About the EkOtisak project

Through the EkOtisak project, the Center for the Promotion of Science continues its activities to combine science and art with a program dedicated to climate challenges and multidisciplinary research in this field. In cooperation with the Faculty of Philosophy and the Academy of Arts of the University of Novi Sad, as well as with the organization Zeleni Sad, the traditional art+science event will be realized in Novi Sad through the EkOtisak project, during July and August 2022. Based on the practice of scientific and artistic research and the active involvement of artists, researchers, civil society organizations and citizens, we examine the daily habits of citizens and assess the ways in which they are reflected on the carbon footprint, as a kind of trace that we all leaves on our planet.

The activities of the EkOtisak project are carried out continuously and in parallel for a period of one year, including the final segment within the "The Danube Sea" program during July and August 2022. One of the key activities of the project is the creation of a questionnaire aimed at raising awareness and educating citizens on the topic of sustainable living and environmental protection. 

In the period from December 2021 to July 2022, a series of multidisciplinary educational workshops will be organized in order to exchange knowledge on the topic of everyone's carbon footprint in the context of global challenges. Through intensive dialogue and joint research of those involved, students of the Academy of Arts of the University of Novi Sad will develop unique artistic content that leads to awareness of the role that each of us has in the process of climate change. Emphasis will be placed on the very process of creating these transdisciplinary, collaborative works. Starting from the notion of the carbon footprint as a measure of human impact on the environment and climate in general, developed artistic content will localize the experience of climate change, (too) often seen as temporally and spatially abstract and distant phenomena. 

As of April 2022, an educational-informative meeting point "Eko-punkt" will be set up in the Rectorate Building, where citizens will have the opportunity to learn more about the ecological and carbon footprint, and how as individuals they can contribute to environmental protection. Also, within this place, additional research and data collection will be performed through surveys of citizens.

In the final phase, several works by established domestic and international participants of the contemporary art&science scene, dedicated to different climate topics, will be exhibited, in order to compare experiences and approaches in different environments. Additional value to the program will be provided by the presentation of the climate capsule as a mobile and modular art-scientific and educational platform.

The EKotisak project is co-financed by the Foundation "Novi Sad 2022 – European Capital of Culture" within the program arc "The Danube Sea".

Activities

• Creating a questionnaire and conducting a survey that examines our daily habits and assesses the ways in which they are reflected on the carbon footprint, as a kind of trace that each of us leaves on the planet.
• In the period from December 2021 to July 2022, a series of multidisciplinary educational workshops will be organized in order to exchange knowledge on the topic of carbon footprint in the context of the global challenge.
• Educational-informative meeting point "Eko-punkt" is a spatial element placed in the physical space where the citizens of Novi Sad will have the opportunity to learn more about the ecological footprint, and how as individuals they can contribute to environmental protection.
• A series of artistic interventions by students of the Academy of Arts created through the EkOtisak project will bring the results of research and workshops closer to the citizens of Novi Sad and open the door to alternative and speculative views on the future and invite them to interact.
• During July and August 2022, in Novi Sad, several works by established domestic and international participants of the contemporary art&science scene will be exhibited, dedicated to different climate topics, in order to compare experiences and approaches in different environments.
• Setting up a climate capsule as a spatial platform for the presentation of various artistic, educational and scientific content developed through national and international cooperation.

Citizen science

The specificity of the EkOtisak project in relation to other art+science activities of the Center for the Promotion of Science is the introduction of the citizen science methodology in the development of transdisciplinary works created through the cooperation of scientists and artists. Through a series of educational and artistic activities, citizens will be invited to be actively involved in the process of scientific research and analysis of the impact of the carbon footprint on climate change. As one of the innovative ways to involve as many people as possible in finding solutions to the challenges posed by climate change, the concept of citizen science means that the public together with scientists addresses a problem through data collection and analysis, interpretation of results and actions, but also designed actions and the development of new technologies. Citizens will work directly with representatives of partner organizations and the scientific community, participate in data collection, reflective workshops and the development of artistic interventions.