by Tina Hofman

The session ‘Sensing Earth Workshop’ at the IETM Sofia Plenary Meeting 2024 took place on 13 June at Hall 2 at Toplocentrala, Sofia.

The session was led by Pascal Gielen, Philippe Dietachmair - authors/editors of the book Sensing Earth (Gielen et al., 2023) - and Rodrigo Arenas - a freelance artist from California born in Chile.

The workshop was introduced through setting the main questions it looked to address:

AESTHETICS: How can we create arts with a  greater connection to Earth?

ORGANISATIONS: How can we constitute ecologically sustainable arts institutions?

POLITICS: How can we encourage decision making that serves people and the planet

The aim of the workshop was to gather tangible ideas and proposals on how to take the conversation further through collating the experience in the room, dealing with three main dimensions of Sensing Earth mentioned above (Gielen, P. et al., 2023): Aesthetics (Green Transitions), Organisations and (Cultural) Politics. The workshop was attended by 50 participants who were divided into six smaller groups.