Organizer Information
SIT-PLU (Situated Creative Practices for the Pluriverse) is a multi-partner Creative Europe cooperation project dedicated to exploring how situated artistic practices can contribute to socio-ecological transformation and cultural renewal. Rooted in the concept of the “pluriverse,” inspired by the Zapatista principle of “a world where many worlds fit,” the initiative supports diverse systems of knowledge, collective forms of living, environmental responsibility, and community-centred cultural practices.
The project brings together leading European cultural organizations, universities, and research institutions including LUCA School of Arts, Floating University, Baltan Laboratories, Lungomare, Idensitat, ZEMOS98, EINA, and Universitat Politècnica de València. Funded by the European Union through the Creative Europe programme, SIT-PLU investigates how art, design, architecture, pedagogy, and socially engaged practices can create new forms of cultural mediation in response to environmental and social crises.
At the heart of the project is the SIT-RES residency programme, an ambitious long-term residency framework inviting artists and creative practitioners to work directly within specific ecological, historical, and community-based contexts across Europe.
Title & Description
Open Call SIT-PLU Residencies 2027
SIT-PLU is inviting artists, interdisciplinary practitioners, researchers, architects, designers, and socially engaged creatives to apply for the 2027 edition of its international residency programme. The initiative supports long-term situated artistic practices that address socio-ecological challenges through embedded research, community engagement, and context-responsive cultural interventions.
The SIT-RES residency programme offers selected practitioners the opportunity to spend one year developing creative projects connected to specific social, geographical, environmental, and historical contexts across Europe. Participants will work closely with local communities, institutions, landscapes, and ecosystems while exploring themes such as environmental sustainability, plural knowledge systems, collective governance, energy transition, riverscapes, rural futures, and social inclusion.
The 2027 residency cycle includes four host organizations and contexts:
- Baltan Laboratories (Netherlands) — exploring rural futures and the living storyscape of the Meuse Delta in collaboration with Wondermash.
- Lungomare (Italy) — focusing on riverscapes, liquid territories, and ecological interventions in Bolzano.
- Idensitat (Spain) — investigating urban and environmental relationships around the Besòs river metropolitan area in Barcelona.
- ZEMOS98 (Spain) — working on sustainable energy transition and commons-based territorial governance in Galicia.
The programme encourages creative interventions that leave meaningful and lasting impacts within local contexts. These may take the form of public-space interventions, collaborative community projects, socially engaged artistic practices, environmental storytelling, site-specific works, experimental mapping, participatory processes, or long-term cultural mediation initiatives.
Selected residents will participate in an extended process involving research, fieldwork, production, online exchanges, public presentations, and a final exhibition phase concluding in early 2028. SIT-PLU strongly values interdisciplinary approaches and welcomes practitioners working across art, design, architecture, ecology, social research, pedagogy, activism, and community-based cultural practice.
Categories
- Visual Art
- Installation Art
- Site-Specific Art
- Architecture
- Design
- Environmental Art
- Social Practice
- Public Art
- Multimedia
- Research-Based Practice
- Performance Art
- Sound Art
- Video Art
- Community Art
- Interdisciplinary Art
- Creative Activism
- Cultural Mediation
- Socially Engaged Art
- Ecological Art
- Urban Practice
Eligibility
- Open to international artists and creative practitioners.
- Applicants must apply individually, even if working within a collective or duo.
- Open to artists, designers, architects, researchers, curators, educators, and interdisciplinary practitioners.
- Applicants should demonstrate interest in:
- Socio-ecological issues
- Community engagement
- Situated artistic practices
- Environmental sustainability
- Social inclusion and diversity
- Participatory methodologies
- Proposals must engage directly with one of the residency contexts and host organizations.
- Applicants must be available for a 12-month residency process beginning in January 2027.
- Residents are required to spend at least 40% of the residency period on-site.
- All application materials for Phase 1 must be submitted in English.
- Incomplete or late applications will not be accepted.
Program Benefits & Awards
Selected residents will receive substantial artistic, financial, and production support, including:
Financial Support
- Artist fee of €13,500 (travel excluded)
- Additional production and operational budget, depending on the residency context
- Shortlisted Phase 2 applicants receive €500 for proposal development
Residency Support
- One-year residency programme beginning January 2027
- Institutional mentorship and curatorial guidance
- Opportunities for embedded research and long-term fieldwork
- Access to local communities, organizations, and ecological contexts
Public Visibility
- Participation in:
- Public presentations
- Community interventions
- Final exhibitions
- Online exchange platforms
- SIT-PLU showcase events
- Inclusion in project publications and online documentation
- Visibility through the Creative Europe network and partner institutions
Research & Collaboration
- Collaboration with cultural organizations, researchers, and local initiatives
- Participation in the Agora online exchange platform
- Contribution to the SIT-PLU interactive Atlas project
- Opportunities for interdisciplinary dialogue and experimentation
Application Fee
None
Application Requirements
Phase 1 Application Materials
- Motivation letter (maximum 1 page)
- CV (maximum 2 pages)
- Portfolio featuring up to 5 relevant projects
- Short project proposal connected to one residency context (maximum 1 page)
Phase 2 Materials (Shortlisted Applicants Only)
- Expanded project proposal (maximum 8 pages)
- Timeline and work plan
- Rough production budget
- Portrait photo
- Representative project image
How to Apply?
Online Application
Key Dates
- Phase 1 Deadline: 31 May 2026
- Phase 1 Results: Mid-July 2026
- Phase 2 Deadline: 14 August 2026
- Final Results Announcement: End of September 2026
- Residency Start Date: January 2027
- Midpoint Reporting: June 2027
- Residency Completion: December 2027
- Final Exhibition & Showcase: February 2028
Location
- Horst / Meuse Delta, Netherlands
- Bolzano, Italy
- Barcelona Metropolitan Area & Besòs River, Spain
- Galicia, Northwestern Spain
Additional Details
SIT-PLU is deeply informed by decolonial, feminist, ecological, and community-centred theories of artistic practice. The programme encourages artists to develop “situated” approaches that are inseparable from the local contexts in which they operate. Rather than temporary artistic production disconnected from place, SIT-PLU prioritizes long-term engagement, reciprocal relationships, and sustainable cultural processes.
Residents will contribute to the project’s interactive Atlas through objects, maps, narratives, reports, and documentation reflecting their evolving relationship to place and community. Participants are also expected to engage in ongoing online exchanges and public-facing activities throughout the residency period.
The programme places particular emphasis on plural forms of knowledge, more-than-human relationships, environmental stewardship, and alternative models of collective living and governance. Artists working in socially engaged, ecological, participatory, activist, research-driven, and interdisciplinary practices are especially encouraged to apply.