From 13 to 15 January 2025, the University Grenoble Alpes/Design Factory hosted the first Pop‑Up Lab of the European project Studiotopia 2, led by circus artist Fanny Soriano. The artist is, with the help of neuroscientist Kalliopi Ioumpa, developing an interdisciplinary artistic research project examining how humans relate to invasive plant species—particularly Japanese knotweed.

Over three days, students engaged in a workshop blending circus arts, physical theatre, and ecological inquiry. Through movement exercises and direct interaction with knotweed, participants explored notions of symbiosis, imbalance, and the shifting boundaries between bodies and ecosystems.

“Getting back in touch with nature, with our bodies, being sensitive to what surrounds us, listening to our sensations, smelling and touching seems to me to be imperative if we are to evolve in this world in transition,” Soriano reflected at the end of the session.