Catalyst and Academic Activator Spotlight Programs

“Artistic intelligence” : harnessing the power of the arts to address complex challenges, enhance soft skills and boost innovation and competitiveness is sponsored by European Commission — Horizon Europe. Expected Outcome: Proposals should contribute to the first two expected outcomes, and either the one listed under Focus 1, or the one listed under Focus 2. The potential of art-science and/or technology collaborations to address societal challenges and drive innovation is better understood. Guidance, toolkits, and actionable methodologies are developed to promote these collaborations, providing policymakers, professionals, and training organisations with clarity on intervention scope, applicability across various fields, and evaluation methods, metrics, or tools. New and existing national, European or international networks for art-science-technology collaborations are established or strengthened, expanding opportunities for artists to engage with science and technology. Focus 1 Approaches, methodologies and model interventions for integrating arts and creative practices to enhance soft skills across public and private sectors are developed, tested and disseminated. Focus 2 The effectiveness of critical artists’ engagement in interdisciplinary teams is demonstrated alongside the assessment of the viability of research-intensive emerging technologies through at least three low technology readiness level (TRL) pilot demonstrators. Scope: Artistic research fosters inter-, multi-, and trans-disciplinary thinking, inspiring innovative problem-solving and offering new avenues for innovation across policy areas, akin to scientific research. EU initiatives such as SciArt and S+T+ARTS [1] show that art-science-technology collaborations enhance scientific and technological progress. Art acts as a catalyst for innovation, developing creative solutions to complex challenges and brings fresh perspectives to the scientific community. Artistic research is increasingly fostering mutual fertilization between the arts and academia. Collaboration with artists leads academics to adopt experimental practices, while artists increasingly engage with theoretical aspects of their practice. Closer collaboration between artists and companies in emerging technologies ensures that technological developments are guided by diverse, human-centred perspectives. Artistic research offers cross-disciplinary insights that challenge conventional thinking, spark innovation beyond technical efficiency, and address societal challenges holistically. Furthermore, artistic intelligence [2] makes complex concepts accessible and engages audiences emotionally and culturally. Artistic expression facilitates the adoption of innovative concepts and practices and catalyses social innovation, supporting sustainable and inclusive societal transformations and the cultural uptake of socio-scientific issues. Now is the time to consolidate understanding of the transformative potential of art-science-technology collaborations, distil it for application across policy areas and levels, and develop methods to evaluate their impact both quantitatively and qualitatively. Projects are expected to: Gather evidence on art-science-technology collaborations for addressing societal challenges and spurring innovation in science and technology. Collect case studies, produce and disseminate guidance, toolkits, and methodologies supporting policymakers in promoting these collaborations and strategies for cross-disciplinary innovation. Mechanisms, span of possible interventions, applicability to diverse fields and contexts will be clarified and exemplified. Develop concrete use cases, such as (but not limited to): artists supporting ethical, inclusive, human-centred AI; addressing societal challenges and complex transformations through art-science-technology collaboration, advancing emotional storytelling, experiential art and public engagement through AI and real-time data; public sector roles in the art-science-technology uptake; role of artists in catalysing innovation in policymaking; participatory art-science-technology initiatives and citizen science. Develop and test qualitative and quantitat Programme areas: Horizon Europe (HORIZON), Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness, Culture, creativity and inclusive society, Cultural Heritage Keywords: Arts, Art history, Creativity management, Design innovation, Experimentally-driven research and innovation, ICT & art, Life long learning, Mental health, Open innovation, Social innovation, Social sciences, interdisciplinary, Visual arts, performing arts, design, S+T+ARTS programme, SciArt, XR, art-based learning, art-driven research, art-science collaboration, art-technology collaboration, artist residencies, artistic intelligence, artistic research, collaborative networks, competitiveness, creative industries, creative innovation, creative productivity, creativity, critical thinking, cross-sector partnerships, cultural engagement, cultural transformation, democratic society, emerging technologies, emotional intelligence, emotional storytelling, ethical AI, ethical innovation., experimental practices, human-centred technology, immersive arts, inclusive education, inclusive innovation, innovation ecosystems, innovation evaluation, interdisciplinary research, interdisciplinary teams, knowledge transfer, mental well-being, participatory methods, policy innovation, problem-solving, research impact, societal challenges, soft skills, spatial computing, transdisciplinary innovation, virtual reality