Where can we find local creatives to work with?
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Citizen Observatories can benefit from working alongside local cultural, artistic and creative communities, enriching the collective voices among the team, and bringing fresh perspectives to shape citizen-led actions and strengthen the visibility of the outcomes. There are many creative and artistic people, organisations and networks around the world, who also share many concerns about environmental protection with citizen communities and COs. This section provides ways of identifying and connecting with local creative and artistic practitioners, as well as links to existing broader networks such as the New European Bauhaus, or the , both available to the COs to leverage and connect with.
Initially identifying where to find creatives can seem like a challenging exercise, especially if one is not already connected to the creative sector. Therefore, knowing different methods to find creatives and creative nodes, ranging from small scale to larger networks, is an important first step in the outreach process. Furthermore, knowing what their dynamics are will facilitate the involvement of creatives in the co-creation and implementation process.
As we have discussed above, a citizen observatory can engage with individual artists, collectives or networks. To better define what type of collaboration the CO might want to pursue, we would first start by defining what the role of these creatives will be, and their involvement in the process. For doing so, a good first step is to answer the following questions (based on ):
What is the envisioned artist’s/creative’s role? Questions like the following will help us define this:
Will their role be more strategic, conceptual and open ended, more focused on facilitating events and activities, or developing creative outputs?
Will they work with the members from within the CO, or will their role be more public facing, or focused on working with specific communities?
What level of experience is required? Questions like the following will help us define this:
Does the scope or scale of the project require someone with a significant level of experience, or would it be equally suited to an artist at an earlier stage in their career?)
What are the creative skills being sought? Questions like the following will help us define this:
Is it required to have experience of designing and facilitating workshops?
Are skills and training in a particular artform needed?
Is experience of working in specific contexts needed? (e.g. working with communities, in academic and research contexts, within organisations or with policy makers)
What are the desired (creative) outcomes?
After answering and discussing these questions, we will move on by identifying creative nodes, which will help us connect with creative individuals. These creative nodes can be local craft and art associations, which often act as a hub to connect to creative individuals, or bigger networks, which can also be used to find other types of collectives, or even establish international relations if needed. These are the steps we propose:
Conduct a review of existing creative networks, in both the local context and in larger networks. This initial research can be done collectively as a group/team in the CO, to involve different knowledge about existing networks, associations and potentially creative individuals too. This review might involve identifying design universities, cultural institutions, design and creative collectives, and other relevant entities. Below we feature two networks than can help you find creative nodes:
Distributed Design Platform Ecosystem The Distributed Design Platform serves as a hub for artists, designers, and innovators, showcasing their works and facilitating connections with potential collaborators. Exploring such platforms can unearth inspiring ideas, novel approaches, and talented individuals who can contribute to the Citizen Observatory's initiatives. Find it here:
New European Bauhaus Initiative The New European Bauhaus is a movement that seeks to blend sustainability, aesthetics, and inclusiveness in design and innovation. By reaching out to initiatives that are shown on the website, Citizen Observatories can tap into a network of like-minded individuals and organisations committed to creating positive change through interdisciplinary collaboration. The New European Bauhaus can provide valuable resources, expertise, and a platform for Citizen Observatories to connect with creative thinkers who align with their mission and vision. Find it here:
Next, conduct a stakeholder mapping exercise to identify which of these local creatives, artists, designers, and cultural agents we want to connect with. This will reveal valuable insights: what are the characteristics of these nodes, what is the impact of each of them, and what are their dynamics. In the , we will see how the CO might connect with them through open calls, residencies, hackathons, and how to start working with them.
: A network website that showcases a variety of creative hubs in Europe with a mission to enhance the creative, economic and social impact of hubs.
: Is a useful guide for people who are interested in working with creatives and artists. and includes a step-by-step guide for implementing projects with creatives.