Atelier “Cultivating Energies”

The transition towards renewable energy sources is among the grand challenges of the 21st century; renewable energy technologies require space and drive landscape change. They are therefore frequently opposed by local communities who worry about their landscape. At present two diverging lines emerge in European countries: the global energy targets, energy policies and industry that prefer renewable energy technologies development to go fast and efficient to battle climate change, and the somewhat ‘backward’ looking that focuses on the preservation of the landscape as it is. Yet the 21st century landscapes of the energy transition must follow the aspiration of the future generations for their landscape, therefore decision makers should allow more room for creativity, and space for the new generation to deal with their own footprint and their way of living. Unless we do something, these lines just keep diverging, resulting in landscapes becoming extremely protected while others completely transformed by renewable energy technologies in contrast with the European Landscape Convention principles.

The scope of the atelier is the bending of the aforementioned curves more together and a better mutual understanding hopefully resulting in practices where landscape and technology are stimulating each other. Abrioux & Burattoni (2002) developed in art the concept of ektopy: the action of shaping a written idea into a real landscape. In the atelier we pursue what our energy ektopy could be. The main question is: can we cultivate renewable energy sources as wind, sun, water, while in harmony we cultivate ecologies, food, archaeologies, aesthetics and narratives? Who are the actors, how can we approach this energy ektopy and what the resulting landscapes? The garden metaphor for the 21st challenges as recently expressed by Venturi Ferriolo (2019) can certainly help us. The aim of the atelier is to outline a Florence agreement for the energy ektopy. We expect the agreement outline to be a starting point in one of the most beautiful garden in Florence where gardens have always represented the ektopies of their times.