FAST45:Futures (Un)known

Higher arts education institutions prioritise creating inclusive and collaborative environments called Open Spaces. These spaces foster individualistic lifestyles, emphasising self-reliance, uniqueness, and abstract thinking. They build strong relationships with diverse communities and engage with societal, environmental, sociocultural, and technological challenges. Open Spaces serve as hubs of artistic ingenuity, encouraging creativity and collaboration, and addressing the complex problems of society and the planet.

Higher arts education institutions become active contributors to sustainability goals, embracing regenerative practices and collaboration between species. Hierarchies are flattened, and students play a vital role in decision-making. Slowness and degrowth are seen as catalysts for creativity, while resource scarcity is integral to artistic growth. These institutions cultivate holistic artists and conscientious citizens committed to addressing global challenges and nurturing a sense of responsibility towards the environment.

Advancements in quantum cloud computing, AI, and neurotechnology lead to a phygital environment, blending physical and digital realms. Artists augment their bodies and push artistic boundaries, integrating AI for personalised learning and generative technologies for artistic research. Decentralised autonomous organisations manage education, and fresh perspectives and legislation are needed to navigate the ethical challenges of technology-driven art. This scenario calls for a dynamic framework that upholds ethical principles while embracing innovation.

Artists, arts organisations, and arts universities navigate a business-oriented landscape while facing challenges to academic and artistic freedom. Customised education, university-business partnerships, and impact-focused research offer opportunities, but economic constraints and limited access to higher arts education persist. Informal networks and agile alliances outside traditional institutions foster artistic inquiry and achievements. To thrive, artists and institutions must adapt, forge alliances, and embrace alternative networks that foster inclusivity, artistic freedom, and diverse perspectives.

FAST45 developed a Learning Platform which includes a Data Map and a 3-year-long journey of lectures and seminars exploring different forms and aspects around the concept of a learning platform, its history, present use, and possible future developments.
Join this session to learn about the highlights and main findings.

FAST45 tested new methodologies for enhancing future thinking and imagining alternative futures in higher arts education.
Join this session to find out more about how to use the FAST45 Guidelines (to be published in Autumn) for implementing Future Labs and the main finding on applying art-based methods.

Using a speed dating method, this session provides participants with insights on how to apply future thinking and its possible applications.