Creative Methodologies and Transformative Innovation: Dr Farai Gwelo Reflects on the Agitation Conference and Exhibition 2025
Dr Farai Gwelo represented the SARChI-Trilateral Research Chair in Transformative Innovation (TRCTI) at the Agitation Conference and Exhibition that was held from the 1st 鈥�3rd of October 2025 at the Origins Centre, 欧美福利100000 of the Witwatersrand. The conference hosted by the Eco-Imagining project in partnership with the Origins Centre, at the 欧美福利100000 of the Witwatersrand brought together researchers, artists, civil society organisations, and policymakers to explore the interconnected challenges of water, energy, and food insecurity in South Africa.
With climate change as a central theme, the conference highlighted how environmental disruptions act as “agitations”, destabilising systems and exacerbating inequalities. Through a mix of panel discussions, artistic exhibitions, and interdisciplinary engagements, Agitation provided a platform for reflecting on the social, political, and ecological dimensions of sustainability and the Water-Energy-Food (WEF) Nexus.
Running alongside the conference was an exhibition of multimedia artworks such as drawings, sculptures, videos, and prints鈥攄eveloped in collaboration with community-based artists, researchers, and NGOs. These artworks enriched the discussions, offering alternative ways to engage with resource scarcity, historical inequalities, and ongoing struggles for environmental justice.
Throughout the three days, Dr Gwelo engaged with scholars, practitioners, and community members, reflecting on how interdisciplinary research, community engagement, and creative approaches can inform the Chair鈥檚 ongoing work on transformative innovation.
Exploring the Water-Energy-Food Nexus Through Creativity, Policy, and Action
Each day at the Agitation Conference and Exhibition 2025 unfolded around a distinct theme. Together, they built a layered story about the WEF challenges, and the creative, political, and community-driven ways people are responding to them. The event brought together creative practice, policy engagement, and community-led innovation to interrogate South Africa鈥檚 WEF challenges. The conference integrated artistic exploration with research and policy, as mutually reinforcing modes of inquiry, making for discussions that were both intellectually rich and grounded in lived experience. At the opening session artistic and creative practices framed the proceedings, with visual and performative art functioning as both an expressive tool and also as an innovative method of inquiry. Through the insights shared by Prof. Lenore Manderson and the keynote from Prof. Aileen Moyer, the opening showcased that ecological futures cannot be imagined through technical thinking alone. They are shaped by inequality, by environmental degradation, and by long histories of environmental extraction that continue to structure South African landscapes and communities. The presentation of case studies from Johannesburg, the Northern Cape, and the Western Cape reinforced this, illustrating how deeply social and moral ecological transitions truly are. The creative roundtable that followed, and the haunting spoken-word performances on 鈥淭he Poetics of the Abyssal Zone,鈥� made these ideas visceral.
This integration of creativity carried through into the policy-focused discussions. The policy breakfast, which used quilting as a participatory method, offered a compelling example of how creative techniques can facilitate more open and reflective dialogue between policymakers, researchers, and communities. Throughout the day, presentations demonstrated how communities across South Africa are developing their own strategies to navigate energy and water shortages, youth unemployment, climate impacts, and food insecurity. These examples reinforced the value of research that is attentive to local knowledge and that seeks to support, rather than override, community agency.
The final day鈥檚 emphasis on knowledge translation and environmental justice brought the conference鈥檚 themes into sharper focus. The panel on 鈥淔rom Knowledge to Action and Justice鈥� highlighted the challenges of implementing climate and social justice work in ways that remain ethically grounded and aligned with local realities. Another panel explored how the WEF nexus can serve as a conceptual tool for both regional collaboration and community-scale interventions. Contributions from activists and practitioners鈥攊ncluding Hector Dikobane鈥檚 account of community-driven environmental entrepreneurship and Section 27鈥檚 reflections on legal advocacy鈥攄emonstrated how diverse forms of expertise contribute to advancing climate justice.
Key Takeaways
The Conference offered insights for research on the WEF nexus, highlighting art-based and participatory methods as powerful tools for communication, investigation, and community activation; able to convey complex WEF nexus issues in accessible, emotionally resonant ways while revealing local values, fears, aspirations, and knowledge often missed by conventional approaches. These creative and narrative-driven practices also highlight that ecological transitions are inseparable from their social, historical, and moral contexts, where inequities, environmental extraction, gendered vulnerabilities, and lived experiences shape how change is felt and negotiated. Across settings, communities demonstrate agency and innovation in coping with food insecurity, energy poverty, or environmental degradation, underscoring the need for research that supports rather than undermines local strategies, integrates the intersecting social and environmental factors at play, and recognizes women and marginalized groups as central actors in adaptation. Interdisciplinary approaches that combine social science, storytelling, and artistic practice emerged to build resilience and social cohesion and strengthen policy dialogue by creating meaningful interfaces between communities, researchers, and decision-makers.
All in all, the conference offered a compelling reflection on the necessity of interdisciplinary and participatory approaches to ecological transitions. It highlighted that meaningful change requires the integration of technical solutions with creativity, community engagement, and sustained attention to justice. Agitation 2025 served as a reminder that research, policy, and artistic practice can intersect productively to generate new insights and support more equitable and context-responsive pathways toward sustainability.
The Agitation Conference highlighted the value of collaboration, local knowledge, and inclusive approaches in tackling South Africa鈥檚 pressing socio-ecological challenges. By integrating research, art, policy, and activism, the conference offered new ways to understand the Water-Energy-Food Nexus and explore solutions that are equitable, practical, and socially responsive. It underscored that sustainable transformation depends on connecting knowledge to action while centering the voices and agency of communities most affected by environmental and social pressures.
Dr Farai Gwelo works for the SARChI-Trilateral Research Chair in Transformative Innovation (TRCTI) on the Green and 聽Just Transition thematic. You can view her profile here: