Community Sound [e]Scapes is an international research and practical project exploring sound, community, improvised creativity and the places we live. The project was designed by ICASP postdoctoral researcher Dr Rebecca Caines (University of Guelph), and her partner John Campbell. In 2009-2010, Caines and Campbell worked in collaboration with four community groups located in Canada, Northern Ireland and Australia ,to facilitate and investigate new forms of place-based, improvised community sound art. The large project team also included sound, film and visual artists, community leaders, researchers and technical experts based in all three countries.

Key research areas included:

• Site-specific sound art
• Community-based knowledge formation
• Improvisation across new media environments

Project outcomes included:

• A project website featuring sound art improvisation, video and text by participating groups
• A new custom built online sound art mixer and improvisation tool (the eScaper)
• A combined online sound library
• Two gallery-based installations featuring visual and sound art from the project
• A number of research publications and conference papers

In 2010-2011 the project will be expanding to build new rural community partnerships and develop further tools for online improvisation with found sounds.

Visit the Community Sound [e]Scapes website.