Abstract
This paper uses the case study of Ecotone, a project that sought to bring disparate groups of people (artists, scientists, ranchers) together for shared discourse and potential action around agricultural environmental stress in southern Alberta, Canada. We explore this project from the perspective of an artist and designer. We examine a framework that values space, time and the pairing of people from different disciplines to encourage meaningful collaboration and interaction. Environmentalism and climate change are divisive topics, particularly in Alberta where the controversial oil and gas industry has made it Canada’s wealthiest province, resulting in both environmental indifference as well as extensive protests locally and from abroad. It is well acknowledged there is a need for better communication about the environment for real progress in protecting our resources to begin. Ecotone begins this conversation by inviting artists and designers to respond to the science and pragmatic realities of land stewardship.
Keywords
Collaboration; art; science; ranching; information visualization
Citation
Elias, L., and Clark, C. (2014) Ecotone: Finding Common Ground Across Art, Science and Ranching, in Lim, Y., Niedderer, K., Redström, J., Stolterman, E. and Valtonen, A. (eds.), Design's Big Debates - DRS International Conference 2014, 16-19 June, Umeå, Sweden. https://dl.designresearchsociety.org/drs-conference-papers/drs2014/researchpapers/67
Ecotone: Finding Common Ground Across Art, Science and Ranching
This paper uses the case study of Ecotone, a project that sought to bring disparate groups of people (artists, scientists, ranchers) together for shared discourse and potential action around agricultural environmental stress in southern Alberta, Canada. We explore this project from the perspective of an artist and designer. We examine a framework that values space, time and the pairing of people from different disciplines to encourage meaningful collaboration and interaction. Environmentalism and climate change are divisive topics, particularly in Alberta where the controversial oil and gas industry has made it Canada’s wealthiest province, resulting in both environmental indifference as well as extensive protests locally and from abroad. It is well acknowledged there is a need for better communication about the environment for real progress in protecting our resources to begin. Ecotone begins this conversation by inviting artists and designers to respond to the science and pragmatic realities of land stewardship.