Active Energy: creating change through citizen engagement

“When electricity prices prevent older people from heating their homes, and the River Thames is just down the road, why aren’t we using it to power our city?” was a question posed by a member of The Geezers seniors’ group at an East London AgeUK centre. Artist Dr. Loraine Leeson first met the Geezers through a research project when the group recollected developments in tidal and wave power several decades previously, which they were surprised to have seen scarcely developed. Twelve years later with the help of engineers and further fundraising they had developed and tested a prototype turbine for the Thames, held exhibitions in the UK and US, worked with young people to produce a wind turbine for an AgeUK roof, contributed to three university research projects, conducted numerous joint presentations, collaborated with a seniors’ group in Pittsburgh, and produced floating water wheels to provide aeration for rivers, the last installed in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. Active Energy received the RegenSW Arts and Green Energy award and the 2022 Times Higher Education award for Knowledge Exchange.

Dr. Leeson will present this project as an example of research centred on the premise that citizen-held knowledge can often hold answers to society’s problems, which the arts are well placed to bring into the public domain. She will also introduce the Social Art Educators’ Forum which is currently uniting people from twenty-six countries who are introducing these concepts into teaching and learning.