The AALERT Network was established after the AALERT workshop that took place in 2018 at the National Gallery, London. The event was funded by the Valuing Nature Program and the Landscape Research Group, and it was strengthened by further contributions of artists’ practice & research in existing UKRI (Valuing Nature) funded research projects especially the WetlandLIfe and CoastWEB projects but also meetings taken place at the Annual Valuing Nature Conferences in 2018 and 2019. These discussions resulted in the VNP22, Valuing Arts and Arts Research that came out in 2019.
The significance of the arts in landscape and environmental research has been increasingly emphasised in recent years with arts and humanities components now a common, if not required, element in research proposals. Despite this increasingly important role for the arts, there remains often a disconnect between epistemic communities from the arts on one side and the sciences and social sciences on the other. This dichotomy has been a recurrent subject of discussion within landscape/seascape, environmental and valuing nature research arenas, where social science dialogues are increasingly set alongside and integrating with natural science and economic perspectives. However, there is much less understanding about the contribution that can come from the arts and humanities. Considerable potential exists for developing and deepening critical reflections around the role and importance of the arts in landscape and environmental research more generally.
The aim of AALERT is to foster debate and dialogue between everyone interested inArts Researchand the role creative practices can play in shaping landscape and environmental research today.
Join The Network to make your views available through our web pages and events.
