The Global Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. Emma's work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
About Emma
Recent research
As the Creative Industries Research Fellow for the EDRF Low Carbon Devon project at University of Plymouth (2020-2023) I researched and supported Devon’s creative and cultural sector instigating a range of projects, including the Green Maker Initiative to help designers and makers reduce their environmental impact. The Green Maker Initiative has continued to flourish, with over 200 members, and is now hosted and run by the professional craft organisation MAKE Southwest, supported by Arts Council England. Developing from this project, I brought together 52 contributors in The Green Maker Initiative Book (2023), supported by the Crafts Council, MAKE Southwest and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. In collaboration with the Plymouth City Council’s EDRF funded Green Minds project and AUP, I co-designed the Creative Commissions Programme and worked with creative organisations engaging communities with nature connectedness in and around Plymouth.
As co-investigator with Professor David Sergeant of the AHRC Net Zero Visions project we secured £100,000 in research funding to research how creatives can communicate communities’ ambitions and plans to reach net zero in their towns and villages across Devon. We engaged a range of experts in net zero from across disciplines in academic and professional organisations, including universities of Exeter, Plymouth, UWE Bristol and Leeds and RIBA South West, in the areas of built environment, energy, waste, food, land and sea and transport, collaborating closely with Devon Climate Emergency and Devon County Council. We commissioned artists, designers and game makers to create works that visualised communities’ net zero plans and these were featured in The Net Zero Visions Book (Sergeant & Whittaker 2022) to share the findings and creative works with a broad audience.
Other academic research
My academic writing in narrative theory, immersion and experience design is published by Oxford University Press, University of Nebraska Press, Palgrave Macmillan and Leonardo. It explores the philosophies and psychology of expanded narratives, interaction, perception, belief, aesthetics and practices that engage with the Earth.
As a creative producer, my work in narrative and world-making integrates disciplines, including sound, mixed reality, XR, printing, drawing and performance. Collaborative projects include the smartphone apps: 'Immersive Explorations' (2018), 'The Cartographer's Confession' (2017) - Winner of the New Media Writing Prize 2017, 'Journeyer's Guidebook' (2016) at Jubilee Library Brighton, 'The Lost Index: NATMUS' (2015), at The National Museum of Denmark, Copenhagen, 'The Lost Index, No.2: The Turning' (2014) at Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery, nominated for a Media Innovation Award, 'LociOscope, The Letters' (2014) at Dartington Hall Gardens, Devon and 'The Lost Index, No.1: Landscape with Figures' (2013), at Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery. www.expandednarrative.org
Practice
As a designer maker goldsmith, I work with ethically sourced gemstones and recycled metals and research the ethics and sustainability in the craft sector. I deliver design and sustainability consultancy. www.expandedskies.co.uk
Teaching
I lecture in design, arts and media theory and practice. My research informs teaching in practice, history, theory, critical thinking and researching and working with the creative industries and communities.
Current teaching responsibilities:
Graphic Design BA (Hons) - Dissertation Supervision
Recent teaching responsibilities:
Media Arts/Creative Media BA (Hons) (Dissertation supervision, Independent Practice and Media and Mass Communication modules)
Previous teaching - various institutions:
BA Experimental Music (Spatial Sound Design)
FdA Creative Digital Media (Module leader for Approaching Texts, Negotiated Research and Work-based Learning)
BA and FDA Multi-Media (Module Leader for Critical and Cultural Studies and Professional Development)
BA Fine Art & HND Fine Art (Module Leader for Contextual Studies)
Teaching Qualifications and Teaching Awards:
P.G.C.E Art and Design in Further and Higher Education (2000)
University of Plymouth Teaching Fellowship (2011-12)
HELP CETL Teaching Fellowship (2010-11)
