On june 23, 2025, the S+T+ARTS Ec(h)o Policy Event brought policymakers, researchers, innovators, and artists to the European Parliament to address a blunt question:
Can art-driven innovation meaningfully contribute to Europe’s future, or is it still treated as a side dish to “real” innovation?
Through keynotes, panels, and an artist intervention, the discussion cut across policy silos, arguing that Europe’s current challenges, geopolitical instability, technological acceleration, and social fragmentation cannot be tackled with STEM-only thinking.
Caterina Benincasa from JRC SciArt participated in the section Crafting the Bridge of Tomorrow, together with Ambra Trotto (EIT Culture & Creativity), Barbara Stacher (DG EAC). Moderator: Veronika Liebl, Ars Electronica.
The message was consistent and unsentimental: artistic practices are not observers of change but active agents, provided they are structurally integrated into research, innovation, and policy frameworks rather than showcased symbolically.
Report
A report by T6 synthesises the event’s core insights and is explicit about what is not working. Traditional innovation models are no longer sufficient, and Europe risks wasting strategic opportunities if it continues to undervalue culture as soft power and productivity infrastructure.
Key points include the need to recognise artistic research as legitimate knowledge production; embed STEAM approaches in education and skills policy; open technological infrastructures (from AI to high-performance computing) to cultural practices; and design funding schemes with longer timeframes and mixed-method impact assessment.
The report also stresses that trust-building, systemic innovation, and societal resilience require imagination as much as optimisation. The conclusion is clear: art-driven innovation is not optional, but without concrete instruments and political commitment, it will remain rhetoric rather than transformation.
Details
- Publication date