Befriending Creation In Times of Climate Crisis

Conference 24. October 2025 at 13-17 (Icelandic time) in Edda Lecture Hall The Conference is in honor of prof. em. Sólveig Anna Bóasdóttir and marks the end of the research project MAFTÍL at the Institute of Theology.

Place: Fyrirlestrarsalur Eddu, Arngrímsgötu 5, 107 Reykjavík kl. 13-17 (Icelandic time) and on Zoom.

The Conference is open to the public and free of charge.

• 13:00-13:15. Opening. Sigríður Guðmarsdóttir (Háskóli Íslands)
• 13:15-14:00. Keynote: “All Flesh is Grass: Queer Ecology and the Possibility of Incarnation.“ Jacob Erickson, Trinity College, Dublin, keynote
• 14:00-15:15. Panel 1. Interdisciplinary Seminar on Climate Change, Sustainability and Human Rights. Florian Freitag University of Duisburg-Essen, Sigríður Guðmarsdóttir, Sigurrós Alice Svöfudóttir and Ole Martin Sandberg, Háskóla Íslands. Respondent: Juan Pablo Santangelo, University of Tarragona
• 15:15:15:45. Coffee break
• 15:45- 16:45. Panel 2. Umhverfi, sjálfbærni og trú í sögu og samtíð. Arnfríður Guðmundsdóttir, HÍ, Bjarni Karlsson, (sjálfstætt starfandi) og Haraldur Hreinsson, HÍ
• 16:45-16:55. Viðbrögð við erindum. Sólveig Anna Bóasdóttir HÍ
• 16:55-17:00. Ráðstefnulok. Jón Ásgeir Sigurvinsson og Rúnar Már Þorsteinsson.

English Keynote and Abstracts:

Jacob J. Erickson: All Flesh is Grass: Queer Ecology and the Possibility of Incarnation

The biologist E. O. Wilson has named the current ecological era the Eremocene—the age of ecological loneliness—where, in the wake of mass extinction, human beings remain utterly isolated from their ecological kin. In a time of disempowering climate emergency, isolating species decline, and degrading ecologies, how might theology be empowered to respond, love, and rediscover connection with our animal, vegetal, and elemental kin? The emergent transdisciplinary field of queer ecology might offer some clues. In their book Forest Euphoria: The Abounding Queerness of Nature, Patricia Ononiwu Kaishian argues that queer approaches to belonging may help tune in to the unruliness of ecological bodies, forge earthy connections across differences, and cherish interspecies realities that expand our ways of knowing and acting. Engaging contemporary theologies of incarnation through the lens of queer ecology, this talk asks if a queerly ecological sense of incarnation might inspire attention to the earth and weave climate action beyond isolation to embrace a vision of the Divine enfleshed in interspecies, interstitial, and interdependent contexts.

Sigurrós Alice Svöfudóttir: What Do We Owe to Each Other:  Moral Responsibility, Refugees and Global Justice

In this talk I present my ongoing doctoral project on moral responsibility, refugees, and global justice. I argue that the magnitude of crisis-driven displacement at present, as well as a corresponding increase in human rights violations towards those forcibly displaced from their homes, calls for a radical re-evaluation of the value and utility of the models of moral responsibility presented in dominant ethical theories. I build on Margret Walker´s thesis that morality is best revealed in practice and Iris M. Young´s "Social Connection Model of Responsibility".

Sigríður Guðmarsdóttir:  “Wholeness is the Starting Point of Justice”: Befriending Bóasdóttir from a Posthumanistic Perspective

In her book Guð og Gróðurhúsaáhrif: Kristin siðfræði á tímum loftslagsbreytinga (God and Global Warming: Christian Ethics in Times of Climate Change from 2017, Sólveig Anna Bóasdóttir maintains that “wholeness is the starting point of justice”. This short sentence crystallizes a major theme in Bóasdóttir´s theological ethics, which is framing ethics as primarily a justice issue. The paper comprises two sections. The first introduces Bóasdóttir´s major texts and the second pays special attention to the interstices of the four themes that emerge in her work, namely sexual violence against women, human sexuality and gender, environmental ethics and finally peace ethics.  I will not try to cover all these themes and texts, but rather look for intertexts between the themes, where the author seems to be in transition between the themes, in dialogue with herself and her earlier works, which I will then explore from the posthumanistic standpoint.

Florian Freitag:  Befriending a Green City

This contribution is based on the presenter's own experience of finding a home away from home in the city of Val d'Europe (France). Often decried as an artificial, themed, American city (which, to some extent, it is), Val d'Europe was also planned as a sustainable city, offering plenty of opportunities to get and stay in touch with nature in the middle of downtown.

Ole Martin Sandberg: The foundations of ethics are spiritual

The discourse on climate change and other global emergencies can involve many different considerations: Economic factors, political, etc. These all have their relevance but as is often said "there will be no economy on a dead planet." This slogan is not necessarily saying that everything besides stopping climate change is irrelevant but is rather meant to point out that these other factors are only relevant in so far as we have secured the foundation for all of them: a planet that sustains live as we know it. This is reminiscent of the message the Icelandic philosopher Páll Skúlason was trying to convey: that Earth is the foundation for our daily lives, our arguments and our concerns. We generally don't think about it and as such it is outside our social affairs. But our social affairs depend upon it being there. The Earth is also at the same time outside and the foundation of most moral philosophy. Philosophical arguments tend to be about the social affairs that take place "on" the Earth, but are not about the Earth. As such, the foundation of ethics is beyond the limits of most ethical and philosophical discourse. Páll was aware of this, as he considered his understanding of the Earth a "spiritual understanding" - philosophy can help us articulate and evaluate our values, but ultimately the values themselves come from a place that has more to do with religion than with science and philosophy. This is a sentiment he shared with other great philosophers such as Ludwig Wittgenstein who felt that in articulating the absolute values in ethics we "run against the boundaries of language".

Íslenskir útdrættir:

Haraldur Hreinsson: Náttúra og manneskja í íslenskri miðaldakristni

Þrátt fyrir aukna áherslu á umhverfistengd málefni í hugvísindum á síðustu árum, hefur sambandið á milli manneskjunnar og náttúrunnar hefur ekki hlotið mikla athygli á sviði norrænnar miðaldakristni. Í erindinu verður leitast við að draga upp útlínur af þessu sambandi á grundvelli miðaldaheimilda um kristinn hugmyndaheim. Skiptir þar mestu máli Íslensk hómilíubók frá því um 1200 en einnig verður leitað fanga í guðfræðiritum á borð við Elucidarius og biblíuþýðingum á borð við Stjórn.

Arnfríður Guðmundsdóttir: Að finna orð og myndmál við hæfi: Guðfræðileg viðbrögð við loftslagskrísunni.

Loftslagskrísan breytir þeim forsendum sem við höfum hingað til gengið út frá, einnig í hinu guðfræðilega samhengi. Þess vegna getum við ekki haldið áfram að nota sömu hugtök, hugmyndir, tákn og líkingar án þess að þau séu endurmetin í ljósi loftslagsbreytinga og afleiðinga þeirra. Í þessu erindi verður fjallað um endurskoðun á völdum guðfræðihugtökum sem hafa gegnt lykilhlutverki í kristinni trúarhefð fram að þessu. Spurt verður um það hlutverk sem þau gætu haft í guðfræðilegri umræðu um þá vá sem lífríki jarðar stendur frammi fyrir vegna hnattrænnar hlýnunar af mannavöldum.

Bjarni Karlsson: Hin akademíska rausn

Erindið fjallar um tuttugu ára samvinnu við Sólveigu Önnu og hvernig hún hefur stutt höfund í að móta guðfræði sem prestur í almannaþjónustu.

Æviágrip höfunda /Biographical Information of Presenters:

Arnfríður Guðmundsdóttir er prófessor í samstæðilegri guðfræði við Guðfræði- og trúarbragðafræðideild Háskóla Íslands með áherslu á kvennaguðfræði. Hún hefur kennt við HÍ síðan haustið 1996 og fastráðin síðan 2001. Hún hefur skrifað greinar og bókakafla, bæði á ensku og íslensku, um umhverfis- og loftslagsguðfræði.

Bjarni Karlsson lauk doktorsprófi frá Guðfræði- og trúarbragðafræðideild Háskóla Íslands árið 2021 í vistkerfissiðfræði. Ritgerðin ber heitið Vistkerfisvandi og fátækt - Einkenni lífvænlegrar heimsmyndar, mannskilnings og fátæktarhugtaks í fjölmenningarsamfélagi eftirnútímans. Hann lauk meistararitgerð á sviði kynlífssiðfræði í október 2007 við sama skóla sem ber heitið Gæði náinna tengsla  - Leit að viðunandi lágmarksgildum fyrir kristna kynlífssiðfræði. Hann gaf út bókina Bati frá tilgangsleysi:  um veruleika fátæktar í víðu samhengi árið 2023.

Florian Freitag received his PhD in North American literatures from the U of Constance (Germany) in 2011 and has been a professor of American Studies at the University of Duisburg-Essen (Germany) since 2019. Freitag is the author of The Farm Novel in North America (Camden House 2013) and Popular New Orleans (Routledge 2021), his other work has appeared in Canadian Literature, American Literary Naturalism, and The Journal of Popular Culture. A former employee of Disneyland Paris, Freitag has co-written the first transdisciplinary introduction to theme parks, Key Concepts in Theme Park Studies: Understanding Tourism and Leisure Spaces (Springer 2023).

Haraldur Hreinsson er lektor við Guðfræði- og trúarbragðafræðideild á Hugvísindasviði og Deild faggreinakennslu á Menntavísindasviði Háskóla Íslands. Rannsóknir hans hafa fyrst og fremst snúið að sögu kristni á Norðurlöndum en bók hans Force of Words: A Cultural History of Christianity and Politics in Medieval Iceland (2021) snýr að sambandi trúar og stjórnmála á Íslandi á 11., 12. og 13. öld. Í nýlegum greinum og bókarköflum hefur hann einnig fjallað um þróun afhelgunar á 19. og 20. öld og sögu búddisma á Íslandi. 

Jaroslav Franc is the Head of Communication at Sts. Cyril and Methodius Faculty of Theology (CMTF), Palacký University in Olomouc, Czech Republic and is a senior researcher in Institute for intercultural, interreligious and ecumenical research and dialogue ant CMTF. He has recently become a guarantee of newly opened study program Ethics and Culture in Media Communication. He finished Th.D at CMTF with the name The Spirituality of the Christian East and dialogue of religions and his particular research areas are Ecumenical and interreligious relations and ethical issues in ecumenical, interreligious relations, and intercultural dialogue.

Juan Pablo Santangelo is from Argentina, and is a doctoral student in environmental law at the University of Rovira i Virgili in Catalonia, Spain. He is currently taking the Aurora course on environmental ethics and ecotheology at the University of Iceland. He has MSc in Public Policy and Social Policy  from UPF and John Hopkins University and is a Data Analyst from Nuclio Digital School & Universitat de Vic (UVic)

Jacob J. Erickson (he/him) is a constructive theologian and Assistant Professor of Theological Ethics in the School of Religion, Theology, and Peace Studies in Trinity College Dublin. Erickson writes to evoke an ecotheology of planetary conviviality--the playful and just cherishing of life together--in the wake of climate colonialism, current ecological crises, and emerging perspectives in critical animal studies, plant studies, and queer ecology. He's a contributor to a number of academic books, including Meaningful Flesh: Reflections on Religion and Nature for a Queer Planet (punctum), Entangled Worlds: Religion, Science, and the New Materialisms (Fordham University Press), and the forthcoming Thinking with Plants and Fungi: Interdisciplinary Explorations of Ecology, Mind, and the More-Than-Human World (Harvard University Press).  He's written for a number of public outlets, such as The Huffington Post, and Religion Dispatches. His 2015 Religion Dispatches piece on Pope Francis' "climate encyclical" received a Wilbur Award from the Religion Communicators Council. Erickson is an active member of the American Academy of Religion and, with Prof. Marit Trelstad, he co-chairs the Martin Luther and Global Lutheran Traditions Unit.

Ole Martin Sandberg is a postdoctoral researcher at the Faculty of Philosophy, History and Archeology at the University of Iceland in a project called "climate crisis and affect" which investigates the human and social aspects of climate change. He has also taught the course "ethics of nature" at UI for almost 10 years (on and off) and worked at the Museum of Natural History and the Icelandic network for biodiversity, BIODICE, on how to communicate the meaning and value of biodiversity.

Rúnar M. Þorsteinsson er prófessor í nýjatestamentisfræðum við Guðfræði- og trúarbragðafræðideild Háskóla Íslands. Rannsóknir hans hafa einkum beinst að bréfum Páls postula og grísk-rómversku samhengi þeirra. Einnig hefur Rúnar beint sjónum sínum að heimspekilegu samhengi guðspjalla Nýja testamentisins. Rúnar hefur birt þrjár bækur á fræðasviði sínu. Árið 2003 gaf Rúnar út doktorsritgerð sína, Paul’s Interlocutor in Romans 2: Function and Identity in the Context of Ancient Epistolography (Almqvist & Wiksell), sem rannsakar bréf Páls til Rómverja í samhengi bréfaskrifta til forna og leggur áherslu á gyðinglega sjálfsmynd postulans og gildi gyðingdóms í huga hans.

Sigríður Guðmarsdóttir (she/her) is Professor of Practical Theology at the Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies at the University of Iceland. Her book Tillich and the Abyss:  Feminism, Foundations and Theology of Praxis (2016) explores the relationship between creator and creation from a feminist,  poststructuralist and practical perspective. She has written many articles and chapters on ecotheology, is currently teaching a course on Environmental Ethics and Ecotheology with Ole Martin Sandberg and is writing a book on Blue Theology focusing on the water cycle and theology in the European Arctic.

Sigurrós Alice Svöfudóttir is a doctoral student in applied ethics at the Faculty of Philosophy, History and Archeology at the University of Iceland. She holds a master´s degree in ethics from Uppsala University. She holds a master´s degree in ethics from Uppsala University.Her dissertation focuses on moral understandings, responsibility and lived experiences of forcibly displaced persons within the framework of feminist relational ethics and global justice.