Every Ending is a New Beginning

I’m delighted –but also a bit sad- to announce to you that we presented the final results of the project to our commissioner today. Now that the Research Report, the Project Plan, the Course of Action and the article for Colin’s Uncover Magazine are handed in, we’re all very satisfied with the outcome and the process as a whole. I’ll might even miss the project and the lovely team I was working with but as they say; every ending is the start of something new (only if the Mayans were wrong though)! So yes… for the members of Bridge this project has ended today. However, the process of Social Innovation does not stop and the network we set up with be sustained so that the solutions can be realized eventually. We created a Facebook page that will function as a platform for everyone who is –and wants to be-  involved in this project so if you’d like to share your opinions and ideas or if you just like what we did; go to http://www.facebook.com/bridgeresearchagency (and press LIKE)! If anyone of you is interested in receiving more information about the documents I mentioned earlier, please feel free to send an email to  Bridge.researchagency@gmail.com!

Below you can find some slides of our final presentation:

Final Presentation

Creative Network Session 2.0

The Idea

The Concept

Mission

Vision

Target Group

Comments on Networking

What Now?

Stakeholders

Facebook Page

Thank You

Merry Christmas

Bridge Research Agency

The Final Report

And last but not least, this blog will NOT die! You don’t have to worry cause we are planning to continue writing, as we all enjoyed sharing our ideas and progress with you here! We might not post every day, but there are definitely some interesting developments going on we can’t keep to ourselves… Curious? Stay tuned!

A.S.

Visual culture – putting thoughts into pictures

While I was thinking about a topic that would make this blog interesting for today, I followed my daily routine to check on blogs that I try to follow on a regular basis and came across fuckyouverymuch.

The blog is run by “Two friends trying to manage their relationship through this visual diary.” I have been following this blog for several years. The way that the two authors put their thoughts into one simple picture with a short caption amazes me. I like the visuals they choose and the context of the blog: it’s simple, entertaining and inspiring. You can find critical and political topics and everything else that could go on in a human head. If you have a minute and would like to gain some insight, you should check it out here. http://fuckyouverymuch.dk/

In the context of visual culture I would like to share another artist that I have been following through recent history. Walker Pachler was born in the US and raised in the Netherlands. Among his works you can find the diversity of visual culture with pictures, drawings and videos. His portfolio delivers an overview of his great talent. But see for yourself (click the picture for a link to his website)

I believe that choosing visual culture as a subsector for this project opened up many opportunities for us and I am looking forward to get deeper into the subject of creative industries, to discover local art and artists especially in North Brabant and then share our and my thoughts, ideas or discoveries with you.

SH

Saving energy and money: an award-winning idea

The last few weeks of the project have been all about research into the field of food, water and energy waste and getting inspired by creative ideas to tackle this societal challenge. One organisation stood out in terms of inspiring others to become greener by thinking outside of the box.

It can be difficult to estimate and programme the exact heat and energy needed for the optimal  production environment. Greenhouses often deal with air temperature that is too hot for their crops or flowers and need to open windows and doors to get rid of the heat.

An orchid greenhouse in Andel, North-Brabant, came up with a much greener solution which also reduces the energy invoices of their neighbours. Butterfly Orchids will help heat up the new next-door pool with their excess heat. This creative and innovative solution to energy waste has won them the title of ‘Green Company of the Month’.

The award of ‘Green Company of the Month’ has been handed out to Butterfly Orchids last week on 7 September 2012. The title will be delegated to another company next month, who will be or has been an inspiration to companies to become greener just as Butterfly Orchids.

Becoming green and saving money is very much possible with inspiration and novel thinking. Every little helps and we hope to have inspired you!

Madelon

Source: Information and picture based and retrieved from the article ‘Butterfly Orchids ‘groen bedrijf van de maand’ by ‘OnsBrabant’ on 13/09/2012 from http://brabant.nl/actueel/nieuws/2012/september/butterfly-orchids-in-andel-groen-bedrijf-van-de-maand.aspx

Where Good Ideas Come From

In this first blog we would like to tell you a little bit more about our project and what you will be able to find on this page in the upcoming months. As the title already says, we are connecting Creative Industries and Social Innovation, but what exactly are we working on?

First of all, the commissioner of this project is COLIN (Connecting Creative Organisations Linked in Networks). Colin operates on the intersection of education, government, businesses and research and focuses on the added value of creative industries as an important source for innovation. By creating links between creative sectors and economic sectors, innovation is stimulated and the creative economy of Brabant, which is a province in the Netherlands, is enhanced. In previous years Colin has carried out research on creative factors that determine the settlement choices of creative industry branches, social design and the European Capital of Culture. Research is bundled in a magazine called Uncover and we, Bridge Research Agency, will be writing an article for the new edition of Uncover.

During the previous week we have been discussing possible combinations of societal challenges or problems with a subsector of the Creative Industries – basically, we have been researching, discussing and sharing ideas. If you want to know where good ideas come from, have a look at this interesting video by Steven Johnson: 

In the upcoming months we will be bringing parties together in order to create new networks and come up with innovative content for Uncover. If you keep an eye on this blog you will be able to find interesting videos, articles, websites and updates about the project. We hope to see you back on our blog soon!

A.S.