Mirko
Winkel

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Mirko Winkel is the coordinator of the mLAB. The artist and curator teaches at the University of Bern and other places with the aim of synthesizing art with scientific research and socio-political concerns.

Susan
Thieme

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Susan Thieme is professor of Critical Sustainability Studies at the Institute of Geography at the University of Bern. She brought the Global Science Film Festival to Bern and co-developed the Social Learning Video Method. She is co-founder of the mLAB.  MORE

Carolin
Schurr

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Carolin Schurr is professor of Social and Cultural Geography at the University of Bern. As a feminist geographer, she has developed and experimented with affectual and visual methods to grasp the emotional effects of globalization processes on our intimate lives. She is co-founder of the mLAB.  MORE

Alexander
Vorbrugg

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Alexander Vorbrugg is a postdoctoral researcher and lecturer in Critical Sustainability Studies at the University of Bern. His research interests include visual forms of research and science communication. He is part of the coordination group of the mLAB. MORE

Laura
Perler

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Laura Perler is a postdoctoral researcher in Social and Cultural Geography at the University of Bern. In her research she investigates inequalities in relation to reproductive technologies and the Swiss asylum system. In her projects she uses audiovisual approaches and collaborates with artists. Together with Mirko Winkel, she is currently organizing a traveling exhibition on egg donation. She is part of the coordination group of the mLAB. MORE

Stefan
Brönnimann

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Stefan Brönnimann is a professor in Climatology at the University of Bern. His research focuses on weather and climate reconstruction, climate models, climate dynamics, effects of volcanic eruptions on climate and climate and society interactions. MORE

Elisabeth
Militz

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Elisabeth Militz is an Assistant Professor for Social and Digital Geographies at the University of Innsbruck. As a feminist political and cultural geographer, her focus lies on global/intimate relations and digital transformations. She experiments with affectual and feminist digital methodologies for human geographies. MORE

Adrien
Mestrot

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Adrien Mestrot is a professor in Soil Science at the University of Bern. Part of his research topics is analyzing the biogeochemistry of soils under global change to improve environmental health and food production.  MORE

Nora
Komposch

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Nora Komposch is a PhD student and assistant in Social and Cultural Geography at the University of Bern. Her research interests are geographies of the body, care and reproduction, migration and labor, and politics of the global intimate. MORE

Prisca Pfammatter

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Prisca Pfammatter (she/her) is a PhD student in Critical Sustainability Studies at the Institute of Geography at the University of Bern. Her research explores the experiences of queer farmworkers in Switzerland, using dance-based methodologies to examine the intersections of gender, sex, sexuality, and social sustainability in agriculture.

Johanna
Paschen

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Johanna Paschen is a PhD student in Critical Sustainability Studies at the University of Bern. Her research interests include social and environmental justice, transdisciplinarity and artistic research. In cooperation with the Academy of the Arts Bern, she is involved with the research project EcoArtLab. MORE

Luca
Tschiderer

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Luca Tschiderer is a PhD student in Critical Sustainability Studies at the University of Bern. His research focuses on alternative practices of work in health- and care related contexts. As part of his PhD project he uses social learning videos as a participatory method towards workers inquiry. MORE

Sarah
Hartmann

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Sarah Hartmann is a Postdoc student in Critical Sustainability Studies at the University of Bern. Her research looks at issues around work, transnational mobilities and future transformations in healthcare from a critical sustainability perspective. MORE

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Susan Thieme
Video
2022
Transdisciplinarity
Eileen Schilliger

Master's Thesis: Co-production of Knowledge through Filmmaking

A film on the lifeworld of shepherds in Switzerland

In the scope of her master’s thesis, Eileen Schilliger produced a film on the lifeworld of shepherds in Switzerland and won the second place of the Swiss Society of Applied Geography (SGAG) price of 2022.  

The film can be watched here (German).

The numbers of wandering winter shepherds in Switzerland has been decreasing in previous years. Nevertheless, the shepherds play an essential role in the debate concerning sustainable land management. Their personal knowledge about the maintaining of the grassland should be preserved for next generations and also for contributing to intergenerational justice regarding sustainable development. Therefore, it is essential to understand the question if and how this occupation will sustain in the future and further, how their knowledge will be transmitted. Thus, this master thesis tried to answer that question using the relatively new method of co-production of knowledge through filmmaking.

This thesis had two goals: On the one hand, the observation and illustration of the lifeworld of three shepherds in Switzerland. On the other hand, co-producing a film in collaboration with those shepherds and thus, to share their experiences and knowledge with a broad public. Consequently, this thesis shows the potential of film as a research and communication method in Geography for collaborative transdisciplinary work. Co-production of knowledge through filmmaking of the lifeworld of shepherds in Switzerland was the main methodological focus. Not the film per se, rather the filmmaking process in which the shepherds were involved was at the core of the research process. 21 days of field research with collaboration and filming resulted in a 57-minute film. During this process, different forms of knowledge could be elaborated, stored, and filmmaking provides access to this knowledge to the shepherds themselves, but also for a broad audience. The generated knowledge can also be made accessible for future generations and thus, contribute to intergenerational justice.

This master thesis shows the methodological potential of film as medium of communication, but especially as a research tool. Co-production of knowledge through filmmaking has potential for transdisciplinary collaboration over different areas. This is important, to build bridges between research and other areas to strive for sustainable development.

Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Susan Thieme.