The Mistra Environmental Communication Research Programme Component at the Institute of Communication Studies and Journalism (ICSJ)

This is an archived website, with no changes made after 12 December 2023.

AiR@MISTRAEC programme

The series of artist-in-residence (AiRs) at Mistra Environmental Communication invite artists to collaborate in a dialogical fashion with academics and to become immersed in the Mistra Environmental Communication research programme, to develop creative work that situates environmental communication in art and explores academic research through an artistic lens. The dialogues with researchers serve as inspiration for artwork(s), and enriches the perspectives of the researchers. The goal of the AiRs is to foster collaboration between participants and to unlock new perspectives on environmental communication.

The AiRs is coordinated by the Institute of Communication Studies and Journalism at Charles University, and includes three artist-in-residencies:

• AiR@CU is hosted by the Mistra Environmental Communication research team at Charles University in Czech Republic

• AiR@SLU is hosted by the Mistra Environmental Communication research team at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences in Sweden

• AiR@USC is hosted by the Mistra Environmental Communication research team at the University of the Sunshine Coast in Australia.

The work of the 3 artists-in-residence will be considered for inclusion in the collaborative exhibition which will take place late 2023.

About the Mistra Environmental Communication research programme at the Institute of Communication Studies and Journalism at Charles University

The Mistra Environmental Communication research programme is a large research programme, coordinated by the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences and Uppsala University in Sweden, which examines how the environment and sustainability is treated in contemporary Swedish and global society. It aims to uncover keys that unlock more efficient, equitable and empowering environmental communication to advance societal transformations towards sustainability.

The Mistra Environmental Communication team at ICSJ in Prague (Czech Republic) is one of the many teams that work within the framework of the Mistra Environmental Communication research programme. One of the responsibilities of the ICSJ team is the so-called Work Package 5, which focuses on media and art. At ICSJ, we focus our research on how sustainability and the environment is constructed, talked about and acted upon in media and art. By examining channels such as Facebook groups, art exhibitions, documentaries, TV-series and more, we aim to understand the formation of environmental and sustainability discourses and to develop thinking tools to examine and open up these discourses so that environmental communication advances and can be used to affect policy, culture and actions towards supporting a thriving planet.

Together with artists, journalists, influencers, academics and more, we aim to:

(1) to understand the formation and nature of environmental and sustainability discourses as expressed in Swedish arts and media, and how they influence scope for individual and collective action;
(2) in a transdisciplinary team, to develop thinking tools to examine and challenge discourses in order to open up existing discursive patterns and constellations for a constructive engagement with new or marginalised perspectives.

The AiRs have been developed as a meeting place where artists may examine and challenge the mainstream assumptions about the environment and sustainability so that our research includes more diverse, unexpected and creative perspectives and materials. The AiRs contribute to the Mistra Environmental Communication research programme by inviting external perspectives to reflect on our work and create spaces for the unanticipated.