# ART-BASED RESEARCH
A general definition of arts-based research is offered by J. Gary Knowles and Andrea Cole (2008) in the Handbook of the Arts in Qualitative Research: "[a]rts-based research can be defined as the systematic use of the artistic process, the actual making of artistic expressions in all of the different forms of the arts, as a primary way of understanding and examining experience by both researchers and the people that they involve in their studies" (p. 29). Knowles and Cole (2008) go on to state that arts-based research represents "an unfolding and expanding orientation to qualitative social science that draws inspiration, concepts, processes, and representation from the arts, broadly defined" (Knowles & Cole, 2008, p. xi). This 'broad definition' of the arts is an important factor to consider when examining the current practice of aesthetics within arts-based research. A general understanding of the qualitative research paradigm that led to these broad definitions is useful.
Crvena
# ART MAKING
This working group inside the trans-making project gathers all the researchers working in the field of art. It includes all the researchers who will be working and producing artistic pieces during their research. In the framework of trans-making project, the artists are using and creating multiple methods of production: from painting and collage to digital technologies and new media in order to address the issues raised by the project itself. The aim of this working group is to connect the artists / researchers and exchange the knowledge, expertise, methods and skills used during this process.
# FEAR
“We need to humanise our practices, (...) not just by reaffirming our principles. I believe that this is the only way, if we want to transform fear. We cannot suppress it. It is a bad counsellor but sometimes a good counsellor. We must transform exclusion-fear, fear of the other, into solidarity-fear, and act so that our societies, instead of falling back on themselves and the fear of the other, become open, human communities, confident in their own destiny. And that is the business of us all.(…)."
Mireille Delmas-Marty
# HUMAN MAKING
This category refers to the trans-making researches within the dimension of education, identities, political principles, women rights but also topics of the future such as digitalisation. From these researches, we draw the theoretically articulated vision. It sets the pillars for further discussion (social making) and proposed principle of action (policy making). In order to create alternative narratives for societal and economic renewal we need to contemplate and deconstruct the current pillars of social sciences and to offer scientific and innovative solutions that can contribute to the well-being and empowerment of individuals.
# PLACEMAKING
Creating the process of inquiry, we will explore the concept of placemaking as a social and political concept, which needs to be looked at from different angles and different disciplines. Both artistic and scientific knowing followed by practice will be used to develop methods that best suit each particular research questions. For this reason, we will seek to moderate research process according to common decisions and focusing on a process of creation rather than its materialization in a form of an artwork or an academic text. Demonstration of this process will be integrated in the final outputs of the research and production.
Crvena
# POLICY MAKING
This category refers to the trans-making researches with a policy dimension in order to see how to enact a democratic political space. The existing political constructions need to be redefined in a globalized and changing world. It raises the question: what is enacting and what is democracy? Certainly enlarging the perspective beyond traditional policy making and policy makers perspectives. It is to say reflecting on: naming, enunciating, negociating, practicing, speaking, assembling, commoning, acknowledging, debating, … Bringing together all our visions and researches, and working on them as a collective will allow us to open new narratives and fields of action for an alternative way to think and imagine what is a democracy, what is a political space in a more transnational and global perspective, etc.?
# PUBLIC SPACES
Beyond the notion of public space, we would, as a consortium, like to go deeper in the process of place-making as a collaborative process by which we can shape our public realm, in order to reassess our values, identities, belief-systems, memories, languages, educational systems, artistic practices and social lives (…).
We will consider a broad definition of public space that includes physical and built environments, landscapes and material culture; but also cultural zones, public spheres and “virtual” spaces defined by media, language, ethnicity, shared values, political allegiances, religious identities, creative practices, and communication technologies (European Commission Decision C (2015) 6776 of 13 October 2015).
# SOCIAL MAKING
This category refers to the trans-making researches with a social dimension in order to collect data, to observe a situation, or to evaluate it and to come up with proposals, using different ways and methods. The existing social constructions in our varied societies become more and more common in a globalized and changing world. The solutions proposed by most of the decision makers, politicians and public institutions are most of the time not considering the interest of the societies as a priority. Bringing together all our visions and researches and working on them as a collective will reinforce our voices and our advocacy to the policy makers at the national, regional and international levels.