At NTNU the Research Group for Socially Engaged Art (SEAR) aims to harness the transformative power of art, art-based methods and its inherent values to address pressing issues within our society. Committed to interdisciplinary collaboration, we bring together academics from different departments and faculties that are interested in connecting with practitioners and experts from various fields, offering a supportive community and a forum for exchange and development. We aim to provide opportunities for professional growth, networking, and peer-to-peer mentorship, fostering a research environment where individuals can thrive, collaborate, and make a lasting impact. 

SEAR serves as a hub where individuals from different backgrounds converge to explore innovative approaches to societal challenges of our time. Art can, according to Nicolas Bourriaud (2002), function as a social interstice, a place for challenging existing prececonceptions on and around society, identity and politics, through embodied engagement. Likewise, art is a site for potential agonistic pluralism where, according to Chantal Mouffe (2013), the inevitable clash of different political interests can be made visible. By centering on socially engaged art, we strive to create interventions that foster dialogue and critical reflection, inspire empathy, and provoke positive change. Together, we envision a world where art serves as a catalyst for social progress and creativity becomes a tool for empowerment, leading to tangible solutions for the challenges facing contemporary society, among them disintegrating social bonds and communities. The researchers in the group work along different intersections of art – and, bio-diversity, applied ethics, sustainability, technology, pedagogy, psychology, community-building, cultural policy, neuro-science and applied theatre.

Through our projects, initiatives, and partnerships, we aim to cultivate a more inclusive, equitable, and sustainable future.

SEAR started in 2024 and was initiated by Ine Therese Berg and Elena Pérez. Berg acted as coordinator from 2024-2025 and Pérez from 2026 until today.

SEAR has received seed funding from NTNU´s strategic research area Community for the project Reimagining Collectivity through Art (RE-ACT). The funding will support activities such as two workshops that will develop common methodology and identify stakeholders and partners for future research, as well as an open seminar scheduled for spring 2026. 

Researchers: 

Elena Pérez, Associate professor Drama and Theatre (IKM), (Research group leader) 
Ruth Woods, Research Professor,  Interdisciplinary Studies of Culture (KULT) 
Ine Therese Berg, Associate professor Drama and theatre (IKM) 
Heli Aaltonen, Associate professor Drama and theatre (IKM) 
Anna Ulrikke Andersen, Associate professor Art history (IKM) 
Sophia Efstathiou, Researcher, Department of Philosophy and Religious studies (IFR) 
Roxanna Morote, Associate professor Community Psychology (IPS) 
Ida Nilstad Pettersen, Professor, Department of Design (ID) 
Lene Helland Rønningen, Associate professor Drama and Theatre (IKM) 
Nora Sørensen Vaage, Professor in Technology, Art and Design at Oslo Met 
Jennifer E. Branlat, Associate professor, Interdisciplinary Studies of Culture (KULT) 
Alexandra Murray-Leslie, Professor, Trondheim Academy of Fine Art (KiT)