Sensing Transition: Arts Methodologies and Energy Futures

Sensing Transition: Arts Methodologies and Energy Futures
Workshop at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)
12 February 2026
 
Energy transition is often presented as a pathway to a sustainable future; yet, the places where it takes shape tell more complicated stories. Transition projects promise opportunity while unsettling existing practices of care and belonging, and they reorder environments in ways that may be sensed in a number of different ways. The workshop starts from the idea that there are other ways of apprehending energy transition, which may emerge more clearly through artistic and sensory engagement, and through being attentive to the sounds, textures, and atmospheres of change. With this in mind, we invite emerging artists and interdisciplinary researchers to join us for a one-day workshop, Sensing Transition: Arts Methodologies and Energy Futures, and the London School of Economics on 12 February 2026.
 

The workshop is part of a wider collaboration between sound and performance artist Maja Zećo, curator Rachel Grant, and anthropologist Gisa Weszkalnys, building on earlier ethnographic research and a series of soundwalks in Aberdeen, Scotland. Together we are exploring how sound, listening and other sensory practices can open up new perspectives on energy transition as an uneven, contested and lived process.

Through the workshop, we hope to bring together around twenty artists, activists, and academics to reflect on what such sensory and artistic approaches can do: how they might help us sense the transition otherwise and imagine energy futures beyond the technical. It will be an informal and conversational day, with much opportunity to exchange ideas, discuss methods, and perhaps begin new collaborations.

We have funding to support participation by up to three emerging art workers or interdisciplinaryresearchers whose work touches on related themes. By “emerging” we mean a person of any age with up to five years’ professional experience. We warmly invite applications from people of diverse ethnic, racial, class, and gender backgrounds, and from those whose lived experiences and creative practices speak to the inequities of energy and environmental change. We can cover the equivalent of UKtravel (2nd class train fare), 1-2 night(s) accommodation in London, and can offer a small honorarium if needed.

If you would like to apply, please, send a short statement (max. 400 words) outlining your research or artistic practice and your reasons for wishing to participate to Gisa Weszkalnys (g.weszkalnys@lse.ac.uk) by 23 November 2025. If you have any questions or queries in advance of the application submission, please, email Gisa.