Call: Change and creative research processes – aesthetics, art, play and imagination in research

2024-04-15

Call: Change and creative research processes – aesthetics, art, play and imagination in research

Read the call in Danish here. 

Creativity may seem like a broad term, often used in connection with concepts such as originality, innovation, and invention. However, Mark A. Runco argues that in research it is necessary to delineate creativity from these concepts as a concept in its own right, while also acknowledging that creativity plays a crucial role in all of them. In general, creativity is about finding solutions, and it can thus lead to scientific discoveries, innovations, and processes of change.

Invoking this broad understanding of creativity, Research & Change calls for contributions that illuminate the relationship between creativity and research. Be it research that is empirically concerned with creativity through research design and methodology based on drama, literature, or other artistic, creative approaches to capturing and developing data and knowledge. Or be it research that is concerned with the analytical level and aims to discuss how creativity can contribute to new interpretations of the predictive power of the empirical material – perhaps through literary analysis or the use of visual formats. Or be it contributions that reflect a theoretical level in relation to, among other things, creativity, art, or aesthetics in research. Finally, another approach may be to investigate how creative approaches in the dissemination of research can strengthen accessibility and relevance and encourage ownership in the practice field.

By focusing on creativity in research, we also wish to highlight how play is given space in research processes. We understand play as a fundamental driving force in human life; a continuous longing for and joyful power to keep wondering, fantasising, exploring, testing, and constructing in negotiation with the surroundings. In this special issue, we want to illuminate, among other things, play as a basic prerequisite for change and creative research processes. Play is also closely linked to creative activity and aesthetics as a sensuous way of relating to and acquiring knowledge about the world.

Attention has long been given to the aesthetic and artistic in research processes within practice-oriented or interactive research. What makes looking towards the field of art in practice-oriented research exiting is that art operates within a language and a logic, where there are no definitive answers, which gives room to fantasising and moving beyond the already familiar. When applied to research, thinking, and exploring with art can make it possible to imagine what doesn’t (yet) exist and thus create fertile ground for visualisation and constructions of future solutions and alternatives.

A focus on the playfulness that arises in creativity can, just like art, disrupt and dissolve existing contexts and create new paths of development – in society, pedagogy, welfare, and – not least – in professions. Creative and artistic research processes can clarify or expose worldviews that are marginalized or unclear in social structures, and in this way make room for new ways of understanding development – and where it should come from.


All contributions are welcome, as long as they reflect the scope of the journal and have special focus on the potential for change in research.

Contributions can address themes and questions such as:

  • How does art, aesthetics or creativity contribute to the development of research methods?
  • How can artistic, creative approaches create innovation and change in research?
  • What are the challenges and dilemmas when utilising creative and artistic methods and approaches in  research processes and/or in research communication?

We look forward to all your contributions – the range of possibilities is endless this time.
Editors of this special issue,
Ditte Tofteng, Reader, University College Copenhagen

Anne Harju, Reader, Malmö University

Johanne Ilje-Lien, Associate Professor, OsloMet

Practical information
Deadlines:

  • Submission of abstracts/proposals: August 1, 2024 (shortly thereafter the editors will assess the abstracts and decide whether the abstracts are accepted or not).
  • Submission of full manuscripts: December 1, 2024
  • Review process: December 2024 – March 2025
  • Publication: June 2025

Language: Abstracts (as well as articles) can be submitted in Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, or English. Length: Max 500 words

The author should describe the projected structure and content of the article and cover the following points (in the order relevant to the article):

  • Aims
  • Conceptual/theoretical framework
  • Research design/methodology
  • Results
  • Limits/boundaries
  • Research and/or practical implications
  • Contribution to the development of knowledge

Abstracts must be uploaded to the journal's digital platform. You must register as a user to upload. Please note that usernames must not contain capital letters or spaces. If you have any questions, please contact: Editorial Assistant, Signe Kierkegaard Cain: sica@kp.dk