Local Debates

The final local debate returned to the location of the first one, the archaeological site of Mikulčice. The late-afternoon programme was organised in three blocks. The first block presented local scientists working in archaeology and archaeobotany connected to Southern Moravia — Michaela Látková and Petr Dresler.

The second block, "Cultural landscapes", was dedicated to two curators and university educators, Miloš Vojtěchovský and Dagmar Šubrtová, both strongly engaged in artistic creation connected to landscape, land art and installations in public space; they presented their experiences and notable works from across Czechia.

After a short break, the video artwork Confluence was screened — some members of the community had not yet seen it — introduced by a short talk by one of its artists, David Přílučík.

The third and last block, "Water & landscape", was led by David Veselý and Jan Sychra, who presented contemporary approaches to controlling water flow in the landscape, with a specific case study of Southern Moravia.

On 17 April a guided tour of the Soutok protected natural site was led by the director of the institution and its administrator, Vladan Riedl.

Held 13 March 2026 at the Castelporziano Presidential Estate near Rome, the second Local Debate gathered 35 participants — artists, students, researchers/scientists, institutional representatives and curators. An institutional opening and scientific session framed the Pinus pinea as a proxy for environmental crisis, followed by an artistic restitution (artwork launch, curatorial evaluation, performative contributions and a short participatory workshop), a students’ intervention from the Ettore Majorana lyceum, and a guided walk within the estate extending the debate into the territory and validating the 'Pinus Pinea' work.

Critical text

The Local Debate dedicated to Pinus pinea operates as a device for interpreting the landscape that goes beyond a purely naturalistic dimension, entering instead a cultural, symbolic, and political one. The stone pine—an iconic element of the Mediterranean and, in particular, of the Roman landscape—is not treated here as a mere object of observation, but as an active subject of narration: a living organism shaped by historical layers, human practices, and ongoing environmental transformations.

This second moment of exchange is directly connected to the first Local Debate, during which Pinus pinea emerged as a central theme through a shared exploration process involving artists, experts, and citizens. In that initial phase, the work focused primarily on mapping the ecological and cultural significance of the pine, activating an interdisciplinary dialogue that laid the conceptual foundations of the project. The second Local Debate therefore represents an evolutionary step: no longer limited to gathering inputs, but aimed at testing, consolidating, and shaping the insights previously generated.

At the core of this day lies a shift in perspective: from representing nature to interpreting it as a complex system where biology, collective memory, and climate crisis intersect. Pinus pinea becomes an entry point to address broader phenomena—from the spread of pathogens and water stress to biodiversity loss—while also reflecting on the relationship between communities and their environment.

In this context, the dialogue between scientific knowledge and artistic practice is not a simple juxtaposition of disciplines, but rather a space of mutual translation. Science provides analytical tools and data, while art transforms these elements into sensory and shareable experiences. The transition from the first to the second Local Debate makes this process particularly visible: from a phase of listening and collection, the project moves into a phase of restitution and activation, where the artwork Pinus Pinea – AV Talk emerges as a provisional synthesis of an ongoing process.

The contribution of the students plays a significant role within this evolution, expanding its pedagogical and social dimension. The creation of a digital platform dedicated to Pinus pinea is not merely an act of documentation, but a form of critical appropriation of the topic. By translating complex content into accessible formats, students contribute to building a shared memory and fostering awareness among their peers. In this sense, their work represents an autonomous continuation of the impulses generated during the first Local Debate, reinforcing the participatory nature of the project.

The day is thus structured as a moment of convergence between observation, interpretation, and production, where the landscape of the Castelporziano Estate becomes a living laboratory. The final walk is not simply a concluding activity, but an extension of the debate into physical space, where the discussed dynamics manifest concretely, bringing the discourse back from abstraction to the material reality of the territory.

Overall, the Local Debate presents Pinus pinea as a threshold: between past and future, nature and culture, crisis and possibility. An apparently stable element which, through its current vulnerability, reveals the urgency of rethinking how we inhabit and represent the landscape. The transition between the first and second Local Debates thus highlights the core of the CO-VISION methodology: a circular process in which knowledge, creation, and restitution continuously inform one another, transforming debate into practice.

Held 14–15 November 2025 at Bánffy Castle in Bonțida and Sapientia Hungarian University of Transylvania in Cluj-Napoca, the second Local Debate gathered 44 participants — young people, university students, civil-society representatives and citizens. Led by visual artist Dr. Mira Marincaș, it combined field exploration and analogue experiments, lumen-print and 'Inner Silence' workshops, and digital completion sessions, advancing the 'Roots and Routes' immersive installation on the Someșul Mic River landscape toward completion.

Held 17 October 2025 during the Signal Festival in Prague (as part of the Signal Forum, within the 16–19 October festival), the second Local Debate presented the finished 'Confluence (Soutok)' large-format audiovisual installation. A moderated session gathered 115 participants — artists, students, institutional representatives, domestic and international curators and members of the Soutok community — around the territory of South Moravia, artistic creation and environmental policy. Related professional-panel presentations by researcher Denisa Půbalová (diatoms) and soundscape researcher Tomáš Šenkyřík deepened the ecological-acoustics dimension.

The second Local Debate took place on 25 September 2025 (18:00–20:17) at the Kypseli Municipal Market in Athens, as part of the all-day event “A Sea in the City”, which also included an exhibition of Medusa Valley, screenings, interactive installations, a VR experience, workshops for children and adults and a live music show. Around 100 people attended (75 signed the attendance sheet).

Titled “Biodiversity in the Sea: A Dialogue on Digital Art, Climate Change and Natural Heritage”, the panel was moderated by journalist Despoina Papageorgiou (Popaganda) and brought together scientists, policy experts, artists and cultural operators: Konstantinos Tsoukalas (WWF Greece), Christina Economou (Aenaos Thalassa / Thalassa Foundation), Prof. Drosos Koutsoubas (University of the Aegean), Soultana Zervoudaki (HCMR), artists Robertina Šebjanič, Yiannis Kranidiotis and Lampros Pigounis, and Konstantinos Trakosas (Creative Europe Desk Greece). After the presentation of Medusa Valley by Elli-Anna Peristeraki, the speakers addressed the loss of marine biodiversity, ocean warming, overfishing, plastic and underwater noise pollution, the jellyfish as a symbol of climatic imbalance, art as a “translator” of scientific data, the protection of marine parks, and environmental education and citizen science.

Held 10–11 September 2025 (with a further block 4–5 December 2025) at the Jelsa Municipal Museum and Galerija Monade, the second Local Debate ran an intergenerational programme of guided exhibition visits and age-tailored activities. A lecture by coastal engineer Prof. Dalibor Carević anchored a moderated debate for high-school students on coastal protection, marine ecosystems and the 'no-take' concept, framing science and art as catalysts for social change and validating the developed artworks within the Jelsa Art Biennial context.

Held 22–23 August 2025 at Espace Jacques Prévert in Mers-les-Bains (combined with the 1st Festival and Cultural Event), the second Local Debate gathered 39 participants — local citizens, climate and sustainability experts, local authorities, teachers, journalists, associations and artists. A video-mapping discovery workshop, a participative debate on climate-change impacts in the Bay of Somme, and a Q&A with the 'Echoes of Change' artists let residents test and respond to the artwork built from their own voices projected onto the villa façades of the seafront.

Held from 10–13 July 2025 across venues in Amposta and Deltebre, the second Co-Vision Local Debate brought together approximately 121 participants, including artists, scientists, natural-heritage experts, local policy representatives, cultural professionals, local residents, students and children. The main conversation, moderated by Antònia Folguera, brought together artists Carlos Martorell, Jaume Vidal and Lauren Moffatt with scientist Rosa Trobajo (IRTA) to explore hybrid ecologies, the relationship between human and non-human species, and changing understandings of concepts such as “invasive species” and “natural balance.” The programme was complemented by a networking event, a children's workshop led by Marta Barceló and a sound walk with João de Nóbrega Pupo, extending the exploration through social, intergenerational and sensory formats. The activities provided a creative testing ground for the development of Cartografiar l’invisible, an augmented-reality work exploring microscopic life and ecological transformation in the Ebro Delta.

The second Local Debate, held 26 March 2025 at Le Delta Arts Center and the University of Namur, combined an immersive hands-on workshop for schoolchildren ('L’eau, un milieu vivant', led by Empreintes) with a guided exhibition visit and a public dialogue among scientists, artists and local community members. Around 45 participants — schoolchildren, teachers, researchers, artists and community members — engaged with river ecology, biodiversity and the future of water resources, calibrating the 'Fossilized Futures' work.

The local debate organised by Signal Festival was held in the unique natural area of the Soutok confluence, at the Academy of Sciences Institute of Archaeology in Mikulčice. The event focused on the cultural and ecological significance of this Central European floodplain landscape (the Morava–Dyje confluence). Through three thematic panels, the debate addressed the history and value of the area, current environmental challenges and preservation efforts. It successfully fostered dialogue among 55 local citizens, experts and artists to inspire the co-creation of the digital artwork 'Confluence (Soutok)', rooted in the environmental and cultural fabric of the region.

The debate centered on the impact of climate change on coastal erosion in Mers-les-Bains and the Bay of Somme region. The event included artistic presentations, a scientific briefing from the regional climate expert group (GREC), a presentation by the Mayor of Mers-les-Bains, and a participatory workshop to map local climate issues. It demonstrated strong interdisciplinary collaboration and reinforced the potential of digital art in supporting scientific communication and public awareness. Deeply rooted in the territory, the debate fostered engagement among citizens, scientists, researchers, artists and public officials, laying the groundwork for the video-mapping artwork 'Echoes of Change'.

This debate successfully bridged scientific knowledge and artistic practice. A keynote presentation, public roundtable and artistic statements collectively explored the fragility of the Mediterranean ecosystem, particularly in relation to marine plastic pollution. The broad and interdisciplinary participation generated momentum for ADAF’s co-creation phase and highlighted the potential of artistic work as a driver of environmental literacy. Held at Serafeio, the event brought together artists, scientists, educators, students and citizens, building a shared understanding of marine environmental issues while enabling participants to contribute to the artistic interpretation (the audience-built Medusa Valley installation) through co-creative practices.

The City of Athens took part as local policy expert through Georgios Apostolopoulos, Deputy Mayor for the Environment and Green Spaces.

Organised by KIKK, the first Local Debate in Namur initiated a collaborative exploration of the city’s natural heritage, with a particular focus on the Sambre and Meuse rivers. The event brought together artists, geographers, students from ESA Saint-Luc’s urban space and heritage program, and local partners including le Delta Namur, the Sambre 2030 project, and the University of Namur (ILEE). Combining theoretical input with site-specific exploration, the workshop fostered creative exchange and interdisciplinary dialogue, with participants mapping local natural features and reflecting on interactions between water, landscape and urban development. This laid the foundation for the artistic project 'Fossilized Futures' by Robertina Šebjanič and Marco Barotti.

This local debate took place across two locations: the first and last day in Cluj-Napoca (House of Religious Freedom) and the second day at Bánffy Castle in Bonțida, with a follow-up narrative-collection session on 21 March 2025 (Cultural Café of Bánffy Castle, Bonțida). It offered a comprehensive blend of theoretical input, site-specific exploration and hands-on co-creation. It began with lectures on biodiversity and the ecological value of the Someșul Mic River Valley, followed by fieldwork, creative workshops (frottage, stop-motion animation, mixed-media) and collective artistic experimentation using natural and built heritage elements. The presence of local policymakers and heritage experts strengthened the dialogue between civic, cultural and scientific sectors, exemplifying CO-VISION’s principles of community engagement, site-based inspiration and interdisciplinary creation, and feeding the artwork 'Roots and Routes'. Participants: 45 (November 2024) and 42 (March 2025), mostly university students and young professionals from visual arts, architecture, biology and psychology backgrounds.

Held as part of the Videocittà festival at MAXXI, the Local Debate opened a participatory reflection on Rome’s environmental and cultural memory, with a symbolic focus on the Pinus pinea (Mediterranean stone pine). The event combined AV performance, artistic talks and public discussion, enabling exchange between artists, students, institutional representatives and curators. It effectively launched the Italian co-creation process and laid the conceptual groundwork for the collaborative artwork 'Pinus Pinea', which listens to and 'inhabits' the pine through immersive soundscapes and performance.

LAB852’s debate (13 September 2024) focused on intergenerational and interdisciplinary exchange. A lecture by Prof. Zrinka Ljubešić opened the session, followed by a microscope-based diatoms workshop and collaborative activities designed to activate local memory around marine and forest ecosystems. Hosted in the small town of Jelsa on the island of Hvar, the event fostered strong emotional engagement with local heritage among high-school students, teachers, biologists and cultural practitioners. It generated a pool of materials and testimonies that inform the Croatian artistic output ('Making the Invisible Visible: Island Pulse') and its contribution to the CO-VISION archive.

Eufònic’s Co-Vision Local Debate brought together 51 participants from artistic, scientific, environmental, agricultural, cultural and local community backgrounds to explore the relationship between art, science and the natural heritage of the Ebro Delta. Using a fishbowl methodology, the discussion addressed environmental challenges including climate change, biodiversity loss, water management, habitat degradation and sustainable tourism. The event also explored how art-science collaborations, participatory practices and community engagement can contribute to greater awareness and understanding of environmental change in the territory.