How do you imagine the future sustainability of your LAB?

DRESDEN UNIVERSITY OF FINE ARTS

The sustainability of the LAB strongly relies on developments to be achieved during the upcoming months. It is very much connected to its intertwinement with the structures that are already in place in the faculties, in order to develop a network of cooperation within the institution which can even survive changes in funding.

Thus, the LAB must also be understood as a reaction to urgent needs, both in the field of teaching and for students and their work.

Therefore, in the future, there should be both content and financial support through the EU, to make it possible to create academic visibility for the project beyond the local, regional and national levels. This might lead to co-funding through the Free State of Saxony and the aforementioned research funding schemes. Through excellence funding at the EU level, the HfBK might even be able to think about scholarships and project support for researchers and students.

As a result of all this, artistic research might develop towards a fully accepted method of knowledge production, and therefore, become a candidate
for other forms of academic funding as well.

Another process to be followed will be the one of cooperation with other academic partners. There were several cooperations carried out during the last two years, with universities as well as with partners from society. A strong collaboration with such partners will allow for thinking about long-term cooperations, e.g., for third cycle degrees not available for fine arts academies in Saxony alone but only in joint projects. Internationality within the LAB can also lead to structural sustainability. The online ‘Peers’n’differences’ colloquia may be an important first step here in order to establish long-term exchange.

HUNGARIAN UNIVERSITY OF FINE ARTS

The strategic objective of WP2 is to provide a methodological framework for the establishment of R+I centers as local labs. European universities have more and more possibilities for contact with companies, non-university agents and society. If they work together in both education and research, the accumulated knowledge and experience will result in a structure that will cross not only language barriers, but disciplinary boundaries as well. Thus, innovative initiatives can emerge. By strengthening research activities and restructuring institutions, open science practices will prevail, and cooperation with other branches—including academic and business cooperation—can be enhanced as well. The purpose of our labs’ operation is to support innovative activities at universities, to assist in research collaborations, and to promote the socio-economic, academic and cultural exploitation of research outcomes in university education and research.

The aim of the WP2 working group is:

  • →  To provide a theoretical framework for Artistic Research and stages in the mapping of
    the recent literature in AR;
  • →  To provide practical solutions and common recommendations on how artistic R+I activities can be effective, how AR and development can be implemented in the broadest possible range of partnerships, how to reach out to the rest
    of society, and how to integrate AR into higher education;
  • →  To set up labs in all four universities, initially as pilot projects and then, after sharing good practices and experiences, with a long-term perspective;
  • →  To formulate innovative ideas on how to make academic careers attractive for researchers/ teachers, and what incentives can be used
    to keep them in universities and on a research career path;
  • →  To recommend harmonizing the protection of intellectual property at our universities.

ART ACADEMY OF LATVIA

AR LAB acivities are included into the curriculum of the professional doctoral study programme and will become part of joint doctoral school activity. AR LAB will be provided for all schools participating in the EU4ART_differences project and the joint professional doctoral programme. Therefore, further activities related to the AR LAB will be financed by funding the doctoral study programs and R&D activities of the Art Academy of Latvia. AR LAB will continue to serve as a key platform for establishing Open Research and Civic Research activities and practices in the field of artistic research at the Art Academy of Latvia. Besides these activities, the AR LAB will also serve as a starting point for artistic research activities of the Third Mission of the Art Academy of Latvia.

FINE ARTS ACADEMY OF ROME

The Work Package 2 of the Fine Arts Academy of Rome has looked at the future of the Lab with the dual objectives of creating sustainability in both the research project and in institutional cooperation. Indeed, to build the CARE Lab, the Fine Arts Academy of Rome made a framework agreement with the National Institute for Nuclear Physics from Roma Tre University. This long-term partnership is meant to last the entire period of the research Lab, until the end of EU4ART_differences project. The engagement of Professor Cristian Rizzuti and the involvement
of academy students ensure internal efforts and the sustainability of the laboratory.