Data Art: Meaningful Messages Project

Background to SuDS+: SuDS+ is one of 25 Innovative Flood Resilience Projects funded by DEFRA. The aim of the project is to rewrite the way Sustainable Drainage (SuDS) are created by involving the host community from the inception and measuring community benefit of installations. Our project is based in the Southern half of the town of Stanley in North Durham. As part of the project, we have been collecting hydrological, meteorological, and other types of environmental/social data using various monitoring devices. Our project has a website https://stanleysuds.co.uk/ where you can find out more.

Summary of proposed Data Art: Meaningful Messages project:

We have a large record of scientific data which is meaningful to us as a project team rather than being accessible to the wider public, despite being a community-led project.

We would like to commission an innovative project which will find a creative way to use and communicate scientific data collected by our project. This would involve working with members of the local Stanley community (individuals, existing groups and/or schools) to co-create a lasting piece of artwork which brings this data to life. We welcome proposals across a broad range of creative disciplines, from visual arts and craft to music, performance, digital and interactive media, that translate environmental data into accessible and engaging community experiences.

This could be in relation to daily, weekly, monthly, seasonal data which we have already collected. Our team will provide this data in a format (resolution) that works for you and will be able to train your team so that you are comfortable with the scientific story that we are trying to articulate.

As a project, we have created website articles on our data collection every few months please see examples of the data produced here: https://stanleysuds.co.uk/september-26th-wettest-day-of-the-year-so-far-in-stanley

The SuDS+ vision statements: Our earlier community engagement activities led to the creation of seven vision statements. SuDS+ is trying to deliver as many of these as possible.

Funding Required: Please include the amount of funding required to complete your project. We have a ringfenced budget of around £8,000.

Project Partners Include: Wear Rivers Trust, Karbon Homes, and Northumbria University. Wear Rivers Trust and Northumbria University are available to help with contacts, data interpretation, more detail on the SuDS+ project and as a sounding board. Officers/Scientists from the SuDS+ team may be able to attend sessions if beneficial. Karbon Homes have links to local community groups and spaces which can be utilised in addition to running similar projects in the past.

Application: To apply for this commission, please use the Microsoft Form to submit a proposal detailing how you will create a programme which will deliver and co-create innovative, fun and accessible outputs, improve local residents awareness of the project, build an understanding of the data we have collected beyond a set of numbers, connect scientists with the arts sector, create a lasting legacy for SuDS+, and most importantly bring what is often seen as an uninspiring topic to life.

Stanley The Raindrop: Stanley is our project logo and has been used previously to gain traction in the local area and awareness of sustainable drainage and the benefits of taking this approach. Even if residents don’t understand fully our aims they can get a partial idea from seeing Stanley.