LiLa seeks to respond to the environmental, social, cultural, and economic challenges facing the North and the Arctic by integrating arts, natural sciences, and humanities through education for sustainability. The project’s main objective is to establish a hybrid and place-based summer school model using arts-based and multimethod research approaches to explore Nordic and Arctic landscapes and to support sustainable ways of living.
Living in the Landscape Summer School 2023-2025: Hybrid Development Project (Lila) is a three year development project that seeks to establish a hybrid realization model of international Summer School of education for sustainability for Ma and PhD students organized in collaboration with 3 universities (Norway, Sweden and Finland), museums and education institutions in each country.
The Living in the Landscape (LiLa) Summer School (2023–2025) is a three-year hybrid development project aiming to create a multidisciplinary, culturally and socially sustainable model for international collaboration in higher education in the Nordic region. The project unites three universities—the University of Lapland (Finland), Nord University (Norway), and Umeå University (Sweden)—together with regional museums and international partners from the University of the West of Scotland and the University of the Highlands and Islands.
The annual LiLa programme consists of online seminars that build theoretical and methodological foundations, fieldwork in alternating Nordic locations, and hybrid exhibitions and publications showcasing students’ and scholars’ artistic and research outcomes. Digital learning tools (Padlet, Miro, virtual exhibitions) and community-based pedagogies enable collaboration and reflection across borders.
Regional museums—Västerbotten Museum, Arktikum Museum of Lapland, and Helgeland Museum—contribute local expertise, archives, and collections as learning environments. Collaboration with local communities is central: participants engage with residents to understand cultural and environmental contexts and to support local sustainability initiatives and small-scale enterprises.
Through this partnership, LiLa fosters interdisciplinary networking, produces new artistic and research methods, and strengthens creative capacity in education for sustainability. The project contributes to a deeper, shared understanding of northern landscapes and enhances long-term cooperation between universities, museums, and communities across the Nordic region.
Collaborators University of Lapland (Finland), Nord University (Norway), and Umeå University (Sweden)—together with regional museums and international partners from the University of the West of Scotland and the University of the Highlands and Islands
Nurture
Härkönen, E., Lundstedt, L., Burnett, K., Gårdvik, M., & Permar, R. (Eds.) (2023). Nurture: Living in the Landscape Summer school and exhibition. Lapin yliopisto.
Flow
Härkönen, E., Burnett, K., Lundstedt, L., Permar, R., & Gårdvik, M. (Eds.) (2024). Flow: Currents of Change in our River Landscapes. Lapin yliopisto.
Kindred
Lundstedt, L., & Härkönen, E. (Eds.) (2025). Kindred: Living in the Landscape. Lapin yliopisto.
Living with Land and People
Huhmarniemi, M. & Jokela, T. (Eds.). (2025). Living with Land and People: A Handbook for Artistic Project and Art-based Action Research in the Arctic. University of Lapland.