Ecology and Social Metamorphosis
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Project Description
How do you transform a traditional lecture series on sustainability into an interactive, inclusive and impactful learning experience during lockdown? In 2020, the University of Bonn partnered with One Resilient Earth to co-design a pioneering virtual learning format, which would integrate multimedia artworks celebrating our connection to nature, open inclusive dialogues with activists and an Indigenous knowledge holder, and expand participants' imagination, creativity and sense of connectedness.
Geographical Scope
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Urban or rural issues
Physical or other transformations
EU Programme or fund
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Description of the project
Summary
The Forum Internationale Wissenschaft of the University of Bonn and One Resilient Earth (ORE) co-organized a virtual art-science lecture series open to all, on the topic of ‘Ecology and the Metamorphosis of Modern Society,’ in Bonn (Germany), from November 2020 to February 2021. ORE is a woman-led international non-profit oranization, mobilizing art, science, ancient wisdom and new technologies to nurture individual and societal transformation, environmental regeneration, and climate resilience.
ORE co-designed the university’s 5 social sciences lectures by integrating curated multimedia artworks by artists from 5 continents, and by facilitating dialogues between the audience, researchers, grassroots activists, artists and an Indigenous knowledge holder. We transformed the university’s traditional lecture series experience, consisting in presenting the latest scientific findings to an expert audience, by mobilizing arts and opening inclusive dialogues. We fostered a connection to nature through artistic representations of current and future ecosystems, by triggering emotions within participants, and sharing stories of on-the-ground realities of nature conservation and regeneration. This novel experience enabled participants to relate to nature differently, not only through their mind but also in their body.
The series was attended live by over 180 international students, researchers, and practitioners. It totaled over 1500 views on YouTube, and engaged 8 researchers, 23 recognized artists, 2 grassroots activists and one Indigenous knowledge holder. The combination of arts and open dialogues, including with activists supporting communities violently hit by the ecological crisis, were described as ‘fantastic’ and ‘deeply transformative’ by participants and researchers. We wish that our arts-science lecture series reaches a wider audience and inspires other universities to innovate by opening up to creativity and emergence.
Key objectives for sustainability
The main objective of the lecture series was to understand the impact of the climate emergency and of the sixth mass extinction on our relationships to western culture, modern science and existing institutions. As those existential threats intensify, are we witnessing the collapse of the modern order, which is based on the primacy of culture over nature, favors the rational mind over the emotional body, and requires hierarchies and control? Are emerging worldviews, institutional arrangements and collaborations confirming a “metamorphosis” conceived by Ulrich Beck as a time when “the old certainties of modern society are falling apart and something quite new is emerging.” Are we living a radical socio-ecological transformation that could lead to a reconnection with nature? What would its cultural, scientific and political implications be?
As we mobilized the latest findings from diverse social sciences, and disrupted the modern framework of a lecture series with the introduction of arts and inclusive dialogues, we aimed to offer participants the opportunity to reflect upon and experiment with the concepts of socio-ecological transformation, relational entanglement, and spiritual and artistic connections with nature. This series enabled participants to question their own biases and mental frameworks, not only conceptually but also with lived experiences of (re-)connecting to their bodies through emotions, to others through dialogues, and to nature through powerful images. The project thus opened a space to imagine what radical socio-ecological transformation towards a nature-first, climate-positive and collaborative world could feel like. This, in turn, raised new research questions and practical issues.
Last, this educational project aimed at fostering a reconnection to nature, to help grow participants’ reflectivity and creativity, so that they can better respond to our ecological crisis in their own personal and professional lives.
Key objectives for aesthetics and quality
By integrating artworks produced by living internationally-known artists into each lecture, we wished to greatly enhance the impact of the lecture series experience. The work of artists and collectives such as Marshmallow Laser Feast, Superflux Studio, Aki Inomata, Achim Mohné, Suwon Lee, Himali Singh Soin, Maureen Gruben, Catalina Swinburn, or Sofia Crespo have been exhibited in museums, including the MoMA, MAK Wien, NXT Museum, Anchorage Museum, the Museum of the Future in Dubai, or shown in fairs such as Art Basel Miami Beach. The quality of the artworks, which are meant to be immersive, perplexing, evocative and accessible, was critical to fostering a wide range of emotions and a spontaneous feeling of reconnection with nature.
We also improved the aesthetic quality of the videos for each lecture by working with graphic designers and a videographer so as to make them more attractive than basic zoom recordings, and to facilitate dissemination. The use of artworks was also integral to our social media communication campaign, as the striking beauty of some images and short video clips encouraged followers to participate in lectures and share our posts. The mobilization of digital art (e.g. by Sofia Crespo, Entangled Others, Sage Jenson, Marshmallow Laser Feast), enabled us to reach young people who may not have considered participating in a traditional lecture series on their free time. The strong art-science integration, highlighted in our communication campaign, also piqued the curiosity of staff members of institutions in Bonn, such as United Nations organizations, or research organizations belonging to the Innovation Campus Bonn.
Last, because artworks attracted a more diverse audience, and provided different perspectives to address each research questions, dialogues between researchers and the audience often became less academic and more accessible. As such, aesthetics helped meet our objectives of increasing impact, reach and accessibility.
Key objectives for inclusion
The project was co-designed by a team of researchers at the University of Bonn, and the team of ORE, which is diverse and included young women art curators from different backgrounds (e.g. theatre, environmental sciences) and countries (e.g. Kirghizstan, USA). The selected artists were gender diverse (11 women, 11 men and one non-binary artist), and included 13 Black, Indigenous and People of Colour (BIPoC) artists, including one with disability. Artists were associated to the curation process and invited to participate in each lecture. In addition, three BIPoC grassroots activists, who are also artists, and included a female Indigenous knowledge holder were invited to discuss the key findings of the lecture series with the audience during a two-hour co-designed session at the end. Organizing the lecture series in English instead of German, at a time that was convenient for the Americas, enabled a wider participation of both speakers and participants.
The live lecture series could be accessed free of charge through a simple weblink on the websites of the University of Bonn and of ORE. All videos of the lecture series are still available on YouTube. The lecture series was offered as part of the ‘Life-Long Learning University’ programme of the university, and participants could benefit from a "Certificate of Intercultural Competence" at the end of the series, which is always beneficial to citizens who may not be able to engage in formal university programmes. For each lecture, researchers were also invited to keep their presentations below 45 minutes so as to enable a minimum of one hour for discussion, with a view to facilitating significant engagement from the audience. Last, participants were invited to connect with the ORE team in case their questions could not be answered during lectures.
Results in relation to category
The impacts of this project were only assessed right after the project was delivered. We focused on the efficacy of the approach in questioning our modern relationship to nature, and in fostering connection to self, others and nature through new emotions stemming from the artistic, spiritual and experiential content shared.
Participants reported that artworks, particularly videos of immersive artistic installations either of the beauty of the natural world (e.g. Marshmallow Laser Feast) or of the destruction of nature through urbanization (e.g. Ade Adekola, Suwon Lee), plastic pollution (e.g. Denise Lira-Ratinoff, Regan Rosburg) or climate change (e.g. Superflux Studio, Maureen Gruben) triggered strong physical reactions of both wonder and grief, encouraging them to spend more time in nature and take better care of the natural world. Similarly, the dialogues with the grassroots organizers, artists and Indigenous knowledge holder from Asia and North America, who shared their own work and relationship, including spiritual relationship, to the natural world, were described by participants, as ‘eye-opening’ and as ‘offering new ways to engage with nature’ locally.
Researchers appreciated how curated artworks resonated with their research findings, as well as made visible our relationship to nature over time, and according to various theories in the fields of history, science studies, and human geography. The mobilization of artworks, including those of an Indigenous artist from the Western Arctic, was particularly impactful when exploring new ways of thinking, being, and doing politics in the entangled realities of the Anthropocene, during the lecture with David Chandler and Jonathan Pugh. ORE and partners are currently exploring opportunities to curate artworks to deepen research on our relational entanglement with nature and to study art-science synergies on that topic, from a scientific angle.
How Citizens benefit
ORE is part of civil society and was involved in the co-design of the project with the University of Bonn. We invited 3 grassroots activists to share their experience in a co-designed session. They are associated with the following organizations: Toxic Links (India), Black Mesa Water Coalition (USA), Indigenous Environmental Network, Climate Justice Alliance, Grassroots Global Justice Alliance, and Detroit Disability Power (USA). Additional civil society organizations working at the junction of arts and climate change in the network of ORE communicated about the lecture series, including the Norway-based Climate Creativity non-profit organization, through its Climate Illustrated project. Citizens were involved in the implementation of the project through one-hour dialogue sessions after each lecture and the two-hour open dialogue with activists. The questions citizens asked during the lecture series also helped select the topics to be addressed during the activists’ session.
The involvement of citizens and of civil society organizations from Europe, Asia and North America ensured a diversity of perspectives in response to the findings presented by researchers from European universities. This helped broaden imagination, grow creativity, and confirmed the relevance of a format combining arts, sciences and inclusive dialogues to foster rich and engaging conversations with the audience. Moreover, the active participation of civil society organizations ensured that the research findings and questions raised would inform the design of their new activities on the ground with various groups of beneficiaries. Last, the involvement of members of civil society raised the profile of their organizations among the participants, offering them opportunities to engage through volunteering or to support their work financially, with direct benefits for ecosystem restoration as well as social and climate justice.
Physical or other transformations
Innovative character
An open art-science lecture series including dialogues with activists and an Indigenous knowledge holder, which would be available online, was a major innovation for a university department that used to organize their yearly lecture series in-person, in German and with limited time for questions and answers. Most universities in Europe have still not fully engaged with experiential and interactive learning formats, and tend to stick to the master-disciple educational model.
Introducing artworks as an integral part of the lecture series, not as illustrations or side-entertainment, also transformed the types of dialogue that followed the presentations by researchers, and fostered new questions stemming from the emotions felt by participants. Thanks to artworks, communication on the project was creative, playful and more informal than the institutional communication of the University. The presence of artists and grassroots activists as part of the audience of the lectures also made the dialogues more lively and exciting.
Facilitating a dialogue between western science and Indigenous Peoples’ knowledge systems and practices, through art by an Indigenous artist and via the participation of an Indigenous knowledge holder, was also pioneering in the context of this European university. It enabled discussion on spiritual traditions not as a case study but as an embodied practice. Concluding the lecture series with a session diving into practices of weaving together art, spirituality and social and political engagement offered a chance to vividly experiment with the notion of radical socio-ecological transformation.
This project pilots how the educational frontiers of a university can be expanded in an organic and emergent way through co-design. Another innovation lies in the openness to experimenting with aesthetics and inclusion in ways that would best meet the learning and research needs of the university.
Learning transferred to other parties
The potential for universities to adopt transdisciplinary and experiential approaches to learning and research is immense. This project clearly demonstrated multiple positive impacts that are available for knowkedge-sharing and dissemination, and can inspire other universities or research centers to take up the challenge.
The principles, process and elements of methodology to co-design this project in collaboration with the University of Bonn have been documented. They would be relevant to both universities/research centres and civil society organizations willing to collaborate on transdisciplinary and inclusive learning and research projects in the field of sustainability. This could include the objective of fostering reconnection to nature or to go beyond and include other objectives to be agreed upon among partners. In order to be inclusive most European organizations need to enhance their understanding of racial equity and decolonize their organizational culture and practices. Working with artists as part of collaborative efforts is also likely to require academics to reflect on the value of arts and creativity when engaging with transformative or transformational approaches to sustainability.
However, ORE’s core principle in all co-creation processes is to respond to specific demands, meeting the needs and constraints of partner organizations, in resonance with the place, and building on available expertise, resources and aspirations. Hence replicating the process developed for this project would not be a guarantee for success. Besides, universities or research centers could be even more ambitious in terms of integration of the arts, scopes of inclusive dialogues, experiences with nature or in nature, citizen’s science and grassroots involvement, living systems design… The possibilities are endless.
