Innovation Labs - 16 projects selected
In the autumn of 2021, the Creative Industries Fund NL and CLICKNL made an Open Call to institutions and makers to develop applicable knowledge and working methods that would benefit the industry's agility and resilience. Early 2022, sixteen projects were selected from the 174 proposals received.
From researching mixed reality technology for dramatic expression to blockchain for the housing market, and from developing a database for sustainable and biodegradable artist materials to raising awareness about retirement provision; together, the projects represent diverse cultural and creative disciplines and connect more than 120 parties, from individual makers to international organisations.
Selection
Block Foundation – Meta-Estate Lab
Can blockchain make a difference in the housing market? Together with partners Acram and ZHA CODE, the think tank of Zaha Hadid Architects focused on computational design, Block Foundation wants to explore and test the possibilities of decentralised finance based on prototypes. The initiators see opportunities for designers to broaden their field of activity.
Creative Funding/voordekunst – Crowdkeeping
Creative Funding has initiated the development of a joint working method and supporting tool in the field of relationship management together with a number of small to medium-sized organisations in the creative sector.
DoubleA – Touched by a hologram?
Composer-director Michel van der Aa (DoubleA) explores the artistic possibilities of the virtual world together with partners Arcturus, Scatter, VRDays Europe and a team of freelancers. The aim of the project is to prepare the performing arts sector for a metaverse future in which an infinite universe of interconnected virtual spaces exists.
Effenaar Smart Venue – Hybrid Models
Based on three experiments, Effenaar Smart Venue aims to develop new formats for hybrid events. The project partners see opportunities for a new revenue model and a rich 'home experience'.
Framer Framed – The New Social
Together with, among others, IMPAKT and Hackers & Designers, Framer Framed wants to formulate promising answers to the question of how cultural productions, such as live casting and publications, can be meaningful in the long term in a mixture of online and offline.
Jan van Eyck Academy – Future Materials
Jan van Eyck Academy is starting a collaboration with Central Saint Martins, among others, to scale up and further develop their hybrid database of sustainable and biodegradable artist materials. Ultimately, the project partners hope to contribute to making maker practices more sustainable.
Modemuze – Unlocking Fashion Heritage
By means of 3D scans of pieces from museum fashion collections, Modemuze, a collaboration of eighteen Dutch and Flemish museums, wants to make craft (historical) knowledge available to a wide audience: from museum employees to 'home-makers'.
Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen – Boijmans Hillevliet
Together with partners from the cultural sector, the social field and education, Museum Boijmans van Beuningen is working on the further development of a new museum concept aimed at reaching the public.
Muzus - Art Of The Future
Using an iterative approach in which research and design go hand in hand, Muzus wants to offer self-employed professionals tools to manage their retirement provision in a smart way. The research is being set up in co-creation with problem owners (Platform ACCT and PGB Pensioendiensten), partners from the cultural and creative industries (Motivaction, Think+DO, 3310 School for Millennials) and freelancers.
Outsiderland (Captain Hoek Foundation) – OutsiderlandLab
By bringing makers from different backgrounds into contact with each other, Outsiderland wants to make the cultural and creative sector more accessible to every form of creativity and originality. A study is linked to the project, which is being carried out by project partner Stefanie van Zal (Language Care and Support Lectorate).
Picl – Everybody in the (art)house!
How can cultural institutions use their digital or hybrid offerings to broaden their audience? Together with Rotterdam Festivals and Medialoc, Picl is looking for promising answers.
PublicSpaces – Living Lab Open Cultuurdata
PublicSpaces is starting a living lab together with the Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision, NPO and Waag to learn how open-source technology can contribute to a wider reach and better findability of the online range of cultural productions.
SMH 40-45 – 2nd World
SMH 40-45, a partnership of fifteen Dutch museums and remembrance centres that focus on the period 1940-1945, wants to develop digital strategies aimed at value creation and audience reach through a development process for museum employees.
Podiumpas Foundation – Podiumpas
With the Podiumpas, the initiators want to lower the barriers for culture lovers to go to the theatre more often and more adventurously, with the intended result of more attendance.
The Hmm – Toolkit for the Inbetween
A collaboration between The Hmm, affect lab and MU is starting ten experiments around hybrid cultural experiences to promote the interaction between the physically and digitally present public.
Theatre Utrecht – Innovation:Lab Theatre Utrecht
In collaboration with DOX and HKU, Theatre Utrecht is developing a laboratory in which makers can experiment with mixed reality theatre techniques and storytelling methods.
KNOWLEDGE AND COMMUNITY
In order to gather, secure and share knowledge, the teams of the sixteen selected collaborative projects are encouraged to learn from and with each other. An activity programme has been set up for this. Various topics are covered in this programme. Examples are naming and analysing steps that were taken in a process, analysing bottlenecks and adjusting working methods, goals and strategies. Within this programme, all teams are assisted by two quartermasters. They serve as a sparring partner for the teams and as the connection point to the project team. The quartermasters help the teams to share knowledge and to make connections.
These two quartermasters are: Renée van der Grinten, advisor in the film sector, and Gijs Meijer, advisor at DEN knowledge institute for culture & digital transformation.
THIS IS WHAT INNOVATION LABS ENTAILS
The Innovation Labs programme gives an impulse to new resilience in the cultural and creative sector. It gives the sector the opportunity to experiment with applicable knowledge and working methods. In addition, Innovation Labs encourages the sharing of knowledge. New innovations that arise within Innovation Labs are also directly explored. CLICKNL is carrying out this programme together with the Creative Industries Fund NL, on behalf of all national culture funds, commissioned by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science.
RESEARCH
To give further substance to the knowledge development for the entire sector, CLICKNL is coordinating a concurring research project in which four researchers conduct research into the innovations that are facilitated in Innovation Labs. In addition, project teams can submit knowledge questions to these researchers. The researchers participate in the knowledge & community programme, and their knowledge and insights are safeguarded and shared as much as possible.
This line of research is financed by the SIA Agency (NWO) and is not at the expense of the budget for the Innovation Labs.
ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Under the chairmanship of Nathanja van Dijk, ten advisors – Bas van Berkestijn, Anne Mieke Eggenkamp, Bert van Loon, Chequita Nahar, Luuk Nouwen, Marieke Schoenmakers, Jeroen Stout, Meis Suker, Jaïr Tchong and Martine Zoeteman – assessed the project proposals based on, among other things, innovation, collaboration and scalability.
The available budget of € 3,150,000 supports sixteen of the 47 positively assessed applications. The projects that achieved the highest score on all criteria are part of the selection.
The subsidies for the projects are provided from the Covid-19 support measures for the cultural sector, which have been granted to the Creative Industries Fund NL on the basis of Article 1, first paragraph of the Decree on specific cultural policy.
Want to know more about the projects? Click here.