The Hybrid Development Project of the Living in the Landscape Summer School (2023–2025) met its aims.

Living in the Landscape (LiLa) Summer School (2023–2025) was a three-year hybrid development project that aimed to create a multidisciplinary, culturally, and socially sustainable model for international collaboration in higher education in the Nordic region. The project united three universities—the University of Lapland (Finland), Nord University (Norway), and Umeå University (Sweden)—together with regional museums and international partners from the University of the West of Scotland and the University of the Highlands and Islands.

LiLa sought to respond to the environmental, social, cultural, and economic challenges facing the North and the Arctic by integrating arts, natural sciences, and humanities through education for sustainability. The project’s main objective was to establish a hybrid and place-based summer school model using arts-based and multimethod research approaches to explore Nordic and Arctic landscapes and to support sustainable ways of living. The overall objectives set for the project were achieved.

The annual LiLa programme consisted of online seminars that built theoretical and methodological foundations, fieldwork in alternating Nordic locations, and hybrid exhibitions and publications that showcased students’ and scholars’ artistic and research outcomes. Digital learning tools (Padlet, Miro, virtual exhibitions) and community-based pedagogies enabled collaboration and reflection across borders.

Regional museums—Västerbotten Museum, Arktikum Museum of Lapland, and Helgeland Museum—contributed local expertise, archives, and collections as learning environments. Collaboration with local communities was central: participants engaged with residents to understand cultural and environmental contexts and to support local sustainability initiatives and small-scale enterprises.

Through this partnership, LiLa fostered interdisciplinary networking, produced new artistic and research methods, and strengthened creative capacity in education for sustainability. The project contributed to a deeper, shared understanding of northern landscapes and enhanced long-term cooperation between universities, museums, and communities across the Nordic region.

The LiLa course developed through this process was intended to be institutionalised as part of university curricula, with the goal of supporting ongoing cross-sectoral Nordic cooperation among participating institutions in line with the objectives and values of Nord Plus Horizontal.

All in all, the project successfully carried out the planned activities and achieved its goal of creating a long-term network for knowledge exchange on how art and art education could contribute to a sustainable present and future in the Nordic Arctic. Furthermore, the project promoted a culturally and socially sustainable approach to knowledge sharing and knowledge-building across the Arctic, in the spirit of good partnership and Nordic values.

Activities

The Living in the Landscape (LiLa) project was successfully implemented and progressed according to the planned schedule. The funding from the Nordplus Horizontal Programme was used in accordance with the activities outlined in the original application. The project achieved its main objectives by developing and piloting a hybrid course model that combined digital distance learning with on-site, place-based fieldwork through an international summer school for art education students.

It is important to note that the LiLa project forms part of a broader initiative, New Genre Arctic Art Education (AAE), which provides a wider framework for Arctic art pedagogy and research. The LiLa development work both contributed to and benefited from this larger framework, as knowledge, skills, and outputs were supported by complementary “sister funding” sources. These additional resources significantly increased the scope, impact, and visibility of the work carried out under the LiLa Nordplus Horizontal development project.

Fieldwork and Onsite Learning

The fieldwork component was a defining feature of the LiLa model. Each field school took place in distinctive Northern landscapes, combining artistic inquiry with environmental and community-based learning.

• In Sweden (2023), fieldwork was conducted in Umeå and the Höga Kusten region. Students collaborated with Västerbotten Museum and explored forest landscapes through sensory and body-based approaches.
• In Finland (2024), activities were centered in Rovaniemi and Vuotso, in collaboration with the Arctic Centre and the Regional Museum of Lapland (Arktikum). Students investigated rivers and the landscape transformations caused by hydropower development, guided by local experts and archival materials.
• In Norway (2025), the field school was held in Nesna and on Tomma Island, hosted by Nord University and Helgeland Museum. The theme “Kindred” explored the relationships between people, places, and non-human beings. The week included a two-day seminar featuring keynote speaker Emeritus Professor Tim Ingold (online), nature scientist Unn Tveraabak, and historian Ann Kristin Klausen from Helgeland Museum.

In 2025, school was shorter due to the closing of the funding period, but provided an opportunity to test a compact, single-semester model (2 or 5 ECTS). It also served as a celebratory and reflective event, inviting alumni from previous years to contribute workshops, talks, and artworks. The combination of returning and new participants enabled a collective evaluation of LiLa’s impact and pedagogical legacy.