Image: Protest outside the Scottish parliament against the Energy Transition Zone in Aberdeen, January 12, 2023. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtvfbc-2GT8&t=3s
In November 2023, the working group hosted our fourth online convening to hear from two teams, Between ‘Park’ and ‘Energy Transition Zone,’ and Calling Hours. These virtual meetings provide an opportunity for each team to update the whole group about their work in and with communities grappling with energy transitions and the often complex experiences and emotions that accompany them.
Today, St. Fittick’s Park in Aberdeen, Scotland is the focus of Between ‘Park’ and ‘Energy Transition Zone.’ Located in Torry, a working class neighborhood of Aberdeen, the park sits adjacent to a recently instituted area of development known as the “Energy Transition Zone,” and the park’s existence is gravely threatened by what activists and Friends of St. Fittick’s call a “corporate land grab.” Historically, the neighborhood was a fishing village and those memories live on for some. Communal green space juxtaposed with industrial infrastructure results in an area ripe for reflection on social relationships to place and energy.
The team of academics, curators, and artists who make up Between “Park” and “Energy Transition Zone” shared findings from the first in a series of four sound walks led by artist Maja Zeco in St. Fittick’s. Two walks have already taken place, and more are slated for the spring of 2024. Participants are encouraged to reflect, in journals and in conversation, on beyond what is visible in their immediate surroundings. The team is continuously documenting the walks in the form of written reflections, photography, mapping efforts, and sound recordings.
During their November presentation, the team offered a compelling glimpse into their process. They shared one participant’s observations during a sound walk who reflected on noticing sounds more typically blocked out, considered how effectively trees muffle sounds, which sounds are considered preferable, and spoke about how his feelings about what he was hearing had been affected by people and events completely separate from his current environment.
Calling Hours, based in Coshocton County, Ohio (USA), has designed and realized a rich array of tools to process in and with community feelings of change and loss surrounding energy transitions, in this case the shuttering of a coal plant. In May, they presented a theatrical memorial to commemorate the story of a now deceased power plant central to their community’s life.
Like many memorial services, Calling Hours took place in two parts: a formal service and a reception. The event was presented outdoors, free and open to the public. An animated video projected onto the space created an immersive environment for actors and audience alike. Former workers expressed feelings of gratitude for this opportunity to gather and reflect on what the plant had meant to the community.
For the team, authentically representing local voices was crucial to the success of the project. To that end, the actors, musicians, and writers were all local artists. And of course the stories being told came directly from within the community, including from those who had worked at the plant up until its closure in 2020. During the planning phase, the team continually ran the script back by the people they had interviewed, responded to notes, and ultimately received a thumbs-up that what they had written felt authentic.
Although the performances are complete, the team continues working: documenting their process, sharing project outcomes, and improving upon community and policy engagement. They will be working with IEC Organizers, Rebecca Macklin and Bethany Wiggin, to create a short documentary about their process and their work’s policy implications, one of a planned series of documentary shorts that the group is making. Across the multiple dimensions of their work they grapple with the central question: What and how should we remember so we can imagine the future?◆