Problematising water: an experiment on the edges of interdisciplinarity is a manifestation of thinking with water across a range of disciplines including urban geography, sociology, anthropology, Science and Technology Studies, and ethnomethodology. In this presentation, Nicole Vitellone will reveal the alliances between Foucault’s concept of problematisation and a new methodological approach for water-focused research, as seen through her study of London’s #OneLess Refill water fountain pilot, an intervention to reduce plastic bottled water. 

The presentation will be structured around her enquiry and ethnographic methods to investigate #OneLess’ experiment with water, initiated by marine scientists from the Zoological Society of London. Sharing her practice of opening the refill water fountain as a problematic space for collaborating with natural scientists, practitioners and publics engaged in the making and doing of refill, the paper will discuss how Foucault’s concept of problematisation forces a re-thinking of knowledge-making practices in environmental research on water. 

Nicole Vitellone is AF Warr Senior Lecturer in Sociology in the School of Law and Social Justice and Co-Director of Centre for Health, Arts, Society & Environment (CHASE) at the University of Liverpool. She is also currently a Visiting Research Scholar at New Centre for Environmental Humanities (NICHE) at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice. She recently completed a research monograph, Problematising Water: An Experiment on the Edges of Interdisciplinarity, a manifestation of thinking with water across a range of disciplines, including human geography, sociology, anthropology, STS, and ethnomethodology. She is currently working on a UKRI-funded project on climate change adaptation and mitigation, investigating contemporary Indigenous art practices. The project is part of an NFRF research collaboration on water with colleagues from Canada, South Africa, Switzerland and Australia.

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