The special section presented here was made possible and inspired by several institutions and individuals. Most immediately, the extended abstracts included in this volume are based on the talks given at the one-day international seminar on 20 May 2019 at IMERA, the institute for advanced studies at the University of Aix-Marseille. IMERA not only provided the beautiful surroundings but also served as a model of an institution dedicated to radical interdisciplinary research. We all owe gratitude to Director Raouf Boucekkine, Pascale Hurtado and the rest of the people at the institute.
IMERA, on the other hand, has an interesting personal connection to the Leonardo journal: Roger Malina, long-time editor-in-chief of the journal and former director of the institute in Marseille. It, thus, felt very natural in more ways than one to offer the papers for publication to Leonardo, a journal that is in the forefront of making research at the...