Nineteenth International Conference on the Arts in Society

Abstract

Humanity faces serious challenges in the coming decades: climate change, biodiversity loss, growing inequality, and more. We have a collection of rules and norms that reward some behaviours and punish others. In their current form, our systems seem to incentivise overconsumption, degrade communal bonds, and destroy natural wealth. The researchers in this project believe that place-based approaches and community engaged arts practices around the theme of sustainability, can enable a growing network of ecological citizens. In this paper we explore how through creative arts practices, sharing ideas, thoughts, and questions and learning from best practices at a local, national, and international level from a variety of partners can create sustenance for a community-based network. Ways of building a network of new and existing place-based arts research and knowledge exchange which has the potential to include children and young people in the decision-making process, is considered. We share how examples with embedded creative practice, such as community growers/larders/kitchens, forest schools etc., support partnership working within place-based projects. We will also discuss a people-centred approach to helping stakeholders, children, and young people, to make transitional choices, mitigate against negative consequences and empower local agency, in different localities. We show how diverse groups of people can begin to make impactful change through for example, community-focused approaches and community-led practices, activism and collective learning, advocacy, and design thinking in projects.

Presenters

Alec Shepley
Professor of Art & Society / Associate Dean for Research, Faculty of Arts, Science and Technology, Wrexham University, Wrexham [Wrecsam GB-WRC], United Kingdom

Susan Liggett
Associate Dean for Research, Reader in Fine Art, Faculty of Art Science and Technology, Glyndwr University, United Kingdom

Tracy Simpson

Daniel Knox
Lecture in Product Design, Faculty of Arts, Computing and Engineering, Wrexham University, Derbyshire, United Kingdom