Sound Environment Centre at Lund University

We’re excited to launch a series of video portraits featuring researchers affiliated with the Sound Environment Centre at Lund University.

The first portrait highlights Enrico Ronchi, Associate Professor in evacuation modelling at Lund University, whose interdisciplinary research explores human behaviour and safety in complex environments. Enrico does research on inclusive evacuation design and studies how people respond to sound and other sensory cues.

Using innovative methods like virtual reality and data-driven modelling, Ronchi’s work helps us understand how humans perceive and react to sound in different settings, to develop design of safer and more comfortable acoustic environments.

In 2022, Ronchi was awarded incentive funding from the Sound Environment Centre to write a research application for research on tactile alarms for people who are deaf or hard of hearing. In 2024, he was awarded the prestigious ERC Consolidator Grant. Within the ERC project Egressibility, he is building an interdisciplinary team to collect large-scale behavioural data and develop an inclusive machine learning model to transform evacuation design. Multi-sensory VR experiments at Helsingborg Safety Hub will allow the team to study human behaviour under various emergency evacuation scenarios.

This is the first in a series of video portraits. Stay tuned for more stories from researchers shaping our understanding of sound and sound environments!

Links:
Egressibility project: https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101170110
Helsingborg Safety Hub: https://portal.research.lu.se/.../helsingborg-safety-hub/
Research Profile: https://portal.research.lu.se/en/persons/enrico-ronchi/

Production and editing by Bloody Honey

Sound Environment Centre Researcher Portraits: Enrico Ronchi Meet researchers affiliated with the Sound Environment Centre at Lund University through a series of video portraits. In these films, they share insights int...

Wow, what an inspiring two days we’ve just had in Lund with the SOUND+ network and all 60 amazing participants of the SOUND+PURPOSE conference! Our warmest thanks to our guests for joining us from both near and far and making this event possible.

Special shout-outs to:

🔌John, Oliver & Jonas for sound support through and through
🎛️ Steve (drusnoise) & Robert for brilliant post-dinner sounds
💘 Our students Melisa & Jazmin for constant backup and support
🎶 All the creators who contributed to our Listening Room
🎫 Florence & Sylvain for sharing their works live
🎧 Anna for her performance lecture at the closing plenary
🔈 Inter Arts Center for generously lending us equipment

Here are just a few snaps from two action-packed and unforgettable days!

// Phil, Sanne & Valeria

On Thursday, it is finally time for the Sound Environment Centre to host SOUND+PURPOSE: Inaugural Conference of the SOUND+ Network! The conference brings together 60 leading researchers from around the world, including from Leiden, Łódź, London, Brooklyn, Brazil, India and Indonesia, as well as 11 researchers from Lund University, to explore the fundamental questions: Why does sound exist, and what can it do? The conference is for invited contributors only, but anyone interested is warmly welcome to attend a live performance session with Sylvain Souklaye and Florence To, which is part of the conference, on Thursday evening at LUX in Lund.

More info here: https://www.lmc.lu.se/en/

The live performance session is organised in collaboration with Inter Arts Center in Malmö.

Welcome to a live performance session featuring sound artists Sylvain Souklaye (US) and Florence To (UK), hosted by The Sound Environment Centre together with Inter Arts Center.

Presented as part of SOUND+PURPOSE: Inaugural Conference of the SOUND+ Network for Transdisciplinary Research in Sound (20–21 November, Lund University), Souklaye and To will – through their distinct yet complementary works “Intimacy” and “TYRYX” – explore the potential of sonic performance and listening for social transformation, ecological inquiry, and collective presence.

Thursday, November 20, 17.15 –18.30
LUX, Helgonavägen 3, Lund, Läsesalen (foyer)
More info: https://www.lmc.lu.se/en/activities/2025/intimacy-tyryx

The performance session is free and open to the public. No advance registration is required, but seating may be limited.

Please note that the main conference programme is reserved for invited contributors only.

The performance session is moderated by Sanne Krogh Groth.

St. John's Church plays elegy for Gaza

St. John's Church (S:t Johannes kyrka) in Malmö will play the sound work 'Lament for a Strip of Land', commissioned by the Sound Environment Centre, on four Fridays in September, from 5:00 p.m. to 5:50 p.m. On Sunday, 7 September, there will also be a presentation and discussion about the piece.

'Lament for a Strip of Land' is an elegy for Gaza created by percussionist Tina Quartey. The instruments used in the piece are gongs, singing bowls and a deep frame drum.

'Lament for a Strip of Land' is also played on the Sound Bench in Lund daily between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m.

Ljudverket: Lament for a strip of land Under fyra fredagar i september kl. 17.00–17.50 i S:t Johannes kyrka, kommer ljudverket Lament for a strip of land att spelas. En sorgesång för Gaza, skapad av slagverkare Tina Quartey. Söndag 7 september blir det även en presentation och ett samtal om verket.

Call for Participants!

Please join us for the inaugural conference of the new international SOUND+ network for transdisciplinary research in sound. Even if sound isn’t your main focus, we’d still love to hear what you’re working on.

Lund University, Sweden
20–21 November 2025

Deadline for abstract submission is June 9.

Why are sounds made? What is their function, their intention, their necessity—or their excess? From evolutionary imperatives to creative expression, from communication to the sonification of data, sounds serve a multitude of purposes. But what are we ultimately trying to do with sound? And what should sound research itself aim to achieve?

SOUND+PURPOSE invites researchers of all disciplines to reflect on the fundamental "why" of their work on sound. Rather than focusing on the latest findings, this conference seeks broad, interdisciplinary discussions on the purpose of sound and sound research—whether in scientific inquiry, artistic practice, political activism, urban design, or technological innovation. By articulating the underlying motivations and objectives that drive our engagement with sound, we can uncover shared goals, unexpected synergies, and new collaborative possibilities.

Visit www.lmc.lu.se/en for more info!

Don’t miss to apply for the More Sound Residency at IAC!

Application deadline: 1 May 2025!

Read more: https://www.iac.lu.se/collaborations/more-sound-residency

The More Sound Residency is organised by IAC and the Dansk Komponistforening and financed by funds from Koda Kultur.

Welcome with your application!

Over a three-year period (2024–2026), the project Soundscapes of Warning will chart, clarify, and analyse the historical conditions, the scientific knowledge production, the information strategies, the infrastructural affordances, and the cultural experiences to evaluate their lingering echoes in today’s policy and legislative landscape.

To investigate people’s experiences of Important Public Announcement – in particular the sonic alarm commonly known as ”Hesa Fredrik” – a questionnaire has now been published in collaboration with the Institute for Language and Folklore (Isof). The answers will be archived at Isof and (with the sender’s permission) will also contribute to the research.

You can find the questionnaire here: https://sonicwarnings.wordpress.com/2024/08/27/kanner-du-hesa-fredrik-delta-i-var-fragelista/