The 2025 Seoul Parliament of Things was an experiment in a new form of climate democracy, bringing together human representatives of human and non-human beings to explore political representation beyond humans and develop proposals for post-anthropocentric legal reform.
Problems and Purpose
The 2025 Parliament of Things was organised in response to the climate and ecological crises, which its organisers regarded as inevitable consequences of human-centred modern civilisation. They argued that the modern way of thinking, which regards humans as subjects and nature as an object, has led to the exploitation and misuse of non-human beings and systems, including the atmosphere, forests and oceans. [1]
In response, the project sought to experiment with new possibilities for climate democracy by convening what the organisers described as Korea's first Parliament of Things. It aimed to create a new democratic space in which both human and non-human beings could be politically represented, moving beyond existing human-centred laws and institutions to explore post-anthropocentric legal norms and formulate proposals for legal and institutional change in response to the climate change. [1]
Background History and Context
The 2025 Seoul Parliament of Things drew inspiration from French philosopher and science and technology studies scholar Bruno Latour's concept of the Parliament of Things, which proposes extending political representation beyond humans to recognise the roles and interests of non-human beings. The organisers also referred to earlier attempts to put this idea into practice, including the 2015 Theatre of Negotiations in Paris, where representatives of human and non-human entities, such as oceans and soils, participated in simulated climate negotiations ahead of COP21. Another international example discussed in Korean reporting was the Netherlands-based Embassy of the North Sea, which explores political representation of the North Sea and its inhabitants and later co-convened the Confluence of European Water Bodies. [1][10][15]
In South Korea, questions about the rights and legal recognition of non-human beings had previously been raised through environmental litigation and legislative initiatives. The 2003 Cheonseongsan Salamander Lawsuit challenged a high-speed railway tunnel project and raised the question of whether a non-human animal could be recognised as a party in legal proceedings. In June 2006, the Supreme Court upheld the finding that the salamander could not be recognised as a legal party under existing law. [16] Since 2015, People for Earth (지구와사람) and its affiliated Earth Jurisprudence Society (지구법학회) have contributed to research, legal education and public discussions on Earth jurisprudence and the rights of nature. [17] More recently, Jeju Province pursued the introduction of ecological legal personality (생태법인), particularly for Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins living in its coastal waters. This led to a proposed amendment to the Jeju Special Act, submitted to the National Assembly on 31 December 2024, which would enable the legal recognition of designated species, ecosystems and natural environments. [18] These developments provide a wider context for emerging approaches to the legal recognition of nature in Korea, although no direct organisational connection to the Seoul Parliament of Things has been documented.
The idea of convening a Parliament of Things in Korea was proposed in November 2024 by science educator and citizen scientist Kim Chu-ryeong. Kim Hwan-seok, professor emeritus of sociology at Kookmin University and a scholar of Bruno Latour's work, subsequently brought together an organising committee comprising researchers and practitioners from science and technology studies, climate science, anthropology, environmental education, the arts and civil society. [2][5]
Organizing, Supporting, and Funding Entities
The 2025 Parliament of Things was organised by the Parliament of Things Organising Committee, together with Kyung Hee University's Climate-Body Research Institute (기후-몸연구소) and the Environmental Education Subcommittee of the Green Seoul Citizens' Committee (녹색서울시민위원회 환경교육분과). The Green Seoul Citizens' Committee is part of Seoul's municipal environmental governance framework, providing an institutional connection between the initiative and the city government's environmental advisory structures. [1][2][10]
Kim Hwan-seok served as chair of the organising committee, and Kim Tae-woo, an anthropologist and director of Kyung Hee University's Climate-Body Research Institute, served as executive chair. Jaeha, a researcher at the institute, was identified as working secretary. The organising committee included Kim Myung-sim, Kim Byung-soo, Kim Ji-yeon, Kim Joo-ok, Kim Chu-ryeong, Nam Jong-young, Park Byung-sang, Park Jin-hee and Cho Cheon-ho. Their backgrounds encompassed science and technology studies, environmental education, atmospheric science, energy policy, human–animal relations, anthropology and the arts. [2]
Supporting organisations listed on the project's website included the Climate Change Action Research Institute, People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, the New Materialism Research Society, Sungkonghoe University's Institute for Agricultural, Forestry and Ecological Environment, Our School, and the science teachers' group Teachers Dreaming of Values (가치를 꿈꾸는 과학교사모임). The latter also contributed to the facilitation of the assembly through ten current or former science teachers. [1][8]
The main assembly was held at Seoul City Hall's Seosomun Annex. The Environmental Education Subcommittee of the Green Seoul Citizens' Committee was identified as a co-organiser, and its chair was included in the opening programme. [1][4]
The official materials identify organising and supporting entities but do not provide a project budget or details of the financial and in-kind contributions made by individual organisations.
Participant Recruitment and Selection
Participants were recruited through an open application process between 17 June and 31 July 2025. The call invited people interested in climate change, anthropocentrism, the rights of non-human beings and the possibility of representing their voices in political discussion. Applicants were required to be at least 15 years old, including young people outside formal schooling, and available for the preparatory meeting and the two-day assembly. Specialist knowledge was not required. The application procedure involved written submissions and telephone interviews. Selected participants were offered an activity payment of KRW 100,000. [3]
According to a retrospective presentation by organising committee member Kim Ji-yeon, 80 volunteer representatives were selected in August 2025. They were allocated to ten groups, each comprising eight volunteer representatives, one organising committee member and one facilitator. This produced a planned group structure of approximately 100 people, including participants with different responsibilities. [5][9]
The ten constituencies were divided equally between human and non-human groups. The human constituencies represented businesspeople (기업가), workers (노동자), farmers (농민), future generations (미래세대) and socially disadvantaged people (사회적 약자), including people experiencing poverty and older people. The non-human constituencies represented the atmosphere (대기), forests (산림), oceans (해양), animals (동물) and technology (기술), including artificial intelligence and geoengineering. The organisers sought to compose each group of participants from different backgrounds, including directly concerned parties, scientists, artists, activists and citizens, while explicitly welcoming applicants without specialist knowledge. Public documentation does not specify how participants were allocated to groups or whether the intended diversity of backgrounds was achieved in practice. [1][3][5]
The design gave particular attention to constituencies the organisers identified as having limited opportunities to be represented in existing climate-related decision-making, including non-human beings and socially disadvantaged people. Participants representing non-human constituencies were invited to formulate demands from the perspectives and interests of the beings or systems they represented. [1][10]
Public documentation reviewed does not specify the exact total number of applications, detailed selection criteria or demographic composition of the selected participants.
Methods and Tools Used
The 2025 Parliament of Things combined constituency-based representation of human and non-human beings with facilitated group deliberation, negotiation and individual voting. Participants worked within ten constituencies to develop proposals for legal and institutional change, supported by preparatory learning activities and written materials. Each constituency appointed a representative referred to as a diplomat (외교관), who participated in negotiations with other groups to revise and consolidate proposals before their final selection through individual voting. [1][5]
What Went On: Process, Interaction, and Participation
A preparatory meeting was held on 20 September 2025 at St Michael's Cathedral in the Sungkonghoe University area of Seoul. Participants received an information booklet, attended lectures and met within their constituency groups. The meeting introduced their roles as political representatives and the task of developing demands for changes to climate-related laws and institutions. [4][5]
Preparations included consideration of how to support participants in a process of becoming (되기), or taking on their representative roles. During the preparatory meeting, participants raised questions about how humans could represent non-human beings and what forms of scientific knowledge might be required to articulate their interests
Between September and November, participants were asked to develop at least one demand in preparation for the main assembly. The organisers established online discussion spaces, including KakaoTalk open chat groups, to facilitate exchanges within constituencies. Kim Ji-yeon's retrospective presentation describes varying levels of participation in these discussions, alongside efforts to prepare participants for the assembly. [5]
The main assembly took place on 1–2 November 2025 at the Seosomun Annex of Seoul City Hall. On the first day, participants deliberated within their constituencies to develop up to five demands concerning responses to the climate and ecological crisis. Groups considered the interests they represented and whether their proposals could be addressed through existing legislation, legislative amendments, new laws or constitutional reform. They subsequently presented their demands to the wider assembly, received responses from other groups and revised their proposals. [1][5][9]
Each constituency selected a diplomat to present its demands and negotiate with representatives of other constituencies. On the second day, discussions continued across groups, with participants examining overlapping interests and identifying demands that could be revised or consolidated. According to Kim Ji-yeon's retrospective presentation, participants sought support for their proposals and requested additional time to prepare merged demands. [5]
The deliberations also involved reconsidering how some constituencies defined the interests they represented. For example, the group initially identified as 산림 (forest lands or forestry) adopted the name 숲 (forest), which participants considered more inclusive of urban trees and other relationships involving forests and land. Other groups developed proposals addressing specific legal and institutional questions. The Atmosphere group considered mechanisms for accessing environmental legal information, while the Technology group discussed proposals relating to artificial intelligence legislation and the ecological impacts of technological development. [5][6][7]
Following the discussions and negotiations, 36 proposals were registered. Participants selected ten final demands through individual voting. Public documentation reviewed does not specify the ballot format, number of votes available to each participant or detailed voting rules. [5][7][9]
Influence, Outcomes, and Effects
The principal documented outcome of the assembly was the production of 36 proposals concerning climate and ecological governance, from which ten final demands were selected. Four were consolidated proposals developed through negotiations between constituencies, while six were attributed to the Future Generations, Socially Disadvantaged People, Farmers, Animals, Forest and Atmosphere groups. The remaining 26 proposals were also recorded and made publicly available in Korean. [7][9]
The selected demands called for a Climate-Ecological Constitution (기후생태헌법) recognising ecological limits and the rights of future generations and all beings inhabiting Earth; a climate and ecological fund based on differentiated responsibility and equity; tailored disaster-response measures and lifelong climate justice and ecological transition education; and a Climate Citizens' Assembly comprising randomly selected citizens together with representatives of future generations and non-human beings. [7]
Other demands proposed amendments to land development and urban planning legislation to recognise non-human and future-generation interests, the institutionalisation of ecological legal entities (생태법인), the expansion of public care, a Farmers' Basic Act, and amendments to forest-fire legislation to support ecological recovery. The Animals group proposed that humans assume a duty to accept inconvenience in order to coexist with human and non-human beings, while the Atmosphere group called for legally enforceable carbon budgets differentiated by sector, lifecycle, year and region. [7]
The 26 additional proposals included demands concerning ecological rights in workplaces, forest protection, food and agriculture, housing, technology and marine governance. Among these were proposals for an ecological right to strike, recognition of the high seas as a common heritage of Earth's inhabitants, greater recognition of animal rights, and amendments to artificial intelligence legislation incorporating ecological and relational considerations. These proposals were recorded alongside the ten selected demands. [7][9]
The organising committee announced its intention to communicate the demands to the National Assembly's climate committee and relevant government ministries. An article published by Planet03 on 7 November 2025 reported that the demands had been delivered to these institutions and that civil society groups were undertaking follow-up activities encouraging their consideration in policy. At the time of reporting, publicly available documentation reviewed did not find formal responses from the receiving institutions or legislative action explicitly linked to the assembly's demands. [10][11]
Participant feedback summarised by organising committee member Kim Ji-yeon indicated that some respondents reported greater awareness of non-human rights, increased recognition of human-centred assumptions and a broader understanding of perspectives different from their own following the assembly. These findings reflect participants' self-reported experiences rather than independently measured changes. No public formal evaluation has been released. [5][6]
The assembly's proposals and proceedings also became the subject of subsequent academic and civil society discussions. On 29 November 2025, the Korean Society for Science and Technology Studies included a session titled Latour and the Parliament of Things: The Korean Experiment in its autumn conference. Contributions examined the significance of the experiment and questions arising from the representation of non-human beings. [12] In January 2026, organising committee member Kim Ji-yeon delivered a lecture examining the initiative and its possible relationship to formal political institutions. The Energy and Climate Policy Institute also hosted a seminar involving organising committee members Kim Hwan-seok and Park Jin-hee in February 2026. [6][13]
The Seoul Parliament of Things was subsequently discussed at the September 2026 Assembly of All Beings (만물공동회) conference in Suncheon. Two members of the 2025 organising committee, Kim Hwan-seok and Park Jin-hee, contributed to a session on the Parliament of Things and ecological democracy, with Park presenting the Seoul experiment. Hosted by Suncheon City and organised by Suncheon Eco College, the event also included a separate participatory assembly involving the representation of non-human beings. Although the two initiatives shared contributors and related approaches, the available documentation does not establish that the Suncheon assembly directly replicated the Seoul process. [14]
Analysis and Lessons Learned
The organisers' retrospective accounts identify challenges concerning how humans could represent non-human beings, what knowledge was required and how representatives could move beyond their existing perspectives. The Forest constituency's decision to change its name from 산림 (forest lands or forestry) to 숲 (forest) illustrates how participants reconsidered the boundaries of what they represented during deliberation. Kim Ji-yeon also observed that some groups, particularly the Farmers constituency, found it difficult to move beyond established professional or activist positions when developing their demands. These observations raise questions about how participants' existing knowledge, experience and interests shaped their ability to take on different representative perspectives. [5][6]
A distinctive feature of the assembly was the diversity of constituencies represented. The process brought together five human groups with different social and economic interests, including future generations and socially disadvantaged people, whom the organisers identified as insufficiently represented in existing climate-related decision-making. The five non-human constituencies encompassed different kinds of beings and systems, from animals and forests to the atmosphere, oceans and technology, including artificial intelligence.[1][5]
Negotiations between constituencies also brought competing interests into discussion. For example, exchanges between the Businesspeople and Atmosphere groups addressed tensions between emissions restrictions, employment and business survival, including consideration of carbon-budget proposals. This raises the question of whether actively representing non-human constituencies made conflicts and trade-offs between different human and non-human interests more visible within deliberation. While this exchange provides an example of such tensions being discussed, the available documentation does not establish how extensively they arose across the assembly or how they affected the final proposals. [5][6]
The organisers also identified limitations in the time and resources available for preparation and deliberation. Participants requested additional time for negotiations and the development of consolidated demands, as well as more detailed information to support their representative roles. These observations point to practical challenges in preparing participants to represent diverse constituencies and negotiate proposals within the assembly's timeframe. [5][6]
See Also
Interspecies Council — A participatory method in which human participants explore and deliberate from the perspectives of non-human beings.
Confluence of European Water Bodies — A recurring gathering involving representatives of rivers, seas, lagoons and other water bodies, convened by the Embassy of the North Sea and partner organisations.
References
[1] 2025 Parliament of Things Organising Committee. (2025). 2025 사물의 의회 프로젝트 [2025 Parliament of Things Project]. Official project description and programme. https://samulparliament.com/info
[2] 2025 Parliament of Things Organising Committee. (2025). 조직위원회 [Organising Committee]. https://samulparliament.com/organization
[3] 2025 Parliament of Things Organising Committee. (2025). 참가자 모집 [Participant Recruitment]. https://samulparliament.com/recruitment
[4] 2025 Parliament of Things Organising Committee. (2025). 장소 안내 [Venue Information]. https://samulparliament.com/location
[5] Kim, Ji-yeon (김지연). (2025, 19 November). 위기의 민주주의, 새로운 민주주의 [Democracy in Crisis, New Democracy]. Lecture presentation, Seoul National University of Science and Technology, particularly slides 25–45. https://vjqshkehfgkipvcwceag.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/archive-pdfs/1779769767496.pdf
[6] Kim, Ji-yeon (김지연). (2026, 16 January). 사물의 의회, 어떻게 현실정치가 되나? [How Can the Parliament of Things Become Real-World Politics?]. Lecture presentation, Ecological Transition University. https://vjqshkehfgkipvcwceag.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/archive-pdfs/1779769903497.pdf
[7] 2025 Parliament of Things. (2025). 2025 사물의 의회 10대 요구안 [2025 Parliament of Things: Ten Key Demands]. Document containing ten selected demands and 26 additional proposals, pp. 1–3. https://vjqshkehfgkipvcwceag.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/archive-pdfs/1762345998691.pdf
[8] Kim, Chu-ryeong (김추령). (2026). 사물의 의회를 교육 현장으로 가져올 때 떠오르는 질문들: 사물의 의회와 교육 활동 [Questions Arising When Bringing the Parliament of Things into Educational Settings: The Parliament of Things and Educational Activities]. Presentation paper, 2026 Life, Peace and Transition Gathering. https://vjqshkehfgkipvcwceag.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/archive-pdfs/1774501660195.pdf
[9] Parliament of Things Organising Committee. (2025, 5 November). 기후생태헌법, 기후시민의회 그리고 ‘불편할 의무’ [A Climate-Ecological Constitution, Climate Citizens' Assembly, and the Duty to Accept Inconvenience]. Slow News. https://slownews.kr/148303
[10] Hankyoreh. (2025, 30 October). 동물과 바다도 기후협상 테이블에… 국내 최초 ‘사물의 의회’ [Animals and the Sea Also at the Climate Negotiation Table: Korea's First Parliament of Things]. https://v.daum.net/v/20251030153134031
[11] Choi, Min-wook (최민욱). (2025, 7 November; updated 8 November). 기후시민의회의 실험 | 한국형 기후민주주의를 향한 다양한 실험들 [Experiments in Climate Citizens' Assemblies: Diverse Experiments Towards Korean Climate Democracy]. Planet03. https://www.planet03media.com/post/한국형기후민주주의를-향한-다양한-실험들
[12] Korean Society for Science and Technology Studies. (2025, 29 November). 2025 후기학술대회 [2025 Autumn Academic Conference]. Session: 라투르와 ‘사물의 의회’: 한국의 실험 [Latour and the Parliament of Things: The Korean Experiment]. Conference programme. https://stskorea.org/file/243616677
[13] Energy and Climate Policy Institute. (2026, 23 February). 기후시민의회 실천연구(PRI-CCA) 1차 자문회의 및 사물의 의회 세미나 [Climate Citizens' Assembly Practice Research: First Advisory Meeting and Parliament of Things Seminar]. Event report. https://ecpi.or.kr/event/?bmode=view&idx=170126976
[14] Earth Jurisprudence Society (지구법학회). (2026, 29 September). 지구법학회 News: 2026년 9월호 [Earth Jurisprudence Society News: September 2026]. Newsletter reporting on the Suncheon Assembly of All Beings conference. https://earthjurisprudence.stibee.com/p/29
[15] Confluence of European Water Bodies. Participedia case entry. https://participedia.net/case/confluence-of-european-water-bodies
[16] Supreme Court of Korea. (2006, 2 June). 2006. 6. 2. 대법원 중요결정 요지 (천성산 사건) [Summary of the Supreme Court's Important Decision of 2 June 2006: Cheonseongsan Case]. https://www.scourt.go.kr/supreme/news/NewsViewAction2.work?gubun=4&searchOption=&searchWord=&seqnum=546
[17] Kim, Jong-mok (김종목). (2023, 14 November). ‘행성 경계’를 어떻게 정할 것인가···‘인간 너머의 지구법학’ 국제 콘퍼런스 17·18일 개최 [How Should Planetary Boundaries Be Defined? International Conference on Earth Jurisprudence Beyond Humans to Be Held on 17–18 November]. Kyunghyang Shinmun. https://www.khan.co.kr/article/202311141115031
[18] Ko, Seong-sik (고성식). (2025, 2 January). 제주 남방큰돌고래 생태법인 법안 국회서 논의한다 [National Assembly to Discuss Ecological Legal Personality Bill for Jeju's Indo-Pacific Bottlenose Dolphins]. Yonhap News Agency. https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20250102058100056
External Links
Official Parliament of Things website — Project description, organisers, recruitment information and programme.
Parliament of Things archive — Presentations and other documentation relating to the 2025 initiative.
Ten Key Demands and 26 Additional Proposals — Published record of the assembly's proposals.
Notes
This entry draws primarily on Korean-language documentation, including organisers' publications, retrospective presentations and contemporary reporting. English translations of Korean terms and source titles are provided for accessibility and are not presented as official translations unless otherwise indicated.
The term 사물의 의회 is translated as Parliament of Things, following the organisers' terminology and Bruno Latour's established concept. In this initiative, things encompasses non-human beings, ecological systems and technologies. Other terms retained in the entry include 외교관 (diplomat), referring to representatives appointed to negotiate between constituencies; 숙의 (deliberation); 병합 (merging or consolidation of proposals); 요구안 (demand or proposal); and 되기 (becoming), used in the organisers' discussion of participants taking on representative roles.
The September 2026 Suncheon Assembly of All Beings is treated as a separately organised initiative. The involvement of members of the Seoul organising committee establishes a connection through individual contributors but does not, on the available evidence, establish direct replication of the 2025 process.
Contributor Positionality Statements
This entry is part of Participedia's More-than-Human Democratic Innovations collection. It was developed through the research project Mapping Emerging Practices of Nonhuman Representation and Participation, led by Lucy J. Parry and Hans Asenbaum at the Centre for Deliberative Democracy, in collaboration with Claudia de Cordoba Fernandez Farini of Living Imaginaries and Graham Smith at the University of Westminster. The project is funded by Participedia and the Centre for Animals and Social Justice.
This case entry was researched and written by Claudia de Cordoba Fernandez Farini, with editorial feedback from Lucy J. Parry.
This case draws exclusively on publicly available documentation, including Korean-language sources translated into English. The contributor did not directly observe the assembly. Descriptive claims are grounded in documented sources, while interpretive analysis is confined to the Analysis section and informed by the contributor's broader research on emerging practices of nonhuman representation and participation.
