This last period marked the finalization of the RegionArts project. In this period, we focussed on the completion of the Validation Tool. We organised a third workshop on the tool during the Week of European Regions, following two workshops in semester 8. We updated Validation Tool according to the feedback we received from the workshops' participants and presented our learnings alongside the other partners during the final Region Arts event in Porto. We look back at an inspiring project in which we learned a lot from the other partners and regions involved.
Validation Tool workshop #3
In semester 9, Baltan Laboratories gave the 3rd workshop on Validation Tool titled "A journey through the wormhole - role game to foster ICT and art collaboration in regional ecosystems". The tool is a framework for collaboration between the creative and the technology sectors, policymakers, and artists. It helps to determine the obstacles creators encounter when developing creative projects. The tool is a part of the Action Plan. We developed the plan in previous semesters based on the TDK (Technology, Design, Knowledge) policy of Eindhoven. It aims to support artistic and concept-driven projects in their development and implementation. The plan assumes the application of Validation Tool which can help stakeholders estimate a project's progress and the support it requires. In that way, the city can also further integrate its profile in the fields of knowledge, technologies and design practice, by identifying and supporting TDK-oriented projects.
The 3rd Validation Tool workshop took place on the 11th of October, during the 20th European Week of Regions & Cities, the largest Brussels-based cohesion policy event. As before, the workshop was set as a game. In simulated situations, the participants played different roles and explored the challenges artists and ICT companies face when working together on translating their artistic works into economically and socially valuable products or services. The players collaborated with each other to support artists, ICT companies and policymakers in achieving their goals. To win the game, the participants had to create a regional collaboration system.
We examined the feedback received on the workshop and updated the Validation Tool accordingly. The final framework proposed for the tool was published on our website and remains available there. Check the Validation Tool on our website.
We were happy to hear positive feedback on the Validation Tool from the stakeholders of the Eindhoven region and see the interest in the tool within our network. It appears that the tool could be handy for multiple purposes such as multidisciplinary collaborations, as an educational tool for art students, and as a guide for artists to gain more insight into the environment they work in, to name a few.
RegionArts Final Event
On the 9th of November, the RegionArts final event took place in Porto, Portugal. Our co-director Marlou van der Cruijsen joined the event and talked about collaboration between artists and ICT companies in the context of Eindhoven as well as the development of Validation Tool and what we have learnt from it. It was an exciting event during which our co-director heard and participated in presentations and roundtables, and exchanged our reflections on the project with other participants and the audience.
About RegionArts
The Interreg Europe program RegionArts aims to promote collaboration between art and ICT and how policy can contribute. Each partner will deliver policy advice with recommendations to enhance art and ICT collaborations in its own region. The consortium comprises partners from Italy, Croatia, Finland, Portugal, Belgium, Greece and the Netherlands. Within RegionArts, Baltan Laboratories focuses on the Noord-Brabant/Eindhoven region.
Visit RegionArts.