Emerging and Sustaining Infrastructures of Care
Emerging and Sustaining Infrastructures of Care is a seed funding project led by Dr Vanicka Arora, University of Stirling, Dr Carolina Rocha Santa Maria, University of Dundee, Dr Francesca Vaghi, University of Glasgow, and Dr Sarah Parry, University of Edinburgh, with the help of Manas Murthy, PhD candidate at the University of Oregon, USA.
The project originated from the concept that ‘infrastructures’ are actively constructed by people and their practices. It builds on the ideas of several journals including ‘the commons’ by Lauran Berlant, ‘people as infrastructure’ by Abdoumaliq Simone, and Kai Bosworth’s ‘affective infrastructure’, which examine how individuals, households, communities and organisations come together to care for themselves and the planet. The project explores these ideas across three themes: Thermal Comfort, Food Production and Circular Economies.
The goal of the project is to firstly, explore and document the existing research on the creation, fostering, and transmission of intergenerational knowledge and solidarity. Typically, this emerges from households and communities as they respond to ecological sustainability and climate change, forming what we term ‘infrastructures of care’.
Secondly, to establish connections with communities, grassroots organisations, and academics throughout Scotland. By building these solidarities, the project aims to conduct research involving various actors who create and maintain these vital infrastructures of care.
The project brought community organisations, volunteer networks, and academics from across Scotland together in a brainstorming workshop held in August 2024. Capturing the three themes, attendees represented the Stirling City Heritage Trust, Transition Stirling, Creative Stirling, Transition Dundee, Grow Dundee, Home Energy Scotland, Forth Environment Link, Dundee Permaculture Network, the University of Dundee, the University of Stirling, and the University of Edinburgh.
The workshop focused on three sessions:
- What is care? An introduction to the Sustainable Households theme.
- How do we care? Experiences and challenges around the labour involved in community organising, research and beyond.
- Infrastructure is a verb! Collectively brainstorming how to build partnerships/solidarity across organisations, or between academia and practice.
As a group, the workshop created two key resources: a database of key projects for future partnerships and a contact list of organisations and individuals. In turn, the workshop has set the stage for significant growth and collaboration in the coming months. The outcomes are expected to evolve, with plans to foster targeted conversations about concrete projects and partnerships.
One promising avenue for future partnerships is the potential formation of a Stirling-based (Forth Valley) Thermal Comfort – Building Retrofit consortium. This consortium could include key players such as Stirling City Heritage Trust, Transition Stirling, Creative Stirling, and Forth Environment Link.
Additionally, several other alliances are in the works as a direct result of this workshop, paving the way for innovative collaborations and impactful projects.
The team is currently collaborating on a co-authored, refereed journal article that builds on their experiences from both the recent workshop and the overall project. This article will highlight their people-centric approach to infrastructures of care, examining how these infrastructures function across different geographical and temporal scales.
By sharing their insights and methodologies, the team aims to contribute to the broader discourse on sustainable and inclusive infrastructure development.
