What is M.O.C.H.I?
The name of our project, Mochi4ThePlanet, is inspired by the Mochis, fictional characters living on a faraway planet that we created to help us connect with people of all ages and backgrounds.
The Mochis, like the malleable dough they are named after, embody vulnerability, strength and the potential for transformation. Their friendly appearance makes them approachable and the perfect vehicles for communicating complex research findings in simple and relatable ways that will capture young people’s imagination and make them want to engage with the issue of climate change.Â
But the Mochis also carry the project’s core values encrypted in their name. When you read it as an acronym, M.O.C.H.I stands for Mindfulness, Optimism, Compassion, Healing, and Innovation. These values guide what we do in research, knowledge mobilization and the creation of immersive experiences.Â
Mindfulness
The impending climate catastrophe necessitates urgent action. But urgency can sometimes make us rush into actions whose consequences we are not fully aware of. We believe our responses to the climate crisis should arise from a place of inner strength, self-awareness and knowledge, rather than haste and impulse. What we choose to do for our planet should be motivated by a clear sense of collective purpose and align with our deepest sense of self as relational beings on a planet we share with one another and more-than-human life forms.Â
Optimism
Optimists are those who are certain things will be alright, no matter what. But the climate crisis challenges that certainty even among the most optimistic. When uncertainty rules, as it does at times like these, optimism’s close cousin, hope, may prove better at motivating us to continue learning how to live through the climate crisis and leave the Anthropocene behind. But not all kinds of hope are created equal. Hoping that technology, a supreme being, or nature herself will get us out of trouble is not the kind of hope we draw inspiration from. Our actions are fueled by a stubborn refusal to accept that there is no way out of this mess and the belief that positive outcomes are possible even when we are not sure if they will materialize, or exactly how. Leaning into these kinds of hope encourages a solution-oriented attitude and stimulates problem-solving and innovative thinking. Â
Compassion
Being compassionate means accepting yourself, other human beings, and the more-than-human world with humility, a caring and supportive attitude, and without judgment. It means to listen beyond socio-cultural and political divisions and learn to place our shared humanity at the forefront of human interactions. But it also means to extend that caring and sensitivity to how we interact with all life forms.
Healing
Healing is necessary on an environmental and human level. Centuries of colonial, egoistic, and short-sighted decisions have alienated us from one another and the more-than-human world. Human beings must transform the values and systemic structures that support flawed social and economic ways of living and have led to a severed relationship with the natural world. Only reconciliation between human beings and all life forms on the planet will bring this world beyond the climate crisis constructively.
Innovation
Business as usual and the status quo are leading to the extinction of life on planet Earth. Climate solutions require all sorts of ways of thinking, from all sciences, technological fields, as well as the arts, and social and spiritual spheres. And while a lot is being done, much more can and should be achieved. Social innovations have a key role to play in climate solutions. With new tools, ideas, and resources that profoundly transform relational and economic processes in the battle against climate change we can strive for conscientious improvement and novelty and support the emergence of an eco-conscious new world.
