Foodscapes: bake, grow, share, eat

Foodscapes Exhibition Project Information & Background Idea

The time is out of joint: Atmosphere and hauntology at Bodiam Castle

© 2017 Elsevier Ltd Drawing on recent work in emotional and cultural geography, the author brings Derrida's concept of hauntology into communication with thinking about atmospheres. The research deployed a mixed-method approach including audio documentation, observation, focus groups and interviews to look at the use of spectrality in the making of atmospheres associated with A Knight's Peril, an interactive game played at Bodiam Castle in the South East of England. The paper argues that the figure of the ghost is a useful heuristic towards understanding how designers conjure and exploit the emotional and affective power of atmospheres. At Bodiam, these techniques are deployed in an attempt to facilitate new understandings of the past

Atmospheres of stillness in Bristol's Bearpit

This paper studies atmospheres of stillness in a contested urban public space known as the ‘Bearpit’. The purpose is to provide a nuanced account of stillness and its relationship to atmosphere. Drawing on an ethnographic examination of the Bearpit, the paper finds that the positive and beneficial aspects of stillness can be found in unexpected and unconventional places. However, there is no single, unifying experience of stillness, but rather a plurality of ‘stillings’. The paper highlights three forms of stillness distilled from study of the site – calmness, control and withdrawnness – and demonstrates how these modalities emerge from and contribute to the construction of atmospheres in the Bearpit. Moreover, these atmospheres have direct political consequences for those who take part in city life. The paper’s contribution is found in the advancement of non-anthropocentric understandings of atmosphere and the development of stillness as a way of understanding city life

Interdisciplinary Research in Rajasthan, India: Exploring the Role of Culture and Art to Support Rural Development and Water Management

This paper examines the role of art and culture in supporting rural development in the context of critical water challenges. It focuses on an interdisciplinary network and research programme conducted in 2018 with the village of Jhakhoda, in Rajasthan, India. The village has experienced years of declining water quality and has recently turned to rainwater harvesting and other conservation measures as a means to address water challenges. The research team sought to support local NGO and village efforts through creative, regionally specific forms of cultural activity. Through our project, we found that arts approaches can contribute to changes in the way people understand water and environmental challenges and can play a significant role in working towards sustainable water futures

Cultural activism and the politics of place-making

In this paper, we explore the relationship between creative practice, activism, and urban place-making by considering the role they play in the construction of meaning in urban spaces. Through an analysis of two activist groups based in Stokes Croft, Bristol (UK), we argue that cultural activism provides new political prospects within the wider context of global capitalism through the cultivation of a shared aesthetics of protest. By cultivating aspects of shared history and a mutual enthusiasm for creative practice as a form of resistance, Stokes Croft has emerged as a ‘space of nurturance’ for creative sensibilities. However, we note how Stokes Croft as an autonomous space remains open-ended and multiple for activists interested in promoting different visions of social justice

Connected Communities Foodscapes

FOODSCAPES was an AHRC Connected Communities project (2013) that explored the use of art as a way of opening up discussion about food. Participants in the project included Knowle West Media Centre, The Matthew Tree Project (TMTP), the Edible Landscapes Movement (ELM), UWE Bristol, University of Southampton, the James Hutton Institute and Paul Hurley (artist-in-residence). Together, we explored how arts intervention and cultural engagement can help address food, food poverty, and sustainable communities. As co-designed action research, the project also examined how arts intervention can enhance interchange between community organisations and research institutions. Throughout Foodscapes there was an attempt to integrate the research questions, arts programming and evaluative activities into the actual process of the work, so that these activities could become entwined and, it is hoped, more meaningful for all involved

Switchgrass storage effects on the recovery of carbohydrates after liquid hot water pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis

Perennial grasses that would be used for bioenergy and bioproducts production will need to be stored for various periods of time to ensure a continual feedstock supply to a bioprocessing facility. The effects of storage practices on grass composition and the response of grasses to subsequent bioprocesses such as pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis needs to be understood to develop the most efficient storage protocols. This study examined the effect of outdoor storage of round switchgrass bales on composition before and after liquid hot water pretreatment (LHW) and enzymatic hydrolysis. This study also examined the effect of washing LHW pretreated biomass prior to enzymatic hydrolysis. It was determined that switchgrass composition after baling was stable. As expected, glucan and lignin contents increased after LHW due to decreases in xylan and galactan. Washing biomass prior to enzymatic hydrolysis reduced saccharification, especially in samples from the interior of the bale, by at least 5%

Coastal adaptation planning in Fairbourne, Wales: Lessons for climate change adaptation

Adaptation to climate change is emerging as a central objective and policy frame for coastal communities. This paper examines recent climate change adaptation efforts in the UK, centring on the case of Fairbourne, Wales. The village is facing the long-term prospect of flooding and inundation due to the impacts of sea level rise. The recent Shoreline Management Plan for the area has recommended realignment of the coast and eventual decommissioning of Fairbourne. The paper draws on a qualitative research methodology of interviews, policy review and observation to narrate the case and provide key insights and lessons for planners working in environmentally vulnerable coastal settings and managing climate adaptation processes

Errors associated with particulate matter measurements on rural sources: appropriate basis for regulating cotton gins

Agricultural operations across the United States are encountering difficulties complying with current air pollution regulations for particulate matter (PM). PM is currently regulated in terms of particle diameters less than or equal to a nominal 10 μm (PM10); however, current legislation is underway to regulate PM with diameters less than or equal to a nominal 2.5 μm (PM2.5). The goals of this research were to determine the biases and uncertainties associated with current PM10 and PM2.5 sampling methods and to determine the extent to which these errors may impact the determination of cotton gin emission factors. Ideally, PM samplers would produce an accurate measure of the pollutant indicator; for instance, a PM10 sampler would produce an accurate measure of PM less than or equal to 10 μm. However, samplers are not perfect and errors are introduced because of the established tolerances associated with sampler performance characteristics and the interaction of particle size and sampler performance characteristics. Results of this research indicated that a source emitting PM characterized by a mass median diameter (MMD) of 20 μm and a geometric standard deviation (GSD) of 1.5 could be forced to comply with a 3.2 and 14 times more stringent regulation of PM10 and PM2.5, respectively, than a source emitting PM characterized by a MMD of 10 μm and a GSD of 1.5. These estimates are based on both sources emitting the same concentrations of true PM or concentrations corresponding to the particle diameters less than the size of interest. Various methods were used to estimate the true PM10 and PM2.5 emission factors associated with cotton gin exhausts and the extent to which the sampler errors impacted the PM regulation. Results from this research indicated that current cotton gin emission factors could be over-estimated by about 40%. This over-estimation is a consequence of the relatively large PM associated with cotton gin exhausts. These PM sampling errors are contributing to the misappropriation of source emissions in State Implementation Plans, essentially forcing Air Pollution Regulatory Agencies to require additional controls on sources that may be incorrectly classified has high emitters