This document presents the qualitative evaluation of Inter-Species Refuge (ISR), a research-creation project developed by ArtMill / ArtDialog within the European programme Transformative Territories. The evaluation focuses on the territorial, ecological and organisational effects of an artistic process conceived as a long-term living laboratory rather than a singular artistic output.
The document analyses how research-creation can operate as a tool for ecological care, community building and governance experimentation in a rural context affected by climate stress. It highlights the project’s specific methodology, which combines artistic practices, ecological research, local knowledge and participatory processes, and situates the territory as a more-than-human community.
Structured as a case study, the evaluation examines the project’s timeline, its modes of diagnosis and artistic mediation, the transformations it generates in representations, practices and structures, as well as its relationships with local publics and institutional frameworks. Particular attention is given to long-term impacts, slow temporalities, and the conditions required for sustaining care-based and regenerative approaches beyond the duration of the programme.
Overall, this document provides a detailed and situated account of how research-creation can produce durable territorial effects, offering transferable insights for other cultural actors, artists and institutions engaged in transformative artistic practices.
