Description
Working Group 6, focused on dissemination and recommendations, takes a systems thinking approach to the diverse content, research, art, and practice embedded within Circul’arts. This Working Group seeks to develop tangible recommendations for a range of stakeholders, based on the various types of knowledge transfer: from academics to citizens, from artists to communities, from citizens and artists. The working group works to build bridges between public institutions, civil society, and academic partners. Underlying this is the observation that researchers often do not thoroughly elaborate on the potential implications of their findings for stakeholders’ daily lives and practitioners in the field may not have access of the latest and most applicable research relevant to their work. Thus this working group, incorporate principles of sustainability, inclusivity, and community-driven development to create vibrant, resilient spaces for learning and cultural exchange.

Moreover, when such recommendations are formulated, they are often not feasible for those who professionally engage with social and urban questions. At the same time, often in recommendations of this type, the voice of the concerned citizens does not come through: their approach, needs, experiences and specific narratives are rarely flowing into the content production. The academic research agenda is often not in tune with practitioners’ needs, because the methodology is not sufficiently diversified and innovative to accommodate and respond to an empirical type of context. The role of design, visual arts and performative arts as pedagogic approaches and as means for integration has been acknowledged.

However, what is missing is a systematic approach allowing the sustained incorporation of creative methodologies into the fields of sustainability with long-term scientific and societal impact. This WG seeks to challenge traditional education systems and empower learners to question, analyze, and transform their world. The WG will map and explain past and current artistic and pedagogical strategies and draw a set of methodological solutions that can be further applied, both at a macro-level (recommendations for urban policy makers and institutions), and at micro-level in intervention projects addressing problems identified by our COST members during our COST Action.


2. Theoretical Questions

What are core constituencies to reach out to with dissemination efforts from Circul’arts?

How do we embed a culture of learning in this COST action and the approach to these transdisciplinary topics?

What is a systems thinking approach to making policy recommendations and disseminating empirical research?

What is the role of theory building and imagination in bridging diverse topic within Circul’arts?

What is the role of science communication and information literacy in dissemination and policy impact?

3. Research

Working Group 6 organizes its research activities into the following three areas:

1. Discourse, Interdisciplinarity, and Systems Thinking
Developing engaging, accessible, and impactful, resources and online content to share key insights, best practices, and inspiring stories from the project. Engage in academic discourse of transdisciplinarity, interdisciplinarity and systems change

2. Policy Impact and Development
Informing and influencing policymakers and decision-makers to support the adoption of critical pedagogies, urban regeneration, and socio-ecological approaches in education and community development.

3. Workshops, Online Dissemination, and Learning Events
Hosting interactive workshops, online seminars, and immersive learning events to foster collaboration, and empower communities to become active participants in learning, impact, and dissemination.