Project Description:

EDULANDS ART researches, develops and validates a/r/tographic methodologies to systematically and contextually map European university educational landscapes and their relationship with students’ emotional well-being. Through the EUniWell network, the project creates a transnational laboratory connecting Mediterranean, Nordic, Atlantic and Anglo-Saxon contexts to understand how campus architecture, geography and memory influence creative processes and the emotional experience of learning. Activities are structured into five interlinked phases: methodological co-design and a/r/tography training; collaborative mapping through photographic documentation of formal, informal and symbolic spaces; development and piloting of a methodological Toolkit; production of the travelling exhibition “Landscapes that Educate”; and academic systematisation and evaluation of the impact on student well-being using quantitative indicators and artistic narratives. This approach combines virtual workshops, comparative sessions between universities and transversal documentation with photographs, narratives and emotional maps, ensuring adaptability to diverse biophysical, historical and linguistic landscapes. Expected results include a transnational photographic archive of around 800 images, a replicable didactic Toolkit, a travelling exhibition expected to reach more than 2,000 students and staff, and a multilingual monograph of reference on European educational landscapes and emotional well-being. A stable network of educators trained in a/r/tographic methodologies will ensure the sustainability and expansion of this practice within the EUniWell ecosystem, supported by evidence of improvements in well-being, sense of belonging and perceived creativity in the intervened spaces.

Name: Dra. Mónica G Candela

Institution: Universidad de Murcia

Contact data: monica[at]um.es

Profile of the coordinating researcher:
Mónica Eva González Candela is an academic staff member at the University of Murcia, specialising in Veterinary Science and Biodiversity. Within the EDULANDS ART project, she serves as Research Methodologist, contributing her expertise in rigorous study design, data collection and analysis across interdisciplinary contexts. Her profile combines a strong background in life sciences with methodological skills that support the development and validation of innovative artographic tools to explore the relationship between educational landscapes, wellbeing and environmental dimensions.

Type of intended collaboration:

• EUniWell Seed Funding
• European Project
• National Funding

Optional additional information:
European educational landscapes require methodologies that connect local territory, identity, and learning. A/r/tography (artography, hereafter) offers tools to create praxis, document, and transform these spaces based on students' lived experiences. EduLands for Transitions (www.edulands.eu) leverages the EUniWell network to create a transnational laboratory where universities from different cultural contexts (Mediterranean, Nordic, Atlantic, Anglo-Saxon) jointly investigate how their local, and therefore unique, landscapes influence academic creative processes and personal emotional well-being. 

Main objective: To investigate, develop, and validate contextualized artographic methodologies that document the existing connection between educational landscapes and student well-being in different European university scenarios. 

Specific objectives: 

• Collaborative mapping: Artographically document learning landscapes through co-designed methodologies using photographs at each participating university.
• Methodological toolkit: Co-create practical guides for educational artography adapted to different cultural and architectural contexts.
• Traveling exhibition: Produce an artistic showcase that circulates through participating universities displaying comparative results.
• Practice network:Establish a stable community of educators who can utilize artographic formats and methodologies.
• Academic publication: Document the results in a multilingual monograph format on the connection between European educational landscapes and student emotional well-being.
• Measurable impact: Evaluate student well-being through quantitative indicators and qualitative artistic narratives. 

In order to maximize the methodological impact and transferability of the project, the requested budget is structured as follows: The largest allocation (25%) is dedicated to training and transnational coordination, considering that the project's success crucially depends on establishing common artographic methodologies adaptable to different European cultural contexts. This includes travel, initial 3-day training workshop with international experts, coordination meetings, and regular virtual sessions between partner universities. 

Artographic documentation represents 20% of the budget, covering specialized photographic equipment necessary for systematic mapping of educational landscapes, documentation materials, digital processing of visual archives, and technical support for collaborative systematization. This investment is essential given that photography constitutes the project's central methodology. 

Another 20% is allocated to the production and circulation of the traveling exhibition "Landscapes that Educate" (Product 2), including design, assembly, transportation between the four participating universities, and dissemination events for this activity. This allocation guarantees the project's dissemination, visibility, and public impact, being one of the products with the greatest social transfer.

The development of the Methodological Toolkit (Product 1) (15%) includes systematization, graphic design, multilingual translation, and intercultural validation of practical guides. This investment ensures methodological replicability. 

The remaining allocations cover the Multilingual Academic Publication (Product 3) (10%) and student well-being impact evaluation instruments (10%), completing a balanced budget that prioritizes tangible products with high transfer capacity and sustainability in the European university ecosystem.

Intended number of partners: 4

Intended profiles of collaborators:
Creativity, Photography, students wellbeing, Artography, Educational landscapes, Cross-cultural methodology, Visual documentation, European universities

Arena(s): 

• Health and Well-Being
• Social Equality and Well-Being
• Environmental Change and Well-Being
• Culture, Multilingualism and Well-Being
• Teacher Education and Well-Being