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.