The CreaTures partners are:
Aalto University
The CreaTures consortium brings together several organisations associated with creative approaches to transformation and sustainability: Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture (FI) is the project coordinator and a frontrunner in artistic and practice-based research, with strong expertise in collaborative and co-creation projects. The University of Sussex’s Sustainability Research Programme (UK) is designed to bring together interdisciplinary teams to tackle complex sustainability issues and the pilot work behind the CreaTures proposal was undertaken there. RMIT Europe (ES), as an extension of RMIT Australia, contributes considerable expertise in care-full design, engagement practices and urban transformations. The Utrecht University (NL) brings expertise on governance processes, pathways to sustainability and the use of simulation games.
Alongside this research expertise, the project works in five main sites (Barcelona, Helsinki, Ljubljana, London and Seville) through skilled artistic practices led by major arts organisations: Superflux (UK) and Hellon (FI) are design studios practising consulting and commissioning work for private and public organisations. Furtherfield (UK) and Kersnikova (SI) are arts collectives that act as cultural institutions and producers, reaching a wider network of artists located throughout Europe. ZEMOS98 (ES) is a creative arts cooperative with extensive networks in activist circles and grassroots projects across Europe.
This creative arts and research portfolio in CreaTures is complemented by two non-for-profit organisations with special domain knowledge: Sniffer (UK) contributes expertise in brokering between creative practitioners and policy makers / implementers; OKFI (FI) focuses on the application and development of open knowledge and systems thinking.
CreaTures Advisory Board Members
Hilary Jennings is a director of the Happy Museum Project working across the arts and cultural sectors. In addition to her work with museums, she has been involved as an Associate of Clore and Extend Leadership Programmes and worked extensively in the craft sector – among others as a manager of the inaugural Craft Skills Award, and the Interim Chair of the Craft Industry Board. She is a co-founder of the Case For Optimism, a network creating space for practitioners in the arts and cultural sector to maximise their creative response to global challenges. She is a trustee of the Transition Network.
Isabelle LeGalo is the director of the Carasso Foundation, a French-Spanish philanthropic organization creating networks and fostering agents with two main lines of works in food sovereignty and citizens art in Spain. She is a mathematician and a philosopher who actively participates in many forums and spaces regarding how a sustainable future looks like.
Marjo Mäenpää is the director of Foundation for Cultural Policy Research and CUPORE – Center for cultural policy research in Finland. She has extensive experience working in the Ministry of Education and Culture (FI) and in media production education at the University of Art and Design Helsinki and at the Aalto University (both FI).
Špela Petrič is a former scientist (biology) turned artist who works in the field of art, science & technology, following an interest in the transformative potential of contemporary investigative art on society. She is an ARS ELECTRONICA award winner and was one of the keynotes at the ECSITE Conference 2020.
Mianna Meskus is Associate Professor of Sociology and Science and Technology Studies (STS) at Tampere University. She has led several research projects on health, biomedicine, gender, and embodiment. She is currently leading an Academy of Finland-funded project VALDA on biomedical technologies and ethical valuation in reproduction and ageing, and a Finnish Cultural Foundation funded Argumenta-project on the paradoxes of reproductive futures. More information on her research is available here.