SIT-PLU

What

“For a world where many worlds fit” is one of the manifestos of the Zapatista Movement. It speaks of validating as many forms of life and knowledge as there are people and cultures, and this is where the SIT-PLU project (Situated Creative Practices for the Pluriverse) places its focus. SIT-PLU is a project driven by Luca School of Arts that addresses various ecosocial challenges through art, advocating for concepts such as buen vivir, interdependence, and harmonious relationships between human and non-human beings.
The project seeks to reimagine arts and culture as transformative tools for ecological regeneration and social justice through a network of collaborators in different territories across Europe. It also aims to enrich pluriversal discourses through knowledge exchange with practices from the Global South, working to develop creative methodologies adapted to rural, peri-urban, and urban environments.

How

To develop these methodologies, the project approaches practices in a situated manner, meaning artistic actions are conceived from and for the territory in which they operate. Therefore, a series of artistic residencies, experimental labs, and knowledge exchanges will be developed, coordinated, and supported by partners, including ZEMOS98.

Exchange and Evaluation Program (EX-EV): Throughout the project, a collaboration and self-assessment platform will be developed, where project partners can share learnings, refine methodologies, and build sustainable working frameworks in dialogue with a network.

Artistic Residencies: In a second phase of the project, various calls will be opened to develop artistic works in the different territories where the collaborating structures operate. In these residencies, artists and local communities will engage in dialogue to explore creative practices linked to sustainability and ecology.

The cultural structures that will promote and coordinate these residencies are:

• ZEMOS98 (Spain): Environmental activism in the Cantabrian-Leonese mountain range.
• Idensitat (Barcelona): Socio-urban dynamics around the Besòs river.
• Lungomare (Bolzano): Ecological connections in river landscapes.
• Baltan (Netherlands): Rural futures in Landpark Assisië, Noord-Brabant.

Experimental Labs: These involve applied research at various territorial scales. They will follow an academic framework with continuity, focusing on different ecosocial challenges in their respective territories:

• LUCA Lab (Ghent): Multispecies narratives and community collaboration at Castle Ter Beken.
• EINA Lab (Barcelona): Urban-peri-urban transition in the Collserola mountain.
• UPV Lab (Valencia): Community ecological initiatives and resistance to developmentalism in Benimaclet.

Why