Amidst the eucalyptus forests of Northern Spain, a research-creation project by Inland is taking root. THINK A FOREST – Regenerative System 2 is an ecological and social exploration led by artist and designer Sergio Montero, with the support of researcher and designer Lily McCraith. Developed within the framework of the Transformative Territories programme, the project reimagines the forest as a living system—one that can be transformed through care, knowledge-sharing, and creative experimentation.
Grounded in Sergio Montero’s architecture-informed participatory design approach, the project investigates forest ecologies, land use, and multispecies coexistence through the lenses of art, architecture, and material practices. In this initial phase, the team is conducting field research in collaboration with scientists—ranging from soil and plant analysis to ethnobotanical surveys and the observation of forest policy. Local knowledge plays a key role in this process, particularly through a close partnership with the grassroots association Proyecto Roble.
Contributing to the foundational phase of the project is Lily McCraith, a London-based researcher whose work weaves together material ecologies, critical design, and feminist theory. After an initial visit to the INLAND village in October 2024 during the second INLAND Academy session, Lily is now preparing her intervention in the eucalyptus forest. Her work will include a detailed mapping of the forest that will inform the next stages of the project, developed by Montero and his collaborators over the summer.
Two key collaborators will accompany Sergio Montero in this process: forest engineer Álvaro Poo and Lily McCraith herself. Together, they will shape a multifaceted artistic response that merges ecological research and collective creation.
As the project evolves, the team will develop a site-specific installation incorporating culinary experimentation, plant distillation, and the construction of a micro-architectural Forest Pavilion. This structure, operating simultaneously as a sauna and a still, will use eucalyptus wood as fuel to activate a cycle of steam and essential oil extraction—transforming a material emblematic of monoculture into a sensory, regenerative space.
The final installation will include ceramic vessels, wearable artefacts, digital images, and architectural models—tracing the embodied, communal processes of regeneration and interspecies collaboration. At its heart, the work embraces ecological intimacy, local wisdom, and the aesthetics of care, offering a space for ongoing dialogue between human and more-than-human life.
Sound materials recorded during the process will also form an episode of the Transformative Territories x INLANDpodcast, offering a sonic portrait of this evolving relationship between people, forest, and place.
The project will unfold over the course of summer 2025 and will be presented publicly in September, on the occasion of INLAND’s Creative Assembly.
Read more at the Inland´s website
