Research Exercise 2023

Field Research (BA and MA on 05.05 Afternoon)

Go out into the field and find a number of tension zones/transitional places/ecotones.

Pick one of these locations to observe and document (photo and video when appropriate):

• What agents interact in the space (people and organisms)

• What things appear in and occupy the space (objects, materials, substances and phenomenon)

Mapping (BA only)

With the material gathered from your field research, investigate all the players you have documented and try to map the relationships between them all. Consider:

• What tensions and synergies exist between social systems and ecological systems?

• What is the historical origin of the space its occupants?

• What external influences govern the activities of the space?

• What invisible or hidden things influence the space, and what apparatus or knowledge we might need to perceive their influence?

Use a Miro board or similar to collectively develop and organise your background information. You may also need to design new experiments to make more detailed observations in the field. The outcomes of this exercise will be exchanged amongst groups with a presentation on the 11.05, to inform the development of all the final projects. Keep in mind, the area you investigate in your group does not need to be the focus of your final project in the module.