Sonic Agency as Cognate Energies for Climate Action in Denmark/Greenland & Australia

Project Information

Sounding Crisis

Grant agreement ID: 101027286

DOI

10.3030/101027286

Project closed

EC signature date 15 April 2021

Start date 1 September 2021

End date 31 October 2023

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Total cost

€ 207 312,00

EU contribution

€ 207 312,00

Coordinated by

KOBENHAVNS UNIVERSITET
Denmark

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - Sounding Crisis (Sonic Agency as Cognate Energies for Climate Action in Denmark/Greenland & Australia)

Reporting period: 2021-09-01 to 2023-08-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The problem addressed here is climate change and the question of what role sounds and alternative conceptions of energies play in coping with it, slowing it down and thus preventing further damage. The Sounding Crisis project therefore investigated the concept of "sonic agency" within the climate change discourse as an alternative knowledge of "energies". In contrast to the narrow concept of "energy" in relation to sources and systems of fossil fuel and energy production, it understands "energies", with the Australian sound and energies humanities scholar Douglas Kahn, as "multi-layered and interconnected phenomena that emit sound and can be heard in productive ways". Sonic agency" is defined as "acoustic and electronically amplified and transmitted sounds as a lever for the senses and as an agent of potential change".
This research is important for society because it is crucial for a liveable future for this planet to overcome the dependence of Western societies on fossil fuels by rediscovering suppressed and neglected ideas of alternative energies and developing new ones.
The general objectives of the Sounding crisis research project are:
- (1) to provide new insights to improve the terminology, methods and theories of sound studies in order to respond adequately to the interdisciplinary challenges of climate change
- (2) to introduce the largely neglected and suppressed aspect of "sonic agency" into the multidisciplinary climate change discourse

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

As part of the Sounding crisis project, sound practices of indigenous and non-indigenous activists and artists in Denmark, Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenland) and Australia that deal with the relationship between humans and nature in times of climate change were identified and researched. Between the start of the project and the end of the reporting period, 30 qualitative interviews were recorded and analysed. This led to the identification of six case studies:
(1) the Aboriginal initiative "Save our Songlines" in Karratha, Western Australia
(2) the grievances of A Chorus of Women in Canberra (ACT) and other grieving practices in New South Wales (AUS)
(3) Violet Coco and the sounds of Australian climate activism
(4) the recognition of Inuit frame drumming and singing as UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage and the (post-)colonial realities of Kalaallit Nunaat
(5) the noise practices of Danish climate activists
(6) the tradition of fællessang (communal singing) and its use for climate activism in Denmark
In addition, valuable insights into the relationship between sounds and energies were gained from the artistic research practices of eleven artists.
The six case studies and the findings from the artistic research were summarised under three main themes:
Songlines and Laments in times of Ecopathy: The sounds of sounding out Australia's past and future
Qilaat and Sila: The post-colonial struggle for Inuit frame drum song and dance and its legacy in Kalaallit Nunaat
Jumping, shouting and communal singing: Climate activism and the fællessang tradition in Denmark

The most important results of the Sounding Crisis research project are the recordings from the successful field research in Denmark, Kalaallit Nunaat and Australia as well as further recordings on the role of sound and energy within the climate change discourse. On this basis, the concept of sonic agency could be further differentiated and developed.

Overview of the results and exploitation and dissemination
- 30 recordings of interviews with Indigenous and non-Indigenous activists, artists and researchers in Denmark, Sweden, Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenland) and Australia on sound practices that address the relationship between humans and nature in times of climate change and other aspects of the current environmental crisis
- 10 field recordings of climate activist rallies in Denmark and Australia
- 5 videos of field research in Denmark and Australia
- 60 photos taken during the field research in Denmark, Kalaallit Nunaat and Australia
- Recordings of the six Energies Consciousness Lectures by renowned researchers and artists
artists from the fields of physics, energy, humanities, art and music
- Recording of an interview with Prof Dr Douglas Kahn on energies and the arts
- Recording of the lecture by Prof. Dr Salomé Voegelin "Listening to Wicked Problems. Sound
Studies as Transversal Studies", held as part of the lecture and workshop series Climate Change & Sonic Agency (24 March 2022)
All of these recordings have been used for scientific and popular dissemination and communication publications as well as for educational and teaching purposes on climate change.
To date, 20 blog posts and one peer-reviewed scientific audio paper have been published. A further peer-reviewed scientific publication, two publications for public dissemination, a book proposal and one or more sample chapters are in preparation, as well as a proposal for a radio documentary.
The dataset will also be openly accessible to other researchers via the ERDA repository at the University of Copenhagen for ten years.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The project is innovative in its understanding of 'sound' as an analytical approach to the complex concept of 'energies'. Building on the work of energies humanities studies, the anthropology of sound and feminist new materialism, the Sounding Crisis project relates and juxtaposes very different case studies of sound practices by indigenous and non-indigenous activists and artists dealing with the relationship between humans and nature in times of climate change in Denmark, Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenland) and Australia.
In this way, it was possible to further develop the concept of "sonic agency" in two ways that have never been done before:
1) A further differentiation of the concept of sonic agency in terms of its political and physio-psychological dimensions
2) A further development of the concept of sonic agency as a means to better understand the role of sound as a practice for negotiating the human-nature relationship in times of climate change in the specific cultural and social contexts of Denmark, Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenland) and Australia between 2021 and 2023.

The analysed sound practices thus become understandable as cultural techniques that carry the specific potential to react constructively to the overwhelming experience of the ongoing destruction of nature. They not only serve to articulate protest in the genuine sense of sonic agency. They also play a decisive role in regulating the energies in oneself and in a group, which are blocked in certain ways by this stressful experience, but are also reactivated thanks to them.

The results and finding of the Sounding Crisis research project contribute to the European Green Deal regarding an alternative and better human-nature relationship, which is a prerequisite for the European policy objective of becoming the first climate-neutral continent and a sustainable change of lifestyles.

Its findings on the pivotal role, which women play in the case studies of the Sounding Crisis project, is also in line with the European policy of gender equality. These findings stress the role that the empowerment of women plays for social progress.

As potential users of the project results have been identified:

• researchers in the fields of Sound Studies, Energies Humanities, mental
and physical health
• high-school and university teachers
• environmental NGOs

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