Art, tech, and society once again took centre stage at the 2025 edition of the Ars Electronica Festival. Held in Linz from 3–7 September, it was considered one of the most successful editions to date, attracting over 122,000 visitors through exhibitions, conferences, workshops, and its annual Awards Ceremony.
EIT Culture & Creativity was pleased to join the cohort of more than 1,400 artists, scientists, developers, entrepreneurs, and activists, alongside 440 cooperation partners, to explore the festival’s 2025 theme PANIC yes/no, reflecting on creativity in times of uncertainty.
Archipelago of Possible Futures, Main Conference Hall | Photo by: flap
Connecting European initiatives
The first day our Regional Hub South-East Alps hosted a Creative Breakfast, welcoming around 50 participants and connecting the EIT Culture & Creativity, STARTS, and New European Bauhaus communities.
“We are working to position the South-East & Alps region as a recognised contributor to cultural and creative innovation. From our base in Vienna, we facilitate experimentation at the intersection of creativity, technology, and sustainability, while building links between local actors and EU-level initiatives,” stated Gerin Trautenberger, Director of Regional Hub South-East Alps. “Ars Electronica is the perfect arena on both fronts.”
The Archipelago for Possible Futures Forum inaugurated the main conference room. Gathering thought leaders, artists, scientists, policymakers, technologists, and cultural workers, the one-day forum explored how Europe can mobilise its collective imagination for change. Guided by the STARTS Prize 2025 winners, discussions explored how culture can and must be leveraged to redesign digital, cultural, and ecological infrastructures.
“We are not powerless in these challenging times. We must mobilise our social and collective imagination to invent alternative futures,” stated digital and innovation policy expert Francesca Bria. “The future is not siloed and bi-institutional,” added curator and cultural researcher José Luis de Vicente. “Europe is the most diverse public infrastructure, built up collectively through decades of collaboration with its citizens.”
NEB Junction meeting | Photo by: vog.photo
Partnering with the New European Bauhaus
EIT Culture & Creativity is proud to be part of the EU-wide effort to spark meaningful change, having recently announced a strategic collaboration with the New European Bauhaus (NEB). Aiming to embed the NEB values of inclusion, beauty, and sustainability into Europe’s innovation agenda, the collaboration will unfold through three flagship initiatives across education, enterprise, and regional transformation.
As an initial step in this collaboration, we met with the NEB Junction team at Ars Electronica. Comprising a consortium of eight organisations, the team is building a knowledge platform to showcase NEB projects and their impact. During the event, we shared expectations and exchanged ideas to create a strong narrative and structure to make the gathered evidence accessible to communities across Europe.
“Culture and creativity are not peripheral to innovation; they are its deepest sources for resilience. Creative practices offer not only solutions, but ways of seeing, sensing, and imagining the world differently. This collaboration allows us to mobilise the full potential of culture and design to regenerate our systems – bringing meaning, care and direction to how we innovate across Europe”, said our Director of Transformation, Ambra Trotto.
“The culture and creativity sectors offer a different way of working and thinking that can help us move faster and bring more people on board. By having EIT Culture & Creativity involved, we make the CCSI part of this systemic innovation – creating a level playing field between art and technology, biology and local communities, the public and private sectors, community entrepreneurs, and more. It’s about uniting these different perspectives within one new innovation ecosystem”, shared Annemie Wyckmans, Project Coordinator of NEB Junction.
Panel on Art, Healthcare, and Well-being | Photo by: flap
Bridging disciplines for societal impact
As the central thread throughout Ars Electronica, interdisciplinarity lay at the heart of discussions. EIT Culture & Creativity joined EIT Health, Bayern Innovativ GmbH, and the LBG Open Innovation in Science Center for a panel on Art, Healthcare, and Well-being, highlighting why artists and designers must have a seat at the table when developing tools and processes for healthcare, medical literacy, and well-being.
“In health and well-being, we are dealing with deeply human challenges. Artists and designers can make the future tangible, giving shape to what is not yet visible. We have to establish a multistakeholder environment in which creatives are involved from the outset”, said Miriam Kathrein, Innovation Manager at EIT Culture & Creativity.
Panellists agreed that for a healthcare sector of the future — built on participatory approaches, prevention, and a human-centred ethos — creativity must be at the core.
All voices came together for the Prix Ars Electronica Award Ceremony, highlighting strong political support for the transformative power of the CCSI and interdisciplinary work. “Art is not just aesthetics but a driving force for innovation and societal change,” stated the Mayor of Linz, Dietmar Prammer. “Creativity shapes our future.”
Cover photo: Phonos – Marc Vilanova | Photo by vog.photo
