Over the next three years, local artist, musician and architect Andrew J. Brooks will work with Scottish Canals and local people on a new Canal Listening Project. 

The aim is to engage local communities to produce an ecological, and cultural soundmap of the area around the canal. Participants will work with Andrew to record their stories and the sounds of the canal environment producing sound art and installations.

Andrew’s, project is entitled Presentation of Acoustic Ecology through Community Co-Produced Sound Mapping in Human and Non-Human Spaces. It forms part of his PhD at Queen’s University Belfast at the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Sound and Music (SARC) and is funded by a UK Department for the Economy studentship.

“I am eager to begin working with Scottish Canals and the communities around the canal,” said Andrew. “The sounds of the environment where we live hold so much cultural significance for us and can help us understand so much about ourselves and the world we share with our communities, both human and non-human. The canals are a rich cultural and ecological setting to develop this research and make artwork with the local communities.”

For Scottish Canals, the project supports their ongoing mission to maintain Scotland’s historic waterways as vibrant spaces for art, culture, community life, leisure and nature for generations to come. 

“When Andrew approached us with this unique research concept, we were curious and excited to imagine where an exploration of canal soundscapes could lead,” said Richard Millar, Chief Operating Officer at Scottish Canals. “Scotland’s canals are extraordinary blue-green corridors, vital for the mental and physical wellbeing of communities. Part of their magic lies in the subtle yet captivating sounds: the gentle lap of water, the chirrup of birds, and even the playful splash of otters and water voles. This collaboration is a fantastic opportunity to let Andrew and local communities explore and record the sounds they love and cherish along Scotland’s canals.” 

SARC Director Professor Pedro Rebelo from the School of Arts, English and Languages at Queen's University Belfast said: “We very much welcome Mr Brooks’ to the SARC community this autumn. His PhD project provides us with an opportunity to work closely with Scottish Canals and continue to expand our work in acoustic ecology and soundscape studies. These areas of research at SARC go back some twenty years and continue to reflect a sense of urgency and need.” 

The interdisciplinary aspects of the project are reflected in the supervisory team comprised of Professor Pedro Rebelo (sound and music) and Dr Sarah Lappin (architecture and sound art) at Queen's University Belfast and Dr Mark Goddard (urban ecology) at Northumbria University.

Anyone interested in contributing to the project — through stories, recordings, or reflections — is invited to contact Andrew at: https://www.ajb-art.com/canal-listening

www.scottishcanals.co.uk/news/soundmapping-project-to-create-community-sound-art-on-the-forth-clyde-canal