LUNZ Soft Skills Seminar: Artists in the Mix

On Tuesday 9^th December, the Land Use for Net Zero (LUNZ) Early Careers Board hosted a soft skills seminar titled ‘Artists in the Mix’, hosted by Harriet and Rob Fraser of ‘somewhere nowhere’ and the Place Collective.

Harriet and Rob work together through their own practice, ‘somewhere nowhere’, and are co-founders of the PLACE Collective, which is one of the LUNZ Hub consortium members. PLACE (People, Land, Art, Culture, Ecology) is a group of artists whose practices are focused on environmental issues, and critically engaged with research and transdisciplinary work.  More at theplacecollective.org. and https://www.somewhere-nowhere.com/.

The seminar explored the question: What happens when artists become part of the mix of people working to better understand relationships to land, farming and other land use practices, and potential for change? 

Rob and Harriet shared rich insights from their experience over the years using a range of artistic media and working in multidisciplinary teams, highlighting the role of creative methods in surfacing ‘data of the heart’.

During the Q&A, they shared more about their personal motivations and dreams and shared practical advice for scientists and practitioners looking to engage artists for the first time. Their main advice: just try it and be open to learn!