Situated Creative Practices for the Pluriverse (SIT-PLU) is a Creative Europe Cooperation project tackling socio-ecological challenges through context-specific artistic interventions. Drawing on the Zapatista concept of the pluriverse—”a world where many worlds fit”—the project embraces diverse ways of knowing and living, foregrounding buen vivir (social well-being), communal interdependence, and the relationships between human and more-than-human entities.

SIT-PLU reimagines arts and culture as transformative tools for ecological renewal and social justice. It advances pluriversal discourses in Europe, bringing insights from Global Majority practices into European creative contexts.

SIT-PLU develops creative methodologies that respond to specific socio-ecological settings, bridging rural, peri-urban, and urban landscapes.

SIT-PLU is structured around three main components: Situated Residencies (SIT-RES), Pluriversal Laboratories (PLU-LABs), and an Exchange & Evaluation Programme (EX-EV). These activities nurture artistic experimentation and knowledge-sharing across various European regions.

Residencies (SIT-RES):
ZEMOS98 (Spain): Exploring rural practices in the Cantabrian Mountains.
Idensitat (Barcelona): Engaging with urban-social dynamics near the Besòs River.
Lungomare (Bolzano): Investigating riverscapes and their ecological interconnections.
Baltan (Netherlands): Highlighting rural futures at Landpark Assisië in Noord-Brabant.

Pluriversal Laboratories (PLU-LABs):
LUCA Lab (Ghent): Situated at Park/Castle Ter Beken, this lab challenges anthropocentric narratives through inclusive, multi-species storytelling and community collaboration.
EINA Lab (Barcelona): Focused on the urban-peri-urban transition at Collserola Mountain, the project explores the synergy between the natural park and the EINA campus through regenerative design.
UPV Lab (Valencia): Redirected its efforts to documenting the impact of the October 2024 DANA floods, which severely affected the Valencian community.

Practices of Encounter:
Led by Floating University, Practices of Encounter works towards creating a culture of collaboration and mutual learning among partners. A series of in-person assemblies and online agoras offer moments for collective reflection on site-specific practices and interventions —questioning how they respond to place, evolve over time, and resonate across contexts. These ongoing exchanges keep methodologies open and adaptive. Over time, the insights emerging from this process will be brought together in an Interactive Atlas —a sort of carrier bag— a collection of situated approaches for arts and culture practitioners working towards socio-ecological transformation.

The first Practices of Encounter gathering took place at Floating from 5–7 June 2025, marking the moment when all consortium partners met in person for the first time. Over three days, the programme unfolded through shared meals, walks, work sessions, and conversations across various spaces at Floating University—from the auditorium to the urban forest, the kitchen, and the rain palace.

The group dedicated time to playfully engage with the visual identity tool co-developed by Lungomare and Baltan; took part in a toolkit session that redefined it as a companion; discussed next steps during the steering board meetings; and visited SPORE Initiative. On Friday, the public event featured a conversation with Elizabeth Gallón Droste, Pablo Calderón Salazar, and Lorenzo Gerbi, moderated by Rosaura Romero, on artistic practices within the pluriverse, radical pedagogy, and community-led knowledge. The evening also served to share the project more broadly and respond to questions about the open call for residencies.

A question that emerged during this meeting and continue to guide the process is:
How to resist romanticised imaginaries about the “pluriverse” and instead find the pluriverse wherever we inhabit?