Rethinking Sister Cities for the Anthropocene: Cape Town and Reykjavik ― A Reflective Dialogue

Cymene Howe; Dominic Boyer; Sólveig Ásta  Sigurðardóttir; Magnús Örn  Agnesar-Sigurðsson; Nikiwe  Solomon

doi:10.7764/disena.28.Dialogue

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Published: Jan 28, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.7764/disena.28.Dialogue

Keywords:

Anthropocene, climate, adaptation, urbanism, connectivity Antropoceno, clima, adaptación, urbanismo, conectividad

Cymene Howe

Department of Anthropology, Rice University

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9361-3812

Dominic Boyer

Department of Anthropology, Rice University

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8944-406X

Sólveig Ásta Sigurðardóttir

School of Humanities, University of Iceland

https://orcid.org/0009-0004-3416-8626

Magnús Örn Agnesar-Sigurðsson

School of Engineering and Natural Sciences, University of Iceland

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1543-2212

Nikiwe Solomon

Social Anthropology Department, University of Cape Town

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6305-0772

Abstract

This design dialogue offers a glimpse into a collaborative environmental design project: Sister Cities for the Anthropocene (SCA). The core idea of SCA is to reactivate and reimagine the Sister Cities International program of the mid-20^th century for the existential crises of the 21^st century. In the introductory section of this dialogue, the environmental anthropologists who conceived Sister Cities for the Anthropocene detail the key principles of the concept as well as its scientific basis. The conversation then turns toward engagement with colleagues in Cape Town and Reykjavík, with expertise in issues of climate adaptation, environmental justice, and ecological systems in their respective cities. This dialogue exemplifies the first phase of the SCA design process: a series of brainstorming sessions among experts on what the optimal goals and forms that a Sister Cities for the Anthropocene relationship might take.

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How to Cite

Howe, C., Boyer, D., Sigurðardóttir, S. Ásta ., Agnesar-Sigurðsson , M. Örn ., & Solomon, N. . (2026). Rethinking Sister Cities for the Anthropocene: Cape Town and Reykjavik ― A Reflective Dialogue. Diseña, (28), Dialogue. https://doi.org/10.7764/disena.28.Dialogue

Issue

No. 28 (2026): The Planetary Condition: Designs, Coexistences, and Care to Reimagine Habitability (1st Issue)

Section

Design Dialogue

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International license.

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Author Biographies

Cymene Howe, Department of Anthropology, Rice University

Anthropology Professor at Rice University. Former Postdoctoral Fellow at the Department of Anthropology at Cornell University. She holds a PhD in Cultural Anthropology from the University of New Mexico, and a BA in Women’s Studies from the University of California, Berkeley. Her research focuses on the Anthropocene, the environment, more-than-humans, elemental ethnography, feminist theory, and collaborative and creative practices. She is a co-editor of Solarities: Elemental Encounters and Refractions (along with J. Diamanti and A. Moore; Punctum Books, 2023) and Anthropocene Unseen: A Lexicon (with A. Pandian; Punctum Books, 2020), and the author of “Melt/Rise” (The Berlin Journal, Issue 36).

Dominic Boyer, Department of Anthropology, Rice University

Anthropology Professor at Rice University. He is the director of the Social Design Lab and co-director of the Center for Coastal Futures and Adaptive Resilience, both at Rice University. He holds a PhD in Anthropology from the University of Chicago, an MA in Anthropology from the University of Chicago, and BAs in Anthropology and Literature and Society from Brown University. A co-founder of the field of Energy Humanities, his research centers on energy and political power; environment and climate change; design anthropology and social design; electric futures; flooding and coastal urban futures; experts, professionalism, and cultures of expertise; and infrastructure and power. He is a co-editor of Energy Humanities: An Anthology (with I. Szeman; Johns Hopkins University Press, 2017). Recent publications include No More Fossils (University of Minnesota Press, 2023); “Infrastructural Citizenship and Geosolidarity: Making Green Infrastructure in Petroliberal Houston” (American Ethnologist, Vol. 51, Issue 3); and “Designs on Glaciers” (Log, Issue 60).

Sólveig Ásta Sigurðardóttir, School of Humanities, University of Iceland

Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Iceland. She holds a PhD in English from Rice University, and an MA in Comparative Literature from the University of Iceland. Her research revolves around literature, Nordic colonialism, legal studies, and American literature. Recent publications include “Decolonial Practices in Higher Education: Student Perspectives in Iceland” (Kvinder Køn og Forskning, online advance publication); and “‘What You Miss While Looking at Miss Daisy’: Langston Hughes and Nordic Colonial Imaginaries,” (in Transatlantic Slavery and Abolition in the Nordic Region, Södertörn University Press, 2026).

Magnús Örn Agnesar-Sigurðsson , School of Engineering and Natural Sciences, University of Iceland

Lecturer at the University of Iceland. Head of Division, Department of Climate Action, Icelandic Ministry of the Environment, Energy and Climate. He holds a PhD in Social and Cultural Anthropology from Rice University. His research focuses on climate policy, internationalism, the United Nations, statecraft, and bureaucracy. Among his recently published works are “Climate Politics and its Magic Mirrors: Service-Power, Political Imagination, and the United Nations Climate Convention” (PhD Dissertation, Rice University); “Stronger Together for a Climate Resilient North: Mainstreaming Adaptation to Climate Change at the Local Level in the Nordic Countries” (Policy brief, Nordic Council of Ministers, 2023); and “The Felt Irony of Negotiation Support” (Cultural Anthropology Hot Spots, Fieldsights, 2022).

Nikiwe Solomon, Social Anthropology Department, University of Cape Town

Senior Lecturer in the Social Anthropology Department at the University of Cape Town. Co-director of Environmental Humanities South, University of Cape Town. She holds a PhD in Environmental Humanities and a MSSc, both from the University of Cape Town. Her research centers on hydro-social sciences, water politics, science and technology studies, urban river governance, African Anthropocene studies, and OneHealth. Recent publications include Reclaiming African Environmentalism: Ecological Struggles for Well-being and Habitability (co-edited with L. Green, F. Matose, and A. Matusse; HSRC Press, 2025); “Contaminant Denialism in Water Governance” (co-authored with L. Green, C. Ojemaye, L. Petrik, J. Barnes, A. Beukes, V. Farr, M. Zackon; Water Resources Research, Vol. 61, Issue 7); and “Material Flows in Landscapes of Injustice” (in Race and Environmental Justice in the Era of Climate Change and Covid-19; Michigan State University Press, 2025).

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