Open Arts

Participatory and transdisciplinary knowledge production at the interface of art, science, and society

What is the project about?

Open Arts was a continuing education program jointly offered by the LBG OIS Center and the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna. It fostered exchange between art, science, and society, with the aim of building competencies for participatory and transdisciplinary research and innovation processes.
Participants were introduced to methods for actively involving societal groups in research and design processes. Through workshops on narration, aesthetics, intervention, and futures thinking, artistic and scientific approaches were brought together. Methods such as storytelling, design thinking, artistic research, mapping, artistic interventions, and future scenarios were applied.
The program promoted the co-creation of new knowledge through collaboration across disciplinary boundaries. At its core was the question of how art and science can work together to address societal challenges and enable transformative innovation.

What is the goal of the project?

The aim of Open Arts was to build competencies for participatory and transdisciplinary research and innovation processes at the intersection of art, science, and society. Participants were introduced to methods for engaging diverse disciplines and societal groups in research and design processes. Through the exchange of artistic and scientific approaches, the program sought to develop new forms of knowledge production, collaboration, and societal impact.

Participants acquired a broad range of methods for participatory research and collaboration, including storytelling, design thinking, artistic research, public-space interventions, and futures scenarios. They learned how artistic and creative approaches can be integrated into scientific projects and how societal groups can be actively involved in research and innovation processes. In addition, they benefited from interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary exchange with experts from the fields of art, science, and research, as well as from the collaborative development and reflection of their own project ideas. The program strengthened their skills in communication, collaboration, innovation, and enhancing the societal impact of research.

Who participates in the project?

Students, graduates, and early-career researchers from universities and universities of applied sciences

How are participants involved in the project?

Participants were not merely involved as audience members but actively and collaboratively contributed to shaping the content of the training program. Open Arts was based on a shared learning and development process in which artistic and scientific methods were explored, reflected upon, and further developed through practical application.

To engage participants, the program employed a range of participatory and practice-based methods, including:
• Participatory research and co-creation approaches, through which knowledge was developed collaboratively and diverse societal perspectives were incorporated into research and innovation processes.
• Storytelling and narrative methods, including the creation and analysis of stories as well as the communication of participants’ own projects to different audiences.
• Design Thinking approaches, such as visualization exercises, empathy mapping, interviews, needs assessments, and collaborative problem framing.
• Artistic and aesthetic methods, including Artistic Research, Art-Driven Innovation, Artistic Activism, and performative forms of communication.
• Hands-on experiments and practical exercises, enabling participants to experience and explore scientific and artistic concepts directly.
• Mapping and intervention methods, such as mobile immersive research, live mapping, and artistic interventions in public spaces.
• Futures and scenario-building approaches, through which participants reflected on possible futures, new forms of collaboration, and processes of societal transformation.

Overall, participants were engaged primarily through active collaboration, collective experimentation, critical reflection, interdisciplinary exchange, and the practical application of participatory methods.

How are participants recruited for the project?

Participants were recruited through public calls for applications and workshop announcements. Students, graduates, and early-career researchers from the fields of art, science, and research were invited to apply. Due to the limited number of places available, applications were reviewed and selected by a jury in order to create a small, diverse, and interdisciplinary learning community. The selection process aimed to bring together participants with different disciplinary backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives, thereby fostering meaningful exchange and collaboration across the fields of art, science, and society.

What are the results of the project?

The outcome of Open Arts was the development of competencies for participatory and transdisciplinary research at the intersection of art, science, and society. Participants jointly explored, tested, and reflected on methods of collaboration, participation, and knowledge production, while developing new perspectives on the societal impact of research and artistic practice. In addition, the program fostered the creation of an interdisciplinary network of researchers, artists, and experts, promoting exchange and collaboration around innovative approaches to cross-sectoral and transdisciplinary cooperation. Through this network, participants established valuable connections that supported ongoing dialogue and future collaborative initiatives beyond the duration of the program.

Project lead

Dr. Georg Russegger

trbet.ehffrttre@yot.np.ng

Cooperation partners

Akademie der bildenden Künste Wien, WTZ Ost