# Balance-Unbalance 2016

Arts + Sciences x Technology = Environment / Responsibility
"Data Science + Eco Action"
May 9 to 11, 2016
University of Caldas, Manizales, Colombia


# Call for participation

Balance-Unbalance (BunB) is an International Conference designed to use art as a catalyst to explore intersections between NATURE, SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY and SOCIETY as we move into an era of both unprecedented ecological threats and transdisciplinary possibilities.

The Balance-Unbalance conference will bring artists together with scientists, economists, philosophers, politicians, management and policy experts, sociologists and engineers from across the world with the intent of engendering a deeper awareness and creating lasting intellectual working partnerships in solving our global environmental crisis.

“We are living in a world reaching a critical point where the equilibrium between a healthy environment, the energy our society needs to maintain or improve this lifestyle and the interconnected economies could pass more quickly than expected from the current complex balance to a complete new reality where unbalance would be the rule and human beings would need to be as creative as never before to survive. Environmental problems, economic uncertainty and political complexity have been around for a long time. What was different before was the speed and depth of transformations compared with today’s sudden changes. The frequent occurrence and severity that certain weather and climate-related events are having around us is increasing, and the ability of human beings on modifying adjacent surroundings as well as distant places have turn into a power capable of altering the planet [...] The arts could play a major part in helping the global society to understand the magnitude of the crisis we are facing, and in promoting the awareness around environmental matters. it could also be a very good vehicle to disseminate proposals able produce changes in our behavior and decisions, influencing our chances for the future. Artists could promote inter and transdisciplinary actions focusing on our responsibility regarding the turning point we are living in defining the future of -human- life on Earth.” (Dr. Ricardo Dal Farra, Balance-Unbalance founder).

The theme for BunB 2016 is "Data Science + Eco Action".
How can we extract knowledge from large volumes of environmental and related data? How that can be used in benefit of the human society? What should we change in our thinking and in our behaviour? Individual vs community vs global: What matters? Why big or complex data is so relevant to our daily life? How the capture, analysis, curation, sharing, storage… and control of large data could rapidly change our world? What positive sides does it have? What not so positive, and even risks does it have? What data science has to do with humanitarian organizations? And with electronic art?

We want to inspire explorations of how artists can participate in this major challenge of our ecological crisis. We need to use creative tools and transdisciplinary action to create perceptual, intellectual and pragmatic changes. We want to discuss our proposals for the future from a diversity of cultural perspectives and socio-economic situations with open minds.

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The 5th edition of the BunB conference will be held from May 9 to 11 of 2016 in Manizales, Colombia. It will be produced by the Department of Visual Design of the University of Caldas, with support of the International Image Festival.

Balance-Unbalance is seeking for papers, transdisciplinary workshops, artistic activities and exhibitions, posters and panels considering to propose, analyze and discuss specific projects and actions that could help us to face the serious environmental crisis. BunB 2016 is also open to host a diversity of virtual components allowing global accessibility and significantly reducing the carbon footprint of a major international conference.

The official language of the event will be English but Spanish submissions are accepted. Keynotes and paper (oral) presentations in Spanish will be -simultaneously- translated to English. Workshops won't be translated.

Deadline for submissions: October 10, 2015 (midnight, Colombia's time)
Notification of acceptance: November 30, 2015

Submission categories (there is only one template for all categories; you should adapt it as indicated) :

* Papers (4-8 pages)
* Posters (2-3 pages)
* Panels (2-3 pages)
* Artistic works (2-3 pages): Be sure to indicate the title of your project; if you are proposing a live performance, a presentation using fixed-media support or a work to be exhibited; duration, if it applies; a full detailed description of your technical needs, including what will you be providing and what are you expecting the organisation to provide; links to your online CV and your web site; and 3 links to online samples of your previously created artistic work, hosted in a non-expiring URL - please, DO NOT send your material using wetransfer or any similar application, and DO NOT send your reference material by email - only submit the links with your submission.
* Transdisciplinary workshops (2-3 pages): Transdisciplinary workshops is an open format area of the conference to propose any kind of transdisciplinary activities up to a maximum duration of 90 minutes.
* Virtual projects (2-3 pages): Virtual projects such as websites, interactive installations and transdisciplinary documentation related to the theme of the conference will be considered for inclusion in our virtual program and onsite virtual showcase. Successful artists may be required to participate in a Skype forum (or interaction using another online platform) during the virtual projects showcase.

In addition, a selection from accepted papers will be invited to publish in the Leonardo journal under a special section devoted to Balance-Unbalance.

Submissions will be only accepted via EasyChair (https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=bunb2016). Click here to download the template for your submission. Please, make sure you select the correct submission category (paper, poster, panel, artistic work, transdisciplinary workshop, or virtual project). Submissions will be peer-reviewed. All submissions in Spanish must also include an abstract in English.

Send only proposals oriented to the goal of this conference. Only clearly focused works to that end will be considered.

Please note that Balance-Unbalance is not able to provide funding support for travel or lodging, or fees for the presentations.

Please direct any questions about formatting and uploading submissions to: submissions.bunb2016@gmail.com
General inquiries to: bunb2016@gmail.com