Goldsmiths, University of London 13 and 14 July 2023
Ecologies in Practice Conference:
Education, the Arts, and the Earth Crisis
Initiatives in the arts and learning that respond to the Earth Crisis are gathering momentum. Can learning how to position responses to the crisis, and how to act to disrupt the root causes of extractivist and colonial practices help to create system change? What is the role of arts-based learning for reparative action in local, global and more-than-human communities? What are the possibilities of inviting people with diverse perspectives into ecological arts practices and sustainable learning?
The Ecologies in Practice Conference invited abstracts from educators, practitioners and researchers in fields of arts, learning and ecology, to present their projects within a supportive forum for exploring such questions. The conference intended to energise interactions across fields, to empower new voices and to reach towards new research collaborations.
Speakers included Helen Kara, Bridget McKenzie - Climate Museum UK, Miranda Matthews - Goldsmiths UoL, Emese Hall and Chris Turner - University of Exeter, Gabi Budach and Landing Bassene - University of Luxembourg, Suzanne Dhaliwal, and Colin Sterling - University of Amsterdam.
This conference offered in-person and online attendance.
Cover image by Kimberley Foster
Submissions
Abstracts submitted included a focus on the following areas:
• Practice Research and Arts Activism in Universities
• Sustainable Arts Practice in Museums, Galleries and Community Spaces
• Artists and Arts Collectives: Taking Action in the Earth Crisis
• Ecological Pedagogies in Schools and Universities
• Ecosophy – Ecological theories of arts and learning
• Arts Ecologies for learning in early childhood and lifelong learning.