We call for your utopian dreams from researchers, practitioners, students, artists, activists and citizens

Share your knowledge at GRASP 2024!

26th and 27th September 2024

GRASP is part of Roskilde Festival Gruppen's charitable work, an annual platform for knowledge sharing and networking. The highlight of the year is GRASP knowledge festival on September 26th-27th, which brings new perspectives on sustainable change.

Through talks, lectures, workshops, panel discussions, music, art, and community, we  challenge conventional thinking and inspire each other with new ideas on sustainable change - across professional disciplines. Together, we point to future ideas and solutions, showing that change is possible.

The theme of Grasp is Utopia because envisioning is a prerequisite for creating sustainable change. Young people today struggle to imagine a better future, and we see a need to inspire imagination and hope in young generations. We can facilitate this through concrete actions, seeing change as essential for taking the first steps in a new direction.

Tracks

The open call consists of three tracks. Each track has predefined curators who will help frame the contributions within each track. Feel free to ask them questions before submitting your contributions. 

Track  #1 (in Danish): UTOPIA i hverdagens velfærdsinstitutioner

(English title: UTOPIA in the everyday life of welfare institutions)

Mikkel Snorre Wilms Boysen <msb@pha.dk> and Pernille Welent Sørensen <pews@pha.dk>, Professionshøjskolen Absalon. Med-bedømmelse af Karin Gottlieb <karin.gottlieb@roskilde-festival.dk> + Forskere fra forskningsmiljøet “Bevægelse, kreativitet og æstetisk i pædagogisk arbejde”, Absalon, + venner af miljøet.

Vi lever i en tid, hvor velfærdsinstitutionerne er under pres. I medierne meldes om mangel på sygeplejersker, pædagoger og lærere. Fra hospitaler, daginstitutioner, skoler og plejehjem berettes om udfordringer med mistrivsel, diagnoser, inklusionsproblematikker, travlhed og ventelister. Samtidig kan børn, unge og borgere fortælle historier om sygeplejersker, lærere, politifolk, pædagoger og social- og sundhedsassistenter, der skaber omsorg, eventyr, inspiration og løsninger i hverdagens velfærdsinstitutioner.  

I denne session, vil vi gerne jagte UTOPIA i hverdagen. Kreativiteten, det legende og håbefulde, der udfolder sig i vores velfærdsinstitutioner ude blandt borgere, børn og unge. Vi vil undersøge, rapportere og stille skarpt på alle de folk, der bærer os på måder, som ofte beskrives i medierne som "drift", men som i virkeligheden rummer så mange andre historier og fortællinger om mennesker, materialer og muligheder. De små armbevægelser, der forplanter sig, cirkulerer og bliver til bløde, bevægelige eller store armbevægelser. Der hvor bæredygtighed udfolder sig i mødet med borgere, børn og unge, grønt såvel som socialt. 

Vi inviterer til et legende videns-format, hvor de forskellige indlæg iscenesættes inden for rammerne af rollespil, en middag eller lign. Efter vi har modtaget jeres abstracts, vil vi foreslå et format som herefter kan udvikles i dialog med jer.

Du/I indsender et "abstract" i form af en kort film eller tekst. Det må gerne være ufærdigt, åbent og nysgerrigt, da vi gerne vil skabe sessionen som et samskabt og undersøgende vidensformat. Men film eller tekst skal eksplicitere, hvilken viden og refleksioner, du/I gerne vil dele og hvilken empiri, der tages afsæt i.   /

Du/I kan dele viden fra praksis, fra forskning- og bachelorprojekter, speciale eller ph.d.
Vi vil vægte abstracts, der tager afsæt i praksis, i det legende, nysgerrige og undersøgende. I det, der søger at forstørre, bevidne og puste nyt liv i velfærdsinstitutionernes hverdag.

Eksempler på temaer kan være:

• Hvordan kan kunstbaserede processer i pædagogisk arbejde åbne for flere inkluderende samarbejder på tværs af professioner?

• Hvad betyder bevægelsesglæde i professionsuddannelserne, når kroppen får ordet?

• Hvordan skabes trivsel og fællesskaber i skolen?

• Hvilke hverdage og hvis liv (og død)? - om utopier og etik i velfærdsinstitutionerne.

• Hvad kan natur-kultur tænkning i dagtilbud? - om bæredygtighed i børnehøjde.

• Hvordan skaber vi meningsfulde og fællesskabende fritidsinteresser for ældre og andre borgere?

• Sansende sygepleje – hvad betyder intuitions- og nærværs-kompetence i sygeplejen?

• Hvad er et inkluderende måltid? Om klima, kultur og praksisser omkring mad.

• Hvordan får vi mod på at drømme om en alternativ fremtid i professionsuddannelserne?

• Hvordan skabes rum og plads til ildsjæle og pædagogiske entreprenører?
  
  

Selve sessionen bliver på dansk, men hvis du bidrager med andre sprog (engelsk, italiensk, kurdisk…), så finder vi en måde at få det til at passe ind i helheden.

Track #2 (in English): Earthly Belongings and Imaginaries

Curated by Michael Haldrup <mhp@ruc.dk>, in collaboration with Laura Horn <lhorn@ruc.dk>, David Pinder <dpinder@ruc.dk>, and co-review by Karin Gottlieb <karin.gottlieb@roskilde-festival.dk>. 

Planet Earth is suffering from multiple states of crisis due to the combined pressure from capitalist extractivism and expansionism, human population growth, urbanisation and accelerating material growth. Alongside the all too well-known calamities of planetary climate change and biodiversity loss, we also see increasing conflicts over territories, space, and resources, as well as tensions and violence connected to issues of ethnicity, gender and identity. In the face of such a planetary crisis, there is a dire need to reframe academic disciplines and also to engage with artistic, designerly and activist approaches to tease out alternative forms of Earthly belongings and imaginaries.

How can we live together on an Earth in which planetary boundaries manifest themselves in constantly mutating forms? How can we seek out new forms of Earthly belonging that invite coexistence and cohabitation? And how do we create new imaginaries for Earth as Ecumene and community. This track invites creative interventions and analysis, contributing new forms of Earthly belonging and imaginaries. 

Themes that could be addressed include (but not exclusively) the following:

• How can we develop other ways of thinking, doing and feeling our Earthly co-inhabitants?

• How do we facilitate a shared space for dialogue around adequate forms of politics and action despite unequal power relations and hierarchies?        

• How can regenerative and reparative practices be cultivated as an integral part of production, consumption and everyday practice?

• How do we connect social, spatial, environmental and cultural/cognitive justice issues in Earthly and planetary political thought?

• How might we think through “queer” belongings and imaginaries as an alternative to identity politics?

• What is the role of art and aesthetics in providing new forms of storytelling and imaginaries for Earthly belonging?

Track #3 (in English or Danish): Imagination Through Making

Curated by Nicolas Padfield <nicolasp@ruc.dk> and Mads Hobye <hobye@ruc.dk> with co-review by Karin Gottlieb <karin.gottlieb@roskilde-festival.dk>. Co-hosted by Orange Makers.

The right to dream is moving into the physical realm - it is no longer limited to the freedom to write freely about ideas on paper. It is clear that the democratisation of access to creating physical, digital artefacts - whether with 3D printers, computer-controlled milling machines, laser cutters, robots or biotech machines - will change the near future as much as the laser printer and the Internet did. However, how it will change the world is somewhat less clear. This track invites you to present your inspirational talk, paper or results which has particular relevance for the maker and Fablab movements. 

Themes that could be addressed include (but not exclusively) the following:

• How can (or cannot) the maker movement help solve the climate crisis?

• What is the role of digital fabrication now that utopian tools like 3D printers (etc) have been developed?

• How can we enable ownership/citizenship, etc., through making?

• What are the main goals and opportunities of the Maker movement in 2024 and beyond?

• What is the impact of the maker movement on the general debate around ownership, empowerment, and creative commons, and how do we need to evolve?
  
  
  

Types of contributions

We invite researchers, artists, activists, practitioners, and students to share everything from practice-based knowledge to high-level theoretical and philosophical reflections on this year's theme. Maybe you are…

• a researcher with a traditional academic knowledge contribution.

• an activist who has developed a specific approach to getting your agenda heard in the media. 

• a researcher who has connected practice and theory in new ways.

• a part of a corporate institution that has found a way to work with change, innovation, and futuristic dreams. 

• an artist who has developed utopic perspectives on societal challenges.  

• a student who wants to display a new way of experimenting with utopian ideas.

• a partnership of different stakeholders that work together around utopian ideas.
  
  

In short, we want your fresh perspectives on how we can move beyond the status quo; How do we break the old patterns and gain new understandings of what lies behind. So please surprise, challenge and impress us with what you have been working on.

Presentation format

This call is for people who want to present their concepts, knowledge, and ideas to an audience. You will get fifteen minutes to present and then five minutes for questions. The submitted knowledge contribution will be grouped thematically into academic panels. Each panel will end with a shared reflection between the audience and the participants for 15 minutes. You do not have to follow the keynote format. If another way of presenting your knowledge (food tasting, musical composition, design workshop, etc.) is more relevant, we welcome you to be inventive with your expression within the timeframe. 

How to apply

To apply, we will need:

• A video, PowerPoint, or detailed illustrated description of how and what you will present. This year, we highly prioritise contributions with a solid and well-thought-through presentation that communicates to the wider Grasp audience. Therefore, we need to clearly understand what you will present and how well your content has matured for presentation. What exactly this means depends a lot on your way of presenting, but here are a few suggestions:

• A PowerPoint presentation as a PDF so we can see how your presentation is structured.

• A video of you presenting the presentation. Don’t worry about video and audio quality. We just want to understand the line of argumentation and flow.

• A video of you doing an intervention/performance.

• A script, illustrations and spatial setup of an intervention /performance.

• A one-page abstract from you that answers the following:

• What is the concrete knowledge contribution you will present?

• How is this knowledge contribution relevant to the theme/tracks of GRASP?

• How does this relate to existing knowledge, either practice-based or theoretical?
  
  

You are welcome to be one or more authors.

Important dates

• May 25th: Deadline for abstracts.

• June 5th: You will receive a response regarding whether your contribution has been accepted for this year’s GRASP

•  September 26th or 27th: Presentation at the festival
  
  

When you receive the attendance response, you will receive more information about the time, date, and co-presenters. You will also be invited to dialogue with the panellists responsible for the presentations to create a conversation across the different presentations.

Since the ticket price is symbolic, we ask everyone, including speakers, to purchase a ticket to ease our administration.