EASE (Entrepreneurship, Art & Science for Environmental Sustainability) is a 24-month UKRI-funded research programme led by De Montfort University, running July 2026 – July 2028. It works across the UK and Crete with eleven partners, developing a new methodology — Creative Assemblage Methodology (CAM) — that treats artistic practice, scientific enquiry and community knowledge as equal partners in addressing climate and environmental questions.

A week-long interdisciplinary residency in Crete. Five UK artists and Greek participants work alongside scientists, archaeologists and local partners across a set of field sites linked by a single theme. Each day typically moves from morning fieldwork → afternoon Assemblage Mapping and discussion → evening presentations and reflection. There are five labs in total, covering five distinct landscapes and themes.

LabDatesLocationThemeAVL 118–24 Oct 2026Psiloritis / ZarosEntanglementsAVL 225–31 Oct 2026MargaritesMaterialityAVL 311–18 Jan 2027Palaikastro / SitiaSound & Sonic EnvironmentsAVL 42–8 May 2027Phalasarna / KissamosTemporal MappingAVL 59–15 May 2027SfakiaImmersive Environments

Professional artists based in the UK with at least two years of practice, working in any medium. We are actively seeking diversity of practice — photography, sound, moving image, installation, performance, sculpture, writing, archive, hybrid and cross-disciplinary work are all welcome. You don't need an academic background, a degree, gallery representation, or prior experience of interdisciplinary or scientific collaboration.

You must be resident in the UK and have the right to work in the UK. The 25 UK places are a UKRI grant condition. Greek-based artists are being recruited separately by our Cretan partners (details on picturingclimate.org).

We regret we cannot consider applicants outside these two routes for this call.

No. That collaboration is part of what EASE is offering.

No. The "E" in EASE describes what the programme builds with artists through the later Work Package 2 sprints — not a prerequisite for entering the labs.

Mornings are fieldwork — visits to active research sites, caves, archaeological sites, scientific monitoring locations. Afternoons combine Assemblage Mapping (the core CAM practice — a structured, collaborative way of making sense of what you've encountered) with interdisciplinary discussion. Evenings are typically presentations from the team's scientists or partners, or peer sharing. There is usually one rest day at the end of the week.

Honestly — it varies by lab, but some sites are demanding. Expect cave visits, walking on uneven terrain, full-day fieldwork in variable weather, and in some cases hikes of up to an hour to reach sites. Lab 3 (January in eastern Crete) can be cold and wet. Most labs includes cave environments with moisture and low light. Lab 1 includes a full mountain day. Each lab will have a detailed accessibility and participant brief issued before travel, covering the physical character of each site, access routes, and clothing/equipment requirements. We're committed to making labs as accessible as possible and will discuss reasonable adjustments with any selected artist. Please don't self-exclude — if you have specific access requirements, raise them with us at any stage of the process and we'll work through what's possible together.

English is the primary working language across all labs. Interpretation will be arranged where needed to support conversation with Greek partners, participants and hosts — you don't need to speak Greek to take part.

Your own practice equipment (cameras, recorders, notebooks, sketch materials) is your responsibility — the project cannot insure or replace personal professional kit. Shared project equipment (LiDAR, drone, audio/video kit) is available by arrangement with the team. Appropriate outdoor clothing, walking boots and weather layers are your responsibility. Cave-specific equipment (hard hats, head torches) is provided where needed; the pre-lab brief will be specific about what you need to pack.

Yes. Selected artists are covered by De Montfort University's travel insurance as project participants for the duration of the lab. Full policy details will be shared with you on acceptance. You remain responsible for appropriate personal health and possessions cover as you see fit.

Yes. £1,000 stipend per artist for the week on site. Separately, all travel (UK–Crete return), accommodation, meals and on-the-ground costs during the lab are booked and paid for directly by the project — you do not pay upfront and claim back. Further arrangements can be discussed on a case-by-case basis.

Either to you as an individual or by invoice from a CIC, limited company or equivalent business entity — whichever works best for your circumstances. You'll confirm your preferred method at contracting stage.

The £1,000 stipend covers the lab week. Participation in the wider EASE programme beyond that week is invited and warmly encouraged, but not contractually required. That wider programme includes: •      Pre-lab online briefing sessions (2–3 sessions before your lab) •      Monthly CAM sessions (online, around 90 minutes, optional) •      Contribution to picturingclimate.org as the research progresses •      Invitation to the DMU and Oxford symposiums/conferences and Photoworks/Everything is Connected workshops •      Opportunity to develop creative prototypes (MVPs) through Work Package 2 sprints in 2027

In 2027, EASE will develop five creative MVPs — one per lab theme — through a funded development phase (£4,000 development contract each). Selection of MVP directions will happen after the labs, based on ideas that have emerged from the work. Participation in this next phase is by invitation and mutual agreement, not automatic for lab artists, and the £4,000 is separate from the £1,000 lab stipend.

Each cohort of the programme of research will begin their work together with an intensive and embedded experience within the sites of climate research. Together, artists, scientists and the research team will co-imagine and propose—with the support of NTU's CBIT venture building mechanisms—five "minimum viable prototypes" which will then be assessed by Triple Bottom Line mechanisms that we are co-developing for creative outputs. This will help us understand which ideas will be most viable, sustainable, and most importantly, exciting for audiences to engage with. A single MVP will then be chosen to develop as a concept, which will be tested by controlled exhibition opportunities.

No. You are not contracted to produce a specific deliverable. The lab is a space for enquiry and collaborative research, not commissioned output. Work that emerges may be shared through picturingclimate.org, Photoworks platforms, and the project's touring exhibition — all by agreement with you.

The project operates a two-tier IP framework. The CAM methodology and toolkit produced by the project as research outputs will be released as open-access under Creative Commons BY-NC-SA. Creative works you produce during or after the lab remain yours. Where a direction is developed further as a funded MVP through Work Package 2, co-ownership and usage agreements will be issued before that development work begins — not retrospectively. Nothing about participating in the lab itself assigns your IP to the project. However, EASE is investigating this very terrain, and aims to consider and recommend new frameworks for collaborative IP, and your participation would help shape the future of creative practice!

•      Short written proposal (max 500 words): why this project, how it connects to your practice •      Short bio (max 200 words) •      Up to 3 relevant previous project examples •      A single PDF (max 5 pages): 2 pages for proposal + bio, up to 3 pages for portfolio •      Links to portfolio / website (supplementary) •      Moving image or audio work: provide links (self-hosted on Vimeo, SoundCloud, YouTube or your own site); max 3 minutes per piece in line with Arts Council convention •      Availability per lab week (tick every week you can fully commit to)

No. The PDF and any links you provide are what matters.

Not within this call. There is one round.

•      Relevance and ambition of the proposal in relation to the project's themes •      Strength and coherence of your practice, on the evidence of your portfolio •      What you would bring to an interdisciplinary cohort •      Availability for one or more lab weeks

No. Names and portfolios are part of the assessment — a practice's public history and context matter to how the panel reads a proposal.

Three stages: •      Initial triage by project research staff to confirm eligibility •      Independent shortlisting by each panel member; panel meets on 6 July 2026 to agree an interview list •      Short online interviews on 13 July 2026; final decisions confirmed 14 July 2026; all applicants notified before 20 July 2026

A short online interview (10 minutes) on 13 July 2026, with two or three panel members. It is not an examination — it's a conversation to help the panel understand how you'd work in the cohort, and to give you space to ask us questions.

We are running a rolling public Q&A throughout the call rather than individual email threads — this keeps things fair and means all applicants see the same information. Submit your question via the form below and, if it is of general relevance, it will be added to this page, anonymised.