Presenting at the Conference of Irish Geographers, Belfast 2025

Building on further workshop research, Karen, Gerry and Fearghus presented a paper on Queer Ecologies and the Sanctuary of Performance at this year’s Conference of Irish Geographers for a panel on Creative Methodologies.

The Abstract: Addressing the planetary crisis requires profound social and economic shifts. Queer ecologies may contribute to no-growth ideologies. Performance based on these ideas may also offer a refuge from a culture and economy accepting of ecocide as a by-product of endless expansion sustained by heteropatriarchal and capitalist drives. This paper reports on dance workshops and performances that explore queer ways of being in a more than human world. In what ways and with what limitations can performance and audience collaborate in making a safe place for anticipating a future where no-growth values and queer solidarities could support each other? Placemaking as a form of research is a fragile and risk endeavour and learning from performance culture is challenging.