On a day like today we just need to look forward… culture | imagining | energy | creativity A new publication bringing together independent, international voices to explore energy, culture and creative practice.

Ten years ago, art.earth (with partners RegenSW and Schumacher College) brought together some of the most forward-thinking people and ideas exploring sustainable energy and creative responses to our apparently insatiable need for energy.

Feeding the Insatiable: creative explorations of real and imaginary futures took place at Dartington Hall in southwest England in November 2016. Read the programme.

The world has moved on, in so many ways.

The fossil fuel industry (despite its most ardent efforts) is in decline[1]; some countries have opened their energy markets and there, community energy projects thrive; innovations abound[2]; artists and activists are making significant contributions to our understanding of where our power comes from and how we use it.

Power grids are burdened by significant increases in demand due to broad electrification and emergent economies such as AI and cryptocurrency[3].

Meanwhile the politics of climate has become uglier and more fractured: Apparently we stand either at the cusp of peak fossil fuel or are asked to believe that climate change is a hoax and a con[4].

Despite all we know and should fear, per capita CO2 emissions in the past decade have reduced by only 0.8%[5]. That’s four fifths of one percent.

Headwinds are in part political: the increase in climate scepticism[6] is startling and unassailable. Science is under attack[7]. As the evidence base becomes ever stronger, so too does the pushback.

If the scientific voice is silenced, how else do we tell this still-urgent story?

Our aspiration ten years ago was to look beyond the froth and the noise and draw inspiration from artists, philosophers, engineers, scientists, community leaders, tinkerers, activists and other energised voices to taste some of the most interesting ideas around energy and creativity.

In this publication we seek a similar marriage of practical and speculative thought, collisions of the known and the felt and the putative.

We are less interested in definitive ‘solutions’ and more interested in narrative, seekings-out, experiment and exploration, and how we nurture dialogue around these most challenging and urgent questions.

This is an open call for contributions. If you are engaged intellectually, creatively, practically or theoretically in energy and society, we want to hear from you.

‘Energy’ in this context embraces a host of ideas including climate change, climate justice, climate remediation, climate politics; ‘society’ embraces everything to do with how we live, how we consume and source energy, and how communities or individuals can be empowered in their relationship to what has always been a monolithic industry.

Impacts go well beyond the human, of course: we want to hear from the living planet not just from the species that dominates it.

We’re much more interested in uncertainty than anything absolute (and we really don’t like dogmatic thought, woof woof).

Although our publications embrace intellectual rigour, we equally invite contributions that are poetic, wildly speculative, experimental or those which may not even contain words.

Timeline

• Deadline for submissions: May 9, 23:00 UTC
• Initial selection by June 3
• First drafts due July 31
• Publication date: late November

Who is involved

Editors: Dr Richard Povall, art.earth Books (UK), Chloë Uden, Regen and The Art & Energy Collective (UK)

Associate Editors / Readers: TBA

Visit https://www.artearth.books for more details of the partners involved in the project.

What are we looking for?

Whatever you want to send – the only limitation is your imagination.

We’re just as happy with poetics as we are with dense academic text (we might be even happier with poetic academic text…).

There are no proscriptions on length, language or style and your piece should be as long as it needs to be.

Whatever you send needs to fit within our page format which is square although you can include links to things that do not fit within the confines of a page. You get the drift…

How to submit your proposal

You can find the application form here. You will be asked to outline your idea in no more than 400 words and to tell us a little about yourself.

We encourage collaborative submissions but require a lead applicant. The deadline is May 9.

How art.earth Books are made

art.earth Books has been publishing since 2017. There are no financial resources to support our publications; we combine our in-house expertise with the generosity of guest writers and editors and partners.

All input is unpaid. As an imprint, we support the cost of book design and the initial print run and handle sales. Marketing is a collaborative effort from everyone who has a stake in the individual publication. I

ncome from sales is used to support additional print runs and the seeding of new publications. Richard Povall is the Executive Editor.

Our publications are published in English, have ISBN records and are lodged with the UK Book Repository. Read more about the imprint at artearthbooks.com or visit art.earth’s archive.

Why books?

It seems a little archaic? But a printed book is a tangible object, made with care, consideration and love. It is something to have by your side, if only for a while, to dip into and out of. It is a gift to be given to others. We love books.

More about how those who submit content are valued and recognised

art.earth Books is an unfunded independent imprint founded in 2017 and based in the UK.

We create these books because we believe they are important for shaping the field of practice and honouring those who have made a difference.

The contribution of your time and efforts will help shape people's thinking into the future.

Typical print runs are modest (in the hundreds rather than thousands), with sales primarily through direct channels, events, partner networks and online platforms.

RRP varies depending on page count and production specification (previous titles range up to £34.95 for large-format volumes of 400+ pages). 

Contributors receive a 50% discount on copies; we are generally unable to provide complimentary copies due to the unfunded nature of the imprint (with occasional exceptions for independent artists or students).

Marketing and dissemination are collaborative, involving partners, contributors and networks across arts, energy and academic sectors.

We are working with organisations in the sustainable energy sector to find a sponsor which may be able to help with complimentary copies, dissemination and platforming.

Income from sales is used to cover production costs and seed future publications; no contributors or editors receive fees.

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[1] https://www.carbonbrief.org/iea-fossil-fuel-use-will-peak-before-2030-unless-stated-policies-are-abandoned/

[2] In the past ten years the UK’s energy market has been transformed and is now led by Octopus Energy, an innovative renewables-only energy company that only launched in 2016.

[3] In additional to the challenges posed by these technologies, one study suggests that at least $3.5T is needed in global infrastructure investment to achieve net zero by 2025. https://www.ngpartners.com/stories/how-national-grid-partners-is-working-to-achieve-net-zero-emissions-by-20502

[4] https://news.un.org/en/story/2025/09/1165924  President Donald Trump in a speech to the UN in 2025 declared climate change to be a ‘hoax’ and a ‘con’.

[5] https://www.worldometers.info/co2-emissions/ There are numerous sources for CO2 emissions. This is illustrative.

[6] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_change_denial

[7] Mann, Michael E., and Peter J. Hotez. Science Under Siege: How to Fight the Five Most Powerful Forces That Threaten Our World. First edition. New York: PublicAffairs, 2025.