Environmental Futures

We are interested in questions concerning the complex functions and dynamics of these living networks, in which the creative industries have a key connective role: in connecting communities and cultures, in generating illuminating experiences of natural systems and our human role in them, by imagining better ways of engaging with our lived world, and pioneering innovative designs for future modes of living.

Central to this is a study of emergent and shifting relationships among the arts, technology and environments, where we look at questions of sustainability and innovation side by side.

Key areas of focus include:

• Living Networks: Climate Humanities, Energy and Informatics
• Shaping Futures: Design for Coastal Industries & Agri-Tech
• Communities Connected: Access to the Arts and Technology
• Against Boundaries: Collaborations in Arts and Sciences
• Future Cornwall: Sustaining Heritage and Coastal Tourism
• Land, Sea and Space: Engaging Extreme Environments
• Bee Friendly: Design Approaches to Agricultural Sustainability
• Blue Mind: Coastal Environments and Mental Health

Research in this programme has produced exciting applications in areas such as agri-tech, aquaculture, tourism and mental health, suited to the nonlinear and uncertain realities in which we now live.

The questions we seek to address are:

• How can innovative design for industry promote regeneration, rather than just ‘sustainability’?
• How do environmental challenges in rural areas compare to those of urban environments, and how can we address them more effectively?
• How can creativity generate meaningful and viable solutions for the climate emergency that have wide scope and reach?
• What is meant by Climate Humanities, and how can we develop it further in light of the climate emergency?
• What unconventional modes of engagement can be developed to shift human behaviours?
• What role will complexity play in future modes of living, and how can we develop human capacity to manage that complexity?
• How can innovative design approaches enable new ways of relating to nonhumans and nonhuman environments, in ways that are productive for industry and society?
• How can we preserve elements of rural and traditional environmental practises in a time of rapid change – and in what ways will these practises inform future ways of living and working?