SOFT RAIN

Xiye Bastida — young climate justice leader, Indigenous advocate, co-founder of the Re-Earth Initiative, and Voice of Commons Ambassador — joins host Giulia Foscari for a galvanizing conversation broadcast from the Planetary Embassies in Venice and Chicago, marking the opening of the Chicago Architecture Biennale: SHIFT – Architecture in Times of Radical Change. Rooted in her name’s meaning, Soft Rain, Xiye reminds us that imagination is a form of resistance — and that change, like rain, can begin gently yet reshape the world. Xiye reflects on intergenerational stewardship and invites us to slow down, breathe with the Ocean, and rebuild culture around care and reciprocity. Together they explore how youth movements shape policy, how Indigenous cosmologies meet science, and what it takes to shift power relentlessly without losing kinship with all life.

Xiye Bastida is a 23-year-old Mexican climate justice activist, Indigenous rights advocate,and storyteller. Through her Otomi roots, she champions Indigenous wisdom and principles as asolution for the climate crisis. She was an organizer with Fridays For Future and is the co-founder and Executive Director of Re-Earth Initiative an international youth-ledorganization that supports frontline youth across 27 countries. Xiye received the 2018 UN Spirit Award and was named TIME100 Next in 2023. She was born at 372 parts per million carbondioxide in the Atmosphere.