

Interdisciplinary work brings different value systems into dialogue and microbes teach us to look at how things change over time. So where axiology tries to define what value actually is, we propose that we look at value as process. What happens when different values meet? How do they transform each other?

By approaching value this way, the group wants to inspire new ideas and new solutions rather than creating polarisation and discussions about opposing value systems. They hope that diverging opinions and and life choices can coexist within the platforms that we offer for exchange. Per Huttner who is one of the organisers of the event, will present a version of the Caminhando Workshop as part of the public part of the program.