At the Open Innovation 2.0 conference, Cluj Cultural Center organized several related events, including the Future in 3D Printing – the first event dedicated to three-dimensional printing in Romania, the “Place-making through art and technology” workshop for the Intergalactic Ethnography Park Workshop “Centers of Sciences of the Future”, which discusses the possibility of building such a center in Cluj.
The first 3D exhibition in Romania and debate on the future Quantum science center
Sophie Biechelet, Director of International Relations at Universcience in Paris, the most important science center in Europe, was invited to the workshop “Science Centers of the Future”, facilitated by Miruna Amza, from the Cluj Cultural Center. The workshop, held on June 13, was attended by representatives of several Romanian and European science and art organizations, invited to contribute to the development of the Quantum Science Center in Cluj.
A week before, took place the inauguration of the exhibition “The Future in 3D Printing” at the National History Museum of Transylvania. The exhibition, organized by the Scientific Association and the Cluj Cultural Center with the support of the London Museum of Science, Cluj-Napoca City Hall and AFCN, illustrates the potential of using 3D technology in the medical, industrial, artistic and creative industries and is the first attempt to communicate these benefits to the general public in Cluj. The exhibition will be opened until June 23 and the access is free.
“These two events, one for the general public and the other for the specialists, are the first of the series of preparatory actions that we are considering to open an innovative science center in Cluj. The Center will host science education and collaboration events and collaborations between art and technology, and the project form will be innovative: we look not at the creation of an institution, but in a moving laboratory that can circulate between Cluj schools and in the neighborhoods.”- Stefan Teişanu, Executive Director of the JRC.
Visit to Intergalactic Ethnography Park
The Intergalactic Ethnography Workshop, also held during the Open Innovation 2.0 conference under the generic “Placemaking through Art and Technology”, has as a special guest, Alexandre Sorrentino, Director of Strategy at the Euromediterranee Urban Regeneration Agency in Marseilles. Sorrentino, who coordinated the urban regeneration program in Marseilles, which became famous throughout the world for reconstituting the old port of the city, coordinated in Cluj a discussion of the milestones for the creation of the Intergalactic Ethnographic Park.
The workshop took place in Hoia, right on the plot considered for the development of the park. Architects and urban planners, artists and sociologists, technology and ethnography specialists participated and discussed the next steps needed to prepare a theme for the design of the park.
“Beyond the original and the beauty of the idea of connecting the Transylvanian ethnography founded in the present Ethnographic Park with the fantasy of the Hoia Forest, this project of Intergalactic Ethnographic Ethnography has the potential to turn into a benchmark for integrated urban development policies. And, of course, he has a huge potential to turn into a fruitful meeting and expression venue for artists and technology experts, but also an attraction for tourists and lovers of nature, stories and technology in Cluj “.
European funding for projects combining art and technology
The European Center for Contemporary Art and Culturepreneurs, the technological and managerial literacy programme for the cultural industries in Cluj, was presented in the conference STArts (Science, Technology and Arts), and Adela Fofiu (Social Circle) Claudian Dobos (Ecolise) and Marcel Heroiu (Worldbank), all members or guests of the CCC, held speeches in the workshops of Societal Transformation and Jobs & Skills.
Also, a special meeting between Ralph Dum, the coordinator of the European Commission’s STArts programme, and local artists was hosted at ZAIN on the evening of June 12th. “The purpose of the meeting was to popularize the STArts European programme, which funds interdisciplinary art and technology projects in the community of local artists. Cluj is very well represented in the sectors of interest of the programme, art and technology, and the intersection of the two, which can generate innovation and bring so much benefit to the community, is strongly supported in the European Union. The STArts meeting, the 3D printing exhibition, the Open Innovation 2.0 workshops and the conference itself were good opportunities for the Cluj community to connect with European experts and partners, and we are glad that we could contribute to the success of these meetings, “said Stefan Teişanu.
On 13 and 14 June, Open Innovation 2.0 was held in Cluj, organized by the European Commission, DG Connect, the Committee of the Regions, Cluj-Napoca City Hall and ARIES Transilvania. On this occasion, Emil Boc, Mayor of Cluj-Napoca, and Bianca Muntean, Executive Director of ARIES Transilvania, were awarded with prizes for their contribution to the development of innovation ecosystems. The Clujean Cultural Center was a partner of Open Innovation 2.0.
