ArtSciencePolicy
ART SCIENCE POLICY is an initiative organised by EU Policy Lab and JRC SciArt (European Commission), together with us - Center Leo Apostel (VUB) - to explore how transdisciplinary artistic practice, in particular artscience research, can work together with policymaking.
In January 2026 we a organised a workshop bringing together colleagues from across the European Commission, as well as artists, researchers, curators, and policymakers from across Europe, to focus on one core question:
What happens when art, science, and policy operate together as a single system — and what would it take to further develop Art–Science–Policy collaboration within the European Commission and beyond?
Why this question? Because many of today’s challenges are complex, entangled, and uncertain. Artistic research and practice bring methods of experimentation and imagination that can expand and reframe how policy problems are understood, as well as the range of possible solutions.
At CLEA ArtScience (VUB), our work sits at the intersection of transdisciplinarity, artistic research, and systems thinking. EU Policy Lab and JRC SciArt are at the forefront of exploring how novel methodologies and systemic understanding can serve as valuable partners in reimagining policy.
We are delighted to be initiating this new phase of research together, and deeply grateful to all those who attended the workshop for their generosity in sharing their ideas and insights so far.
Soon we will publish a report on the workshop outlining our key learnings and recommendations for the future.
What happens when art, science, and policy work as one system?
Exploring transdisciplinary collaboration between CLEA ArtScience, JRC SciArt, and EU Policy Lab — article published March 2026.
What new possibilities emerge when art, science, and policymaking function not as separate domains, but as a single, interconnected system? This question brought together around fifty participants in Brussels in January 2026 for a day-long workshop co-hosted by the EU Policy Lab, JRC SciArt, and CLEA ArtScience (Centre Leo Apostel for Transdisciplinary Studies, Vrije Universiteit Brussel).
The timing could hardly be more relevant, with Europe facing a complex set of challenges: from the climate transition and biodiversity loss to AI governance, geopolitical and social challenges, and emerging technological frontiers. These issues share a common quality: they are volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous. They often resist the linear reasoning and problem-solving models on which many of our current institutions were built. Scientific evidence and policy expertise remain essential, yet they, alone, cannot untangle the entangled. These times call for new ways of thinking and sensing: transdisciplinary approaches that combine creativity, emotional intelligence, and collective insight.
This is what we are trying to do with Art–Science–Policy (ASP). This initiative seeks to explore how Europe can embed these integrative practices more systematically: not just as one-off projects, but as a new form of institutional intelligence.
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