URBAN INSTALLATIONS AND GATHERING POINTS
Based on the awareness of ecological multiplicity, the WG explores epistemologies drawn from various forms of natural life. These practices generate new forms of relating, interacting and collaborating between various forms of natures. This WG is concerned with artistic/creative practices dedicated to ecological relations. It is also based on the understanding of the global rise of the rights of nature (developed first in non-European cultures, based on ancestral and recent local communitarian and activist practices) and connected to social and climate justice and the consciousness of the plurality of living forms. In the first year we have tried to gather information about cross-cultural technological innovations, based on the implication of living organisms such as microorganisms, fungi, bacteria (for example that can help with carbon sequestration) etc. It contemplates solutions in circularity, developed by what has been called ‘bio-technologies’, 'bio-arts' working with nature, being informed by natural processes, and integrating these processes into the urban setting. It is also based on the understanding of the global rise of the rights of 'nature’ (developed first in non-European cultures, based on ancestral and recent local communitarian and activist practices) and connected to social and climate justice and the consciousness of the plurality of living forms. Some of the key understandings questions that we raised were: Understanding questions: What is ‘nature’? How and been it has been separated from ‘culture’?; How natures are connected/disconnected to everyday practices developed in different urban contexts?; How artistic/academic/native knowledges can be (re)signified to move in the direction of a deeper understanding of the different forms of bio (“human and non-human) that inhabit together the same space?

Authors
Mota, A. (leader) and Tusa, G. (co-leader)

Responsive Ground: Transcalar Interventions in Urban Regeneration
“Responsive Ground” explores the role of ecological interventions in urban regeneration, understanding scale not only as a measure but as a capacity to mediate between natural and artificial environments. The project challenges hierarchical paradigms by reframing relations between biological systems and design practices, fostering a shift from viewing urban green as “silent and passive” to “active and critical.” It investigates how bio-digital design, alternative materiality, and living organisms can inform resilient and sustainable urban environments. Through case studies from the Responsive Ground Research Lab, the presentation shows how responsive ecological materials and systems can transform neglected areas into biodiverse, socially inclusive, and sustainable spaces. These interventions combine digital fabrication, parametric design, and ecological practices to create adaptive, circular urban systems. The project reimagines design practice as a living, evolving act that harmonizes art, architecture, and ecology, aligning urban transformation with contemporary environmental complexities and future challenges.

Author
Finat Cimsit Kos

Urban Sustainability and Circular Arts: Reimagining Etno Selo as a Cultural-Ecological Educational Platform in Skopje, North Macedonia
This proposal examines how artistic and performative practices can advance urban sustainability at Etno Selo, a cultural complex on the urban edge of Skopje, North Macedonia. Reimagined as a pedagogical space, Etno Selo becomes a “living laboratory” where site-specific art, eco-pedagogy, and traditional knowledge foster engagement with circular natures, emphasizing material cycles, ecological processes, and cultural continuity. The project introduces installations, performances, and community interventions grounded in circular economy principles such as reuse, regeneration, and low-waste systems. Circular pedagogies involve hands-on, collaborative learning rooted in place and traditional ecological knowledge, including workshops on composting, local dyeing, and repair practices. As a circular cultural hub, Etno Selo hosts artists, educators, students, and residents who co-create experiences linking environmental awareness and cultural continuity. The initiative supports COST Action CA23117 by offering a replicable model for circular education in cultural and urban contexts, highlighting art-based, participatory methods for resilient, sustainable communities.

Author
Viktorija Mangaroska

Immersive Storytelling and Digital Reconstruction as Performative Pedagogy in Reclaiming Ancient Urban Ecologies’
This proposal recreates the ancient city of Kibyra, in southwest Türkiye, as an affective pedagogical environment through an immersive storytelling installation built in a game engine. Drawing on excavation data, computer modelling, and projection mapping, the exhibit enables visitors to explore digitally restored public spaces and recover ecological imaginaries embedded in historic urban planning. It functions as a medium for sharing ecological and performative knowledge, aligned with the aim of using performative arts to rethink sustainable human subjectivities. Building on earlier work in digital heritage, architectural visualization, and cyclical narratives, the project advances participatory eco-pedagogies in CIRCUL’ARTs, inviting visitors to use the digital city as a platform for speculative stories from post-anthropocentric and decolonial perspectives. The installation supports the ambition to redefine performance as embodied, contextual, cyclical learning rooted in place-based storytelling, and to reconsider sustainability, heritage, and public space as overlapping, performative domains within urban ecologies.

Author
Onur Birol