Environment 2.0
FutureEverything, Lancaster University, Met Office, and Natural History Museum
Environment 2.0 is a curatorial and research project on art, the environment and social media led by Drew Hemment.
Creative Contribution
What was the significant innovation in approach or thinking behind the project/artwork? How can this be recognisably attributed to the involvement of creative practice?
Environment 2.0 is an art and research project, the focal point of has been mass participation projects involving artists, scientists and community groups in association with The Met Office and The Natural History Museum. Other activities include a series of participatory workshops in Manchester, Singapore, Lancaster and Berlin, a themed call of the journal Leonardo, and an art exhibition at Futuresonic 2009.
"Environment 2.0 addresses the interface between our digital footprint and our environmental footprint, and is an effort to decode the complex relationships between people, nature and technology." - Drew Hemment (Written response to this survey)
Environment 2.0 also informed this Survey on the role of design innovation and new media arts practice within projects on energy, climate and sustainability.
It is a curatorial project which uses art and design methods to provoke new thinking on social and environmental challenges.
Collaboration
What were the disciplinary contributors to the project? What model of research / development was followed? What were factors leading to success / problems?
Environment 2.0 is an art and research project by Futuresonic and ImaginationLancaster at Lancaster University, initiated in 2006.
Environment 2.0 has been led by Drew Hemment, with ongoing collaborators including various artists and academics. The Environment 2.0 projects at Futuresonic 2009 have also been led by Rebecca Ellis, and lead institutional partners are FutureEverything, Lancaster University, the Met Office,and the Natural History Museum. Other contributors to the project have been numerous. The Co-Investigators in this Survey are from Ubiquitous Design (Bill Gaver) and Performance Studies (Gabriella Giannachi). Other collaborators over the length of the project have been from Art & Design (FoAM, Christian Nold), Computer Science (Steve Benford, Alan Dix), Environmental Science (Paul Upham) and Campaigning (Steve Connor, Pete Abel).
The approach is a fluid one, with different assemblages of researchers, artists and other participants coming together in different ways at different times, and resulting in a range of different outcomes. The project has taken place over three years, and has explored a number of distinct trajectories.
Values
What were the outcomes of the project? How were these disseminated to outside stakeholders? What models of value are implied by this project? What was the Impact of the work?
The project has been presented at international events such as Futuresonic, Transmediale, and ISEA.
The project focuses on the positive potential for social change at a local level in response to the global challenges of climate change.
The project has been influential in shaping wider international agendas and discussions. It has helped to establish the connection between new thinking in digital culture and work on environmental sustainability
Links and Resources
http://www.transmediale.de/en/environment-20
http://imagination.lancaster.ac.uk/cracksinthepavement/
http://www.futuresonic.com/env20
