We seek Wales-based artists and creatives to collaborate and support the delivery of a dynamic, creative and engaging vision for a future of flood resilience in Wales 2050. This is a unique opportunity to help shape and prompt the national conversation to engage Welsh Government around how Wales should best respond to the threat of flooding.
The National Infrastructure Commission for Wales (NICW) and Arup are working with stakeholders, politicians and the public to develop a Vision for Wales in 2050 where homes, businesses and infrastructure are more resilient to impacts from flooding and sea level rise. It involves setting out a set of scenarios and then engaging stakeholders and the public in bringing these scenarios to life in two workshops in December 2023. The vision will become a public resource (e.g. a project website) to help Welsh communities and the government to better engage in conversations about climate resilient futures.
NICW is an independent advisory body that gives recommendations on the infrastructure Wales needs. See a link to the project – https://nationalinfrastructurecommission.wales/flooding/.
Project Overview: We are looking to collaborate with at least two creatives (or creative collectives) from Wales to participate in person in the workshops (half day on 5th and 7th December) and then work with Arup to develop the outcomes from the workshops into creative outputs. This might include but is not limited to: digital art, design imagery or video, props, documents, artefacts or objects from the future. There are no specific media constraints but your work will need to be digitally documented (e.g. a physical object would need to be photographed in high quality).
The creatives’ role is in the project is co-creating the final outputs which will form a vision for the project. This will be informed by attending the community workshop as a participant, meeting the project team for design sprints, and actively shaping the final proposal through discussion and contribution to development of the final creative output representing the 2050 Vision. Arup’s Foresight team will lead on scenario development and final project delivery and will support the creatives in delivering a mutually agreed artwork.
Though we are open to creatives from any discipline or background you should have an interest in futures, speculative design and/or foresight and public, participatory or co-creative ways of working.
We want to encourage the project to be accessible and effective in both Welsh and English. Arup is committed to equal opportunities policies. We welcome applications from anyone regardless of disability, ethnicity, heritage, gender, sexuality, religion, socio-economic background and other differences.
Budget: The budget for this project is £2,000 per creative (or per collective), inclusive of all expenses related to participation in one community workshop, materials, and the creation of the envisioned artwork.
Timeline: 17th November; deadline for submissions. 21st November, successful artists notified. 5th December, Workshop 1 (North Wales, location tbc). 7th December, Workshop 2 (South Wales, location tbc). December-January, developing creative response and collaboration with Arup Foresight team. February 2024, finalising deliverable output. 1st March 2024, end of project.
Application Deadline: 17th November 2023
Introductory meeting & brief definition: 24th November 223
Workshop 1 & 2: 5th and 7th December
Workshop 3 (Online): Optional and tbc
Review session: February 2024 tbc
Completion of Artwork: 1st March 2024
Submission Details: Applications should be submitted by midday 17th November 2023, including a one-page CV, PDF portfolio of up to ten pages, and a brief statement outlining your proposed approach to this project (around 500 words). Applications should be sent to malina.dabrowska@arup.com with the subject line ‘NICW 2050 Vision.’
The selection process: Applications will be evaluated by Arup and the NICW Commissioners in consideration of the impact and alignment of the proposals against the NICW Review terms of reference. The successful applicant will hear on or around 27th November. We will be looking for applicants who have some experience and/or interest in futures and participatory or public engagement.
Contact Information: For inquiries or further information, please contact Malina Dabrowska at malina.dabrowska@arup.com.