Impact beyond academia

At CET this is known as actionable knowledge. Research that contributes to impact beyond academia, whether this is in society through policy, practice or other means such as art.

An example of this can now be seen in the UiB administrative building NG5. As you walk into the Smauet café you are met by an impressive 2 metre high textile painting by Margrethe Brekke. The painting features a poem by Siddharth Sareen and is a work of art-science co-production.

For Sareen, co-production is an important element of art-science collaboration. During an event organised by CET on actionable knowledge in energy transitions in early May, Sareen was asked what his motivation was for art-science collaboration:

– It's fun. It’s part of the larger oeuvre of what I think academia is and can be and maybe should be, but also careful not to be prescribed for everyone. Arts are not just a communication arm of academia. I see it as co-production. It is something that when taken seriously, and when you start that process, you go down a road not just of being in a world of reading papers and writing. 

Sareen went on to discuss how art is a form of academic practice and it should be taken seriously. He finds it problematic that the two (science and art) are treated so separately:

 – I identify as an artist. I identify as an activist. I identify with being a researcher. And to me, this is not a binary, you know tripartite thing. It’s part of what you bring to the party when you show up, Sareen said.

Energy transitions and art

Siddharth Sareen and Margrethe Brekke have collaborated on several projects since 2018. The most recent collaboration is shown in the artwork hanging in Smauet Café. The title of the piece inclusion, commoning, organising points to ideas that emerged from the research project ROLES that enabled the collaboration.

Margrethe Brekke is also the project leader of the Rjukan Solarpunk Academy, an artist’s collective in the small rural town of Rjukan. Rjukan itself has a rich energy history being an UNESCO heritage site for hydropower.

The Solarpunk Academy are involved in another of Sareen’s projects, the Empowered Futures PhD research school, led from NMBU. Empowered Futures is a research school providing research-based competence on conflict mediation, equitable policy and development frameworks to achieve just energy transition. 

 – I think we are the only anarchistic artist collective that is a partner in a PhD school, I guess in the world. But it makes sense. The class divide between the centre (cities) and the periphery (rural towns) is very polarized. Through the PhD school we bring these minds to our small rural town, said Brekke in a conversation with Sareen and CET Director Håvard Haarstad in May.

When asked about what it is about energy transitions that appeals to Brekke as an artist she replied:

 – It’s the sublime, it is life. Power and energy are at the core of everything. And it is also a huge challenge that we are all dealing with.             

The Holberg Week

This week is The Holberg Week and Siddharth Sareen will receive the Nils Klim Award at the ceremony on Thursday alongside Holberg Prize winner Achille Mbembe. The week is filled with events celebrating the work of both scholars.

Sareen receives the award for his research at the intersection between social sciences, the humanities, and technological and environmental sciences. His research includes complex topics such as sustainability and accountability, energy history, environmental justice, democracy and social inclusion.