The Power of Circular Storytelling : Call for Participation

The Leiden-Delft-Erasmus (LDE) Center for sustainability and the Villa Gillet both work with students and young researchers, getting them involved in societal issues, helping them find their voices and invest the public space. However, during the years both of us have been working in education, we have been confronted with what many have already identified as an enormous, constantly widening gap between disciplines. This artificial segregation between humanities and sciences has constituted the subject of much concern over the last decades, however few universities have been able to tackle and prevent it successfully. Increasing specialization that has become the key to scientific legitimacy leaves little time to students to get acquainted to other fields and explore different perspectives, different vocabularies and paradigms.

In a cultural context where we believe that difference makes progress and the best ideas come from “thinking outside the box”, where we know that today’s students are tomorrow’s leaders, it’s time to put theory into practice. Aranka and myself imagined creating the perfect conditions for young people to meet, discuss, share methods and techniques, read, write, calculate, innovate and build an installation together while taking part in an exciting living lab.

All the while, they would be discovering the burning societal issue of sustainability from a different perspective, by stepping out of their academic contexts in order to meet people living in the countryside, elderly people who have seen the environment change over the years, but also members of the public who do not feel concerned about environmental issues. This is how the pilot edition of what we expect to be a long-lasting student exchange was born. Today, we are proud to share the call for participation with the world.

Are you a humanities student in Lyon or a technical student in Delft? Would you like to be a part of an international project centred around innovation and sustainability? Join us, for a unique learning experience over the course of two European festivals, a free exchange programme, and the opportunity to turn theory into practice!

We need to move to a circular economy. But how? How do we get people to relate to and act on Climate Change? In this special collaboration project between Villa Gillet (FR) and the LDE Center for Sustainability (NL), we challenge you to build a physical representation of a story about a societal issue and make people act by experiencing it during our festivals. How? By taking part in an international and interdisciplinary team of writers and technicians from France and The Netherlands.

The international project will run for four months from April to July 2018 and takes place in both Lyon, France and Leeuwarden in The Netherlands.

The first half of the project will focus on shifting perspectives, displacing the public’s points of view in order to promote a better understanding of the challenges related to sustainability. This will be achieved through research, interviews and a creative writing workshop during the AIR festival in Lyon.

The second half of the project will be about translating a story into a physical experience that will motivate people to act.
In the end, your mission will be to build your installation during the international summer course DORP from 13-22 July in Leeuwarden in the Netherlands.

During this course there will be plenty of inspiration, coaching and tools available on location to help you build. At the end of DORP you will inspire the public by presenting your stories and installation during the Welcome to The Village festival.

For this year’s pilot edition, there are only six places available. Due to our partners at Tandem Europe, we will provide you with free coaching, workshops, lectures and we will reimburse your travel expenses to Lyon and Leeuwarden. Also, your accommodation and most catering will be provided during the AIR and Welcome to The Village festival.

So are you ready to change the world? Sign up before 23 March and join us.
For any questions, please contact: Aranka Dijkstra if you are at TU Delft at dorp@welcometothevillage.nl or Maria Cojocariu at m.cojocariu@villagillet.net if you study at Université de Lyon : Lyon 1, Lyon 2, Lyon 3, ENS, Sciences Po etc

Looking forward to hearing from you,

Maria & Aranka