Grounding Technologies: The creative use of mundane and emerging technologies for place-based, just climate action

Dillon, Teresa; Lowe, Jack; Rasbash, Zoe; Blackburn, Melissa

Abstract

Putting people and place at the heart of our work, Grounding Technologies explores how everyday, emergent and mundane technologies can support community-centred climate action.

Such ambitions were achieved through a programme of public calls that brought together activists, artists, designers, researchers, programmers, creative makers, hackers, social enterprises, commercial businesses and creative producers in the West of England region. Across 10 months, over 100 people engaged in the programme, with 6 groups each receiving £15K to develop pilot projects.

In establishing a new network in the West of England that focuses on the role of creative practice and climate action, we’ve discovered a hunger across the region for working with emerging and commonplace technologies for bottom-up, social and environmentally engaged work. The region’s deep history in environmental work, engineering expertise and technological know-how also highlights the value of bridging communities of practice. Our findings show that there is a wealth of potential in supporting interdisciplinary, cross-sector and intergenerational knowledge transfer.

Findings from our cohort have shown that inviting creative approaches to a just transition can be done in a responsible, careful manner that moves away from business-as-usual, but that still allows us all to thrive. To deepen the impact of this work, we propose a re-focus on three key areas to address regional disparities of opportunity and identity: place-based, longer-term support and more flexible funding mechanisms are necessary for building meaningful collaborations across sectors and scales to energise a just transition.

• Report Type: Project Report
• Online Publication Date: Dec 19, 2023
• Publication Date: Dec 19, 2023
• Deposit Date: Jan 30, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 31, 2024
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/11641863
• Publisher URL: https://www.watershed.co.uk/studio/projects/grounding-technologies