Researching Environmental Change networks

Outline

Researching Environmental Change (REC) network awards aimed to establish distinctive, innovative and engaging arts and humanities research perspectives on environmental change through the formation of high quality and internationally significant research networks. The funding call followed a workshop entitled 'Researching Environmental Change: Workshop exploring the contribution of arts and humanities research' which Landscape and Environment co-hosted with the AHRC's Science and Heritage Programme. Network activities contributed to the cross-Council Living with Environmental Change (LWEC) programme. Each of the thirteen networks awarded held a series of workshop activities over periods of between six months and one year between May 2010 and July 2011. A workshop for all of the REC network leaders was also held at the Royal Geographical Society in June 2011.

The idea behind the networks was to emphasise the wealth of knowledge and expertise in the arts and humanities that can be brought to bear upon the environmental change debate including, for example, creativity, ethics, aesthetics, critical reflection, language and discourse, historical perspective and through exploring cultural values and imagination. Although the emphasis has been on developing networks in the arts and humanities, interdisciplinary engagement and collaborations with partners from other disciplines outside the arts and humanities, from the public sector, the cultural sector and the broader research community were encouraged, alongside the imaginative dissemination of the research.