Image: ‘House of Weaving Songs’ by Dhaqan Collective – Playable City Bristol 2023. Image Credit: Luke O’Donovan

Funded by NERC-UKRI, Engaging Environments was a National five-year public engagement with environmental research initiative responding to the climate emergency and the intersectional challenges of environmental and social justice. Engaging Environments sought to build the capacity of environmental scientists and diverse communities to work towards equitable partnerships that help reduce the impact of the climate and biodiversity crisis on minoritised communities in the UK.

Engaging Environments reflected on inclusive research practices to address inherent power dynamics, the creation of safe and inclusive spaces, accountability processes, and a collective reimagining of what co-created environmental research might look like when justice, care, equity and cultural relevance are placed at its heart.

As part of the Storytelling and Worldmaking strand of Engaging Environments, Erinma Ochu partnered with Watershed to lead a co-inquiry into ‘Alternative Technologies: A Just Transition’ to centre minoritised perspectives within the Pervasive Media Studios through a series of guided facilitation workshops to support community-led conversations on the intersection of creative technology and climate justice.

Erinma Ochu was Interim Director of Engaging Environments and led the Storytelling and Worldmaking strand.