Sharing experiences and successes over a drink

Every month the participants in the AVH Humanities Lab gather to catch up, share experiences and success stories over a drink. Last month’s session was hosted by Uitgeverij Lontano, one of the in-house startups. Uitgeverij Lontano is a publishing house that specializes in philosophy and sociology. The company was founded in 2019 by philosopher and economist Gijs Reudink and has published its first three titles last year.

Guest of honor was Henk Oosterling, philosopher and author of Verzet in ecopanische tijden (resistance in times of ecopanic). Mr. Oosterling presented his views on our responsibilities concerning climate change. As Gijs Reudink claimed in his opening speech: “There is a first time for everything. This is the first birthday of Uitgeverij Lontano. Please remember this moment, so years from now you can claim you were there!”

After that Mr. Oosterling presented a new and innovative way of looking at yourself and your environment in an inspiring twenty-minute speech. His talk centered around his call to us all to ask ourselves two questions. What can I do to help mitigate the negative effects of climate change? And what should I do? After his speech and an extensive Q&A session the audience gathered around the bar for drinks, discussing the topics raised by Mr. Oosterling. If anything, the enthusiasm of the 25+ person crowd showed a healthy interest in philosophy and its practical use in daily life. Looking back, it has been a successful meeting. We look forward to the coming monthly meetings of AVS Humanities Lab!