Marine Visual Geo on Oceanic Assemblages at RGS AC2024

[Photo Giuseppe Lupinacci (Raw-News)]

At the Royal Geographical Society Annual Conference 2024, London, 29-31 August, I will present the following work:

Visual art and documentation of Ocean Plastic Pollution in Participatory Research. The SeaPaCS experience

Chiara Certoma’ and Federico Fornaro

Visual documentation, including professional and amatorial film-making and photography, is a powerful means of creating transformative knowledge and advancing participatory, engaged and action research practices. There is a long tradition in geographical research proving the importance of visual techniques, and film-making in particular plays an increasing role in contemporary society where boundaries between academia and society are blurring and the web – largely dependent on visual contents –drives societal interest and feelings. To introduce our theoretical and methodological considerations, we build on the immersive experience of the EU pilot project “SeaPaCS. Participatory Citizen Science against Marine Pollution”. Facing the crisis of plastic and microplastic pollution in the global Ocean, the project documented and discussed the biological consequences of marine plastic pollution and advanced sustainability-oriented actions in the coastal city of Anzio (Italy) on the Mediterranean Sea. Through visual documentation and, particularly film-making, we have been able to present to people the matter of concern, stimulating the debate, engaging them in doing research on the field, and overcoming the principal practical obstacles in making citizen science and participatory research in the ocean environment. The videos accompanied us in giving a narrative of the entire process, and thus in driving it toward one or another direction, and then in storytelling and outreaching. Therefore, we present our considerations on using film-making and in general visual documentation as a research practice that is particularly useful and prolific in participatory action and engaged research. We interrogate how film-making is able to involve people in the processes of (1) knowledge production (how visual documentation helps to understand the phenomena studied), (2) discussion of what is happening (how the choice of shots, lights and specific technical solutions helps to highlight the problem and provide a specific vision of it), (3) propose interventions (such as images produce an emotion that leads to action). We describe our methodological approach complementing with a photographic exposition with screening of professional video. Details about the project and the visual documentation: https://crowdusg.net/seapacs/

detailed_programme Download

The paper presentation is expected on the 30th of August, at ICL — Royal School of Mines Room G38, 2:40pm – 4:20pm BST.

Session 1

14:40 – Welcome

14:45 – Helen Underhill and Cat Button – Confluences of Art and Research – Using Creative Methods to Understand People’s Relationships with Water

20 mins presentation + questions

15:15 – Amitangshu Acharya – Visualising matter: the politics of water purification in Bhuj, India

20 mins presentation + questions

15:45 – Chiara Certoma and Federico Fornaro – Visual art and documentation of Ocean Plastic Pollution in Participatory Research. The SeaPaCS experience

15 mins presentation

16:00 – Visit to SeaPaCS Exhibition for questions and discussion

16:20

–COFFEE BREAK–