Ars Biologica Summer School 2025 - Prague AVU
21. July 2025
21-24 July 2025
Prague AVU
ARS BIOLOGICA is an international transdisciplinary platform connecting experimental art, design, technology and science with a focus on permaculture thinking and practice. The project forms one of the main pillars of the Budweis European Capital of Culture 2028 and involves artist residencies, an independent study programme, an annual symposium and other events, culminating in the Ars Biologica festival in 2028.
This year, the Ars Biologica Independent Study Programme (ABIS) offers a special four-day summer school inviting artists, designers, researchers, scientists and students interested in transdisciplinary exploration of permacultural concepts and practices. The summer school is structured into four thematic tracks and includes a diverse programme of workshops, lectures, and co-creative research sessions inspired by permacultural principles—such as valuing small and slow solutions, integrating rather than segregating, cultivating diversity, or responding creatively to change.
The summer school takes place in České Budějovice from August 21–24 (Tracks 2-4) and in Prague from July 21–24 (Track 1). On August 24, all participants will gather in České Budějovice for the Ars Biologica Symposium 2025, held as part of the Země Živitelka Fair. The symposium will provide a space for sharing experiences from the summer school as well as ideas for future collaboration.
Thematic tracks:
- PermaPrompting with Feral (AI)gents (July 2025, Prague) - held in English
- Permacultural thinking in multispecies research (August 2025, České Budějovice) - held in Czech/English (flexibly, depending on accepted participants)
- Digital infrastructure and permaculture thinking (August 2025, České Budějovice) - held in Czech/English (flexibly, depending on accepted participants)
- Pomalé obvody (August 2025, České Budějovice) - held in Czech
Track #1: PermaPrompting with Feral (AI)gents
- Application Deadline: 26. 6. 2025
- Notifications of acceptance were sent on 27. 6. 2025
Things to Note
- All summer school tracks are organised as in-person events.
- Participation is free of charge, but accommodation and travel expenses are covered by participants themselves. The organisers can assist in finding affordable accommodation (the daily programme begins at 10:00, making it possible to commute from other cities).
- The summer school process will be presented at the Ars Biologica Symposium organised as part of the Země Živitelka fair. All participants will receive free entry to the event.
- Coffee breaks will be provided throughout the programme. Lunch is arranged individually by participants.
- The language of Summer School is Czech and English (see details under each Track description).
- Participants from all disciplines and backgrounds are warmly welcomed to join.
Summer School Partners
- Uroboros Collective
- The Academy of Fine Arts in Prague (AVU)
PROGRAM
Time & Place: 21–24 July 2025, Prague – AVU Veletržní Hall
Tutors: Enrique Encinas, Lenka Hámošová
Contributors: Ramón Alvarado, Andrej Boleslavský, Markéta Dolejšová, Jana Bernartová, Zdeňka Němcová, Štěpán Kleník & Artur Magrot
Language: English (but some tutors speak Czech, so no mega-advanced EN skills needed)
AI prompting – the act of shaping how machine learning systems like ChatGPT generate content – is becoming a widespread everyday practice for creativity and connection but also control, exclusion, manipulation and environmental devastation. In light of the disruptive presence of AI tools, how do we build literacy around their inner workings and develop collective strategies that challenge proprietary infrastructures? Machine learning use, transform or refuse?
Co-organised by the Ars Biologica Independent Study Program (ABIS) of the Budweis – European Capital of Culture 2028, the Academy of Fine Arts Prague’s (AVU) Doctoral Research Department, and the Uroboros collective, this 4-day summer school invites artists, designers, researchers, and students of varied backgrounds to experiment with co-creative approaches to prompting and building AI agents. Taking permaculture principles as a critical and generative framework, we will explore whether everyday human–AI interactions can be reimagined through the lenses of interdependence and contextual sensitivity, rather than personal efficiency and scale.
Full program and application guidelines (submissions by June 26th)
21.7 (12:00-18:00)
- 12:00 - 12:15 - Intro to the summerschool theme
- 12:15 - 13:15 - Keynote by Ramón Alvarado “What is an Agent?”
- 13:15 - 13:30 - Break
- 13:30 - 15:30 - Ways of Prompting, System Prompts w/ADA, User Prompts (TBD)
- 15:30 - 16:00 - Break
- 16:00 - 18:00 - Ideation Workshop and group formation
22.7 (10:00-18:00)
- 10:00 - 13:00 – Crafting AI Agents session #1 – workshop designing and coding AI agents with different tools
- 13:00 - 14:00 - Break
- 14:00 - 16:00 – Crafting AI Agents session #2 – workshop designing and coding AI agents with various tools
- 16:00 -18:00 – Presentations and discussion
23.7 (10:00-18:00)
Activating agents through diverse embodied and performative activities to explore their agency.
- 10:00 - 13:00 – Embodied Experiments #1 – workshop with different data, bodies and AI Agents
- 13:00 - 14:00 - Break
- 14:00 - 16:00 – Embodied Experiments #2 – workshop with different data, bodies and AI Agents
- 16:00 -18:00 – Presentations and discussion
24.7 (12:00-18:00) – Perma?PromptFest
Activities open to the public where the summer school agents interact with audiences and each other through micro-events such as:
- Social Prompting sessions
- Machine Quarrels
- Agentic Theater Plays
- Ambient agent Orchestra(tion)
