During the period from 2023 – 2027, the EcoArtLab in cooperation with the mLAB at the Institute of Geography of the University of Bern is conducting a research project funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF):

The debate about the socio-ecological crisis has moved to the center of society. The question is what conditions and practices are needed for art-science collaborations for societal transformation towards critical climate and ecological justice.

While scientists researching in the field of climate and ecology seek exchange with artists or adapt art-based research into their own process, artistic research and practice is turning to ecological themes. Increasing initiatives and funding bodies are also trying to further initiate collaborations between the arts and sciences. However, little is known about what new processes of knowledge co-creation are produced by these experimental arrangements.

This practice-based research project investigates the interplay of expertise from artistic research and practice, geography, critical sustainability studies, and the society and how this collaborative approach can be fruitful for the socio-ecological crisis debate. The aim is to develop suggestions and criteria for the evaluation of collaborative approaches and to provide impulses for transdisciplinary collaboration forms in dialogue with practitioners, researchers, artists, and institutions to foster practices of sharing and exchange and to build networks.

The SNSF-research project led by Prof. Dr. Yvonne Schmidt is structured into three subprojects, investigating three different perspectives on collaborations:

Subproject 1: The institutional perspective

“The Future Institution: Institutional Frameworks of Climate-Art Collaborations”

Subproject 2: The collaborators perspective

“Methods and Practices of Knowledge GenerationCo-Creation in Transdisciplinary Collaborations”

Subproject 3: The perspective from within the praxis

“Plankton Ecosystems and Situated Learning in Fluid Networks”

The subproject analyses the institutional framing of art-climate projects (cultural institutions, funding bodies, universities) through qualitative interviews and document analyses and asks to what extent this creates favorable conditions for artistic production. It is based on the hypothesis that only through collaborations between participants with the most diverse expertise possible, can projects emerge that generate new knowledge production processes and are accessible to the most diverse audiences possible. This requires new institutional production conditions.

The study follows an institutional critique approach by questioning curatorial working methods. It focusses on institutional strategies that renegotiate logics of producing and disseminating art as well as the interdependencies with funding systems and political instances. Institutional critique is both understood as a method (Gau 2017) as well as a critical practice that “exposes the economic framework conditions of the art field and questions aesthetic codes” (Brüggmann 2020). The aim is to develop a set of criteria for art-climate collaborations based on structural contexts of artistic production methods and their interdependencies with other systems.

(Johanna Paschen)

The research in subproject 2 discusses and emphasises the importance of just collaborative knowledge co-creation about critical climate and ecological justice. Thus, the research aims to investigate how different actors collaborate and how their collaborative work is influenced by framework conditions to reduce marginalised knowledge and ensure epistemic justice. The focus will be on artists, artistic researchers, scientists in the field of climate and ecology, societal actors, and living more-than-human and environmental forces.  That means that every actor’s knowledge and experiences are equally represented, and on eye-level knowledge production is happening. Thereby, art is highlighted with the potential of reflexivity and critical analysis and is not well served by the mere communication of scientific results in transdisciplinary collaborations aiming to co-create knowledge.

Johanna’s role as a transdisciplinary expert in this subproject is to conduct research, observe, and reflect on applied practices, methods, and existing dynamics in external and established EcoArtLab collaborations.

This subproject examines how art-science collaboration can enhance the care of bodies of water, focusing on the intersection of oceanic literacy, art practices, and mediation. It analyses EcoArtLab's intervention "Plankton Ecosystems – Shaping the Narrative of Climate Change" through artistic research. In collaboration with experts in environmental science, marine biology, and visual art, it explores plankton’s role in marine ecosystems and its impact on climate. The project integrates art and community science to deepen understanding of aquatic ecosystems through participatory formats such as study groups, talks, and workshops.

The research methodology is grounded in artistic research and uses situated approaches to studying aquatic ecosystems. Through film, storytelling, and sensory experiences of water, like diving, it explores how these practices can connect imagination, emotion, and physical reality. It also investigates community science practices, examining how they can democratize scientific knowledge and promote relational ecological practices.

Key objectives, viewed within art-science practices, include investigating how eco-art can remain subversive, transformative, and resilient to greenwashing. It aims to foster equitable collaborations that advance epistemic justice and inclusive, emancipatory practices. Additionally, it seeks to promote more-than-human agency by redefining subject-object relationships and a deeper understanding of ecosystems beyond human-centered narratives.