Multiple influential institutions recognise that artists and scientists have much to learn from one another and can work collaboratively to address socio-ecological goals. Commonly these initiatives state their aim to be “innovation”, as per Ars Electronica (est. 1979), “a unique platform for discussing, presenting and forging alliances between science, technology and the arts” (Ars Electronica, n.d.), and the ZKM, Center for Art and Media in Karlsruhe (est. 1989) where artists and scholars have conducted the research and development of collaborative theory and practice: “The mission of the ZKM is to explore the creative possibilities of connecting the traditional arts and media technologies to achieve innovative results (Heinrich Klotz, in Behr, 2009 8).” The European Commission leads several such projects; The New European Bauhaus asks artists and scientists to collaboratively lead “transformation of our perspectives and way of thinking” as well as “places on the ground (Commission, n.d. "Delivery"). S + T + ARTS, advanced by the Horizon 2020 R&I programme, sees art-science collaboration as “pushing boundaries of what is possible, giving a new policy direction for technological innovation (S+T+ARTS, n.d. "Innovation").” The Joint Research Centre (JRC), the knowledge for policy service of the European Commission, hosts an in-house art-science programme with “the objective of triggering innovation in research and bringing together science, art and society (Commission, n.d. "SciArt Project").
Sofia Greaves, Caterina Benincasa, Virginia Bernardi, Adriaan Eeckels, SciArt collaborations at the Joint Research Centre: Understanding and evaluating transdisciplinary innovation beyond economic value,
Technovation, Volume 143, 2025, 103229, ISSN 0166-4972,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.technovation.2025.103229.