Treelations
Photo: ©NinaKFallingen
Treelations: Ecological Sustainability in Arts and Crafts.
Nina K. Fallingen: Nina is a PhD candidate in the PhD program at the Department of Aesthetic Sciences. Her research focus is pedagogical resources and learning processes. She is a PhD candidate of the National Research School for Teacher Education (NAFOL) and deputy leader of the research group Learning and teaching for sustainability (LETS). Before starting with her doctoral research Nina worked as a teacher in secondary school for many years.
Research Focus: Treelations: Ecological Sustainability in Arts and Crafts.
In an attempt to develop knowledge about how people can live more ecologically sustainable lives, Nina explores opportunities for new ways of relating to wood and trees in Arts and Crafts contexts. Traditionally, the wood in the classroom has been reduced to a passive raw material for students' creation processes. Her research work tries to shake such an understanding of the relationship between humans and trees. Based on the recognition of man as nature, and through aesthetic and sensory encounters with trees, Nina tries to create insights into how we can understand and experience possible relationships and connecting lines to a more than human world. In this way, her work hopes to contribute to knowledge about how we can work with Arts and Crafts, and inhabit the world with greater ecological awareness.