Creative Collaborative Placements
The Creative Collaborative Placements programme is being run as part of the PLACE Collective’s involvement in the LUNZ (Land Use for Net Zero, Nature and People) Hub, a UK-wide consortium that has been set up to help drive the transformation of UK land use that’s needed to achieve net zero by 2050.
The programme gives a framework for artists to join specialists from research, practice and policy, and to develop work in response to a specified topic in the context of land use change.
There will be four Creative Collaborative Placements, one in each of the four nations. This open call is for applications from artists in Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland. The England placement has been appointed; all four will be announced will be announced in the autumn.
Key Information
Deadline for Applications: August 22, 5pm. By email.
Research, practice and production of work: November 2025 – May 2026
Award: £5000
Notes: To apply for a placement, your artistic practice needs to be based in the relevant country. The guidelines for application (point 7) ask for a statement that you are resident in the country you’re applying for but you don’t need to supply documentary proof – your statement will be taken on trust.
When sending examples of your work, these can be shown in a PDF and you may use external links where appropriate (e.g. to web page, audio or film); or send separate files (size for each additional file max 5MB please).
Wales
Patchwork: connecting small scale changes to the bigger national ambition for land use
Liaising with Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Bangor
CLICK FOR MORE about the WALES Placement
Patchwork – connecting the smaller scale to the bigger national ambition
Many farmers and land managers are making changes with demonstrable benefits to biodiversity, soil function, carbon sequestration and business success. One of the challenges in Wales (and the other UK nations) is how to replicate or scale up change.
This placement invites an artist to enquire into this issue, beginning by meeting specialists at the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology in Bangor. CEH is a leading research centre, with specialists across the environmental sciences. Its key programmes include ERAMMP – the Environmental and Rural Affairs Modelling and Monitoring Programme – which is developing insights into sustainable landscape management in Wales. Evidence from ERAMMP is used by Welsh Government, who need robust information to advance policies for social, economic and environmental resilience. It is a complex picture, however, with a core challenge that invites an artist’s perspective, drawing on existing research and stories: how might initiatives and landscapes be better connected, to create national transformation?
Scotland
The earth beneath our feet: understanding, regenerating, connecting
Liaising with The James Hutton Institute, Aberdeen
CLICK FOR MORE about the SCOTLAND Placement
The earth beneath our feet: understanding, regenerating, connecting
This is an open call for artists living and working in Scotland to apply for a programme of work liasing with the James Hutton Institute. The placement is an invitation to delve into the realm of soil: how we understand soil health, approaches to building healthy soils, and forging a deeper and stronger sense of connection to soil.
The artist will be introduced to specialists at the James Hutton Institute which hosts the National Soil Archive for Scotland and has team of researchers with interests in soil, peat and agroecology. Further introductions will be made to specialists involved in practice and policy. The James Hutton Institute is also home to the International Land Use Study Centre (ILUSC) which has an ‘Immersive Nature-Based Solutions Space’, offering a suite of visualisation tools – a flagship immersive space where models, videos and other imagery can be projected onto four walls. The artist may choose to bring this into their research and the presentation of their work.
Northern Ireland
Livestock, Land and Livelihoods
Liaising with The Agri Food and Biosciences Institute, Hillsborough
CLICK FOR MORE about the NORTHERN IRELAND Placement
Livestock, Land and Livelihoods
Livestock production is at the core of Northern Ireland’s land use sector and its economy. Ongoing research and developments in practice play a key role in supporting viable farming businesses, nature-rich ecosystems and pathways to net zero.
The artist will begin by meeting specialists at the Agrifood and Biosciences Institute (AFBI) in Hillsborough to define the direction and focus of research and identify sites for fieldwork. AFBI is a leading provider of scientific research and services to government, non-governmental organisations and commercial organisations. Its areas of focus include sustainable agriculture, environmental protection and grassland and plant science. This placement is an opportunity to join AFBI specialists and others, especially across Queen’s University Belfast and Ulster University who represent the NI academic partners, in an enquiry around livestock farm systems in Northern Ireland, including current practices and adaptations, as well as technical and nature-based innovations for change; for example animal nutrition, planting hedgerows and increasing tree cover, or transitioning to mixed farming.
The placements are an opportunity to use imaginative and novel artistic methods in transdisciplinary research, engagement and practice within and beyond the LUNZ Hub. The artists will be connected with specialists involved in academic research, land use practice and policy in a process intended to stimulate questions and a critical re-evaluation of knowledges, narratives and systems across and between disciplines, and allow for playful and/or bold imaginaries and Aha! moments.
We welcome applications from artist practitioners working in any medium or combination of media, including, but not limited to: visual art, illustration, photography, poetry (as text, audio or visual), film, audio, performance, sculpture, textile, movement, social practice.
The LUNZ Hub is proud to be part of a vibrant, multicultural community that celebrates diversity and welcomes people from all backgrounds. We particularly encourage artists from under-represented groups to apply to this programme, including global majority candidates and those who identify as having a disability; however, all applications will be considered strictly on individual merit. We are looking for quality, ambition and imagination, and will be considering all applications in the context of essential and desirable criteria, listed with further details, in the documents below.
Download the PDFs with full information here:
