Workshop smARTcities and Waste Network

Techno-Scientific Innovation and Waste
Opportunities and Consequences
Van Eyck Institute, Maastricht
9^th December 2016, 9.30-5pm

The theme of the Maastricht workshop is Techno-Scientific Innovation and Waste; Opportunities and Consequences. This theme has developed “organically” from two main sources:

• The local context of Maastricht, particularly in relation to the post-industrial status of Maastricht and the legacy of its mining heritage; and the new industrial/scientific and academic expertise and focus in the Maastricht region on bio polymers and chemical innovation- bioplastics.

• The need to explore not only the opportunities and successes/”best practice”, but also the “unintended consequences”, of techno-scientific innovation in relation to waste, which has been an underlying theme of the network from its earliest origins and emerged as a key issue during the (previous) Amsterdam workshop.

In this workshop, we will not simply learn more about new techno-scientific innovations and their potential to tackle waste problems, although this is of course, an important and exciting aspect of the day! We also anticipate exploring “bigger picture” issues, such as: to what extent, are today’s solutions tomorrow’s problems? Are we looking at “the problem of waste” the wrong way round? Is it possible for arts, humanities and social science to be a “critical friend” to science and technology in a way which facilitates, rather than precludes, interdisciplinary and innovative participatory design? What role should art play in critiquing, or collaborating, with science and technology and innovation?

For more information and registration (before 30 November) see the smARTcities and waste website.