A blog post by Jasmine E. Black, Kerry Morrison, Julie Urquhart, Clive Potter, Paul Courtney, and Alice Goodenough, authors of ‘Bringing the arts into socio-ecological research: An analysis of the barriers and opportunities to collaboration across the divide’.
Read the full paper discussed here in our Open Access journal.
Read the Plain Language Summary for this paper at Relational Thinking.
Photo credit: Dr Jasmine E Black
This paper came from an all-too short but fruitful and explorative collaboration between scientists from mixed disciplinary backgrounds and an artist with experience researching artistically in the environment. Some of the team had worked together on previous projects, one of which involved interdisciplinarity – this was the foundation for our collaboration. With funding for a one-year project, we felt time was short but ambitions high. From the outset, we wanted to be led through working artistically by environmental artist collaborator Kerry Morrison. We would then work together to find ways to incorporate that with social science methods. The research stemmed from the UNPICK project – both social and physical science results looking at the publics perceptions of tree health in relation to pests and disease. The project began at the beginning of Covid-19 which pushed us all to be more creative with our engagement methods. In the end, however, there was no replacement for face-to-face connection, and we were lucky enough to spend a short but deeply enriching time in our case study site thanks to a project funding extension. To read more about this side of the project, see blogs here by artist Kerry Morrison and scientist Jasmine Black.
From the beginning we knew that such arts-science collaborations undertaken on equal terms were still in their infancy, and it was a point that we wanted to explore further together. Therefore, alongside the research related to trees and greenspaces, we also undertook interviews with artists and scientists who had experience on or were keen to work across disciplines. Our aim was to understand the current challenges and opportunities that collaborative arts-science research teams face in the socio-ecological field. Although our interviewees and workshop participants were UK-based, some had experience with cross-disciplinary collaborations internationally. Despite this, we think it would be fruitful to explore this way of working in different cultural contexts.
Some of the themes discussed by our informants reflected experience within our team, for example on funding issues. From the scientist’s perspective, there is also a need to understand the artists way of working, thinking and creating more deeply. This can be developed through reading but also through actively undertaking such collaborations and perhaps even in trying to think and research as an artist might. The need for a deeper recognition of the different kinds of artistic discipline is evident. Similarly, whether an artist is situated in academia or is freelance and whether they are acting to push the boundaries in their field is also of importance to understand – in order to create fruitful partnerships and align expectations. Our experience working together has opened up many more possibilities and it feels like a journey that has just begun. The process also raised many questions, especially on how to match, assimilate and compliment artistic methods with social science methods. Thinking needs to be developed around how to interpret and evaluate artistic research methods, and the value in doing this.
Photo credit: Anonymous park user
Like some of our informants, some members of the project team are now experimenting with actively undertaking their own artistic practice as part of new research projects. For example, Jasmine is currently undertaking a fellowship in Japan in which she is understanding rural issues through participating in traditional dance festivals and arts. Equally, Kerry Morrison is working for an environmental organisation to embed art and art methods into their way of connecting with local actors and wider audiences. Alice Goodenough is collaborating with musician and producer Philip Reeder, developing an interdisciplinary approach for recording human interactions with greenspace soundscapes.
We hope that this paper enriches cross-disciplinary collaborations and gives inspiration to those wanting to diversify their way of undertaking research. More information can be found on creating strong collaborations based on the interviews we undertook and our teams own experience in the published guide: Making Socio-Ecological Art and Science Collaboration Work: A Guide.
Read the full paper discussed here in our Open Access journal.
Read the Plain Language Summary for this paper at Relational Thinking.
Follow the authors and their institutions on Twitter:
- @Dr_SoilieJas
- @kerrymmorrison
- @GeogJulie
- @CCRI_UK
- @uniofglos
- @imperialcollege
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