Shared Dialogues is a transdisciplinary project which explores participatory and artistic tools to collectively reflect about ecological loss and environmental conflict experiences, in particular those related to the Mar Menor lagoon eutrophication.

The Mar Menor (Murcia, South-Eastern Spain) is Europe’s largest saltwater lagoon and the first in this continent to receive the status of legal personhood following its ecological collapse. The lagoon suffers from severe eutrophication which triggered an algal bloom in 2016, turning into events of mass mortality of aquatic biota later in 2019 and 2021. This ecological degradation is partly attributed to the development of intensive irrigated agriculture in the “Campo de Cartagena”.

The project is based on a participatory research process carried out between January 2021 and February 2023 by Violeta Cabello Villarejo and Paula Adrea Zuluaga together with local actors. The project started with a socio-historical analysis of the territory, followed by a co-research process for dialoguing and reflecting on the Mar Menor and de Campo de Cartagena. Shared Dialogues culminates this whole process with the co-creation of visual stories together with Josune Urrutia, Marcela Brugnach, Maria Mancilla Garcia and Paula Novo.

The Arrival

Co-Research

The Stories