A Forest School

What might the forest make visible in times of ecological breakdown?

Forest School is a platform and network out of the S (systems) school and Spatial Practices department at Central Saint Martins. It closely considers the forest as a way of understanding the causes and implications of climate and ecological emergency. Through projects, partnerships and learning over the past four years, the school has brought together questions of land, materials and collective life, asking what new forms of practice might emerge when the forest is approached as a living system and site of action and enquiry.

Across UAL, for our 5th celebration of Earth Week, we're taking an interdisciplinary approach to examine conditions of fracture and repair within contemporary creative practices. In response to the Fault Lines provocation, CSM invites students, designers and creative practioners to gather, understand and question not only what Forest School is, but what it means for creative pedagogy, practice, design and the wider education systems today. To do this, we will look back through the traces that the CSM Forest School has already left behind, as well as toward future opportunities for repair that are grounded in ways of understanding, and working with earth, land and forest.

The session will be convened by Rebecca Wright, Dean of S School and Andreas Lang, Reader in Situated and Ecological Design Practices and Course Leader of MArch at Central Saint Martins.

It will take place in Central Saint Martins, E003, from 6:00 - 7:30pm on Monday 20th April. It is open to UAL students, staff and members of the public.

After the talk, ticket holders are invited to join us for a drink at Earth Night, organised by the Climate Emergency Network.

Into the Forest School is organised as part of Fault Lines, University of the Arts London's Earth Week programme. The event is supported by the UAL Climate Emergency Network.