Panel disussion & workshop, March 2024:

«The Future of Art and Science Collaborations»

In March 2024, the EcoArtLab in collaboration with the mLAB (Institute of Geography, University of Bern) organized a panel discussion in which representatives of various Swiss funding institutions and the diverse audience discussed how exactly the future funding of collaboration in art and science and civil society can look like.

Collaborations between the arts, the sciences, and society are becoming more and more common. Artists and designers are collaborating with scientists, and science is looking for ways to integrate artistic practices. These approaches foster new ways of producing knowledge by engaging with diverse communities, in contrast to traditional science communication. Yet our understanding of their impact is limited.

Mirko Winkel, artistic collaborator of the EcoArtLab and mLAB coordinator invited Katharina Schneider-Roos, an innovation & society specialist form Pro Helvetia, Julia Schneerson, the Agora Program Manager of Swiss national Science Foundation and Katia Weibel, the deputy director of Stiftung Mercator Schweiz and Yvonne Schmidt, head of the EcoArtLab moderated the talk.

They discussed what funding schemes are needed for future collaboration between art, research and social engagement; what characterizes successful projects; what art can achieve in this context; or how researchers and artists can work together on an equal level. On a second day, artists, scientists and representatives of funding institutions were invited to a workshop to exchange knowledge and experiences and to create an open space for discussion, reflection and a better understanding of each other's perspectives. The goal was to discuss the productive, frustrating, and unusual experiences of different art-science collaborations. Under the guidance of cultural activist Martin Schick, they developed alternative ideas for collaboration, challanged them, and then formulated questions to take forward.

Pictures: Lukas Batschelet | Thubten Shontshang | Riikka Tauriainen