{"id":227,"date":"2020-05-19T16:48:33","date_gmt":"2020-05-19T15:48:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/aalert\/?page_id=227"},"modified":"2023-04-28T20:40:38","modified_gmt":"2023-04-28T19:40:38","slug":"project","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/aalert\/project\/","title":{"rendered":"Project"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/span>The A<\/span>A<\/span>L<\/span>E<\/span>R<\/span>T<\/span> 4DM<\/em> <\/strong>project aims to explore and enhance the contribution arts research can make in informing decision-making related to landscapes, land-use, and land assets. It does so by bringing artists into dialogue with stakeholders and academics interested in landscape management through a programme of case study-based workshops, aligned with wider networking activities and the production and exchange of written and visual documentations of these experiences.
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The project starts from a position that informed landscape decisions require knowledge and consideration of complex natural, social and cultural systems. Landscapes are dynamic entities, the result of long multifaceted interactions between natural forces, human actions and values; complex constructions with deep roots in the past. Early attempts towards this direction have been shaped by conceptual frameworks mainly based on instrumental, scientific and economic rationales, utilising analytic decision support tools. Yet, there is a growing volume of research today to indicate that analytic tools should be shaped through social, cultural, aesthetic contributions. A<\/span>A<\/span>L<\/span>E<\/span>R<\/span>T<\/span><\/strong>\u00a04DM<\/em><\/strong> aims to provide an innovative platform for the exploration of such complex human-nature relationships.<\/span><\/p>\n

The arts and artists already contribute to landscape decisions in diverse ways. Yet, although reality requires artists, scientists and decision makers to work together across traditional disciplinary boundaries, artists are often perceived as set apart from mainstream (scientific) disciplines and rational decisions. Thus, there is scope to align more centrally existing activity from the arts and humanities practitioners with models of decision making that accommodate specialists such as economists, ecologists, land managers, planners and other stakeholders. A<\/span>A<\/span>L<\/span>E<\/span>R<\/span>T <\/span><\/strong>4DM<\/em><\/strong> will bring arts perspectives alongside those disciplines to reflect and engage with diverse values in order to develop new and more appropriate ways of managing ecosystems, human well-being and the economy.<\/span><\/p>\n

While some environmental art and artists already engage with nature and environment, arts organisations are less engaged, with few having a focus on programmes connected with landscape decisions. There is a further need to engage the arts organisations that could potentially be critical players, with land decision-making circles.<\/span><\/p>\n

A<\/span>A<\/span>L<\/span>E<\/span>R<\/span>T<\/span> 4DM<\/em><\/strong> will fill these gaps by facilitating an in-depth, cross-disciplinary examination of the distinctive significance of creative contributions to decisions about landscapes, land uses and land assets. It will also make explicit the contribution of artists in creating new knowledge enriching like that scholarship across multiple scientific disciplines as well as policy and practice spheres.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Team <\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

A consortium of 15 people representing a variety of disciplines and stakeholders interested in exploring the relationships between arts research, landscape studies and decision making.\u200b<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Eirini Saratsi<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

University of Reading<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

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Tim Acott<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

University of Greenwich<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

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Ewan Allinson<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Independent Artist<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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Peter Coates<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

University of Bristol<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

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Caitlin DeSilvey<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

University of Exeter<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

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David Edwards<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Forest Research<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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Chris Fremantle<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Gray’s School of Art<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

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Rosie Hails<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

National Trust<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

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Katharine Earnshaw<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

University of Exeter<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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Gemma Lawrence<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Creative Carbon<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

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Joe Morris<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

University of Cranfield<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

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Simon Read<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Artist<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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P<\/span><\/strong>ete Smith<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

University of Aberdeen<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

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Laura Campbell<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

NatureScot<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

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Ben Twist<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Creative Carbon<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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back to top<\/a><\/p>\n

Aims and Objectives<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

A<\/span>A<\/span>L<\/span>E<\/span>R<\/span>T<\/span> 4DM<\/em><\/strong> proposes a series of engagement activities designed to interrogate existing projects with arts components across different professional practices, key landscapes and decision-making contexts in order to:<\/span><\/p>\n

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  1. consolidate and advance a transdisciplinary network<\/strong> of collaborators that explores the contribution of arts and artists to cross-disciplinary research on the environment<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. articulate how such contributions can enable decisions at the landscape scale<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n
  3. contribute with a range of outputs<\/strong> towards a more holistic, trans-disciplinary approach to landscape decision-making.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    The project will seek to address the guiding questions:<\/span><\/p>\n