Sheltering Northern Ecocultures: Art education across disciplines, places, and practices in higher education

Abstract

As ecological crises and cultural shifts intensify, revitalizing ecocultures becomes increasingly urgent for fostering strong identities and sustainable futures in the North and Arctic regions. This thesis examines how interdisciplinary, place-based activities in higher education contribute to revitalization within new genre Arctic art education. Framed by posthumanist and new materialist theories, ecocultures are approached as entanglements of nature and culture, past and present. The research unfolds through two interrelated cases: the Sairaalanniemi hospital park in Rovaniemi and the Shieling-bough collaboration between the University of Lapland (Finland) and the Glasgow School of Art (Scotland). Together, they trace pathways toward more sustainable and transformative art education.

This thesis is guided by the research question: How does the revitalization of ecocultures take form within new genre Arctic art education? Addressing this complex, situated phenomenon requires a nuanced, multi-method approach. Art-based action research (ABAR) forms the core methodological framework, enabling participatory inquiry in sociocultural contexts across two research cycles. To deepen the analysis, qualitative and relational methodologies — including microhistory, practice-based research, and materials-led pedagogy — inform the interpretation of historical imagery and learning with and through materials. The research draws on a rich assemblage of multimodal data, including student interviews, archival images, artifacts, photographs, virtual workspace interactions, visual notes, and prototypes, offering a comprehensive view of art-based processes and outcomes.

The first research cycle explores Rovaniemi’s material and mental histories through archival images of the historical Sairaalanniemi hospital park. By uncovering how natural landscapes were embedded in architecture and urban planning to foster well-being, it explores their relevance within contemporary sustainability discourse. In the second research cycle, the Shielin-bough collaboration builds on this foundation by examining place-based practices, material thinking, and human–nature relations through entwining two vernacular shelters: the Finnish laavu and the Scottish shieling. Navigating this collaboration as both student and researcher, I trace how participatory engagement among students and tutors in architecture, art education, and design shaped the collaborative process.

The findings affirm that ecocultural revitalization is not a return to the past, but a forward-looking process grounded in active engagement with local environments, material traditions, and lived experience through artistic exploration. In these processes, new knowledge is generated, supporting relational ways of knowing, and knowing-with others. At the intersection of digital and hands-on engagement, these art-based activities unfold within broader conversations on art education and ecocultural sustainability. By tracing their movements across disciplines, places, and practices, this research helps chart emerging pathways in the evolving field of new genre Arctic art education and highlights its role in fostering resilience across northern and global contexts.