Periodic Reporting for period 2 - FILMEU_RIT (FILMEU_RIT - Research | Innovation | Transformation)
Reporting period: 2023-03-01 to 2024-08-31
FILMEU_RIT brings together four European Higher Education Institutions: UL - Lusófona University from Lisbon, Portugal; TLU/BFM - Tallinn University Baltic Film, Media and Arts School from Tallinn, Estonia; LUCA School of Arts from Brussels, Belgium; and IADT - Dún Laoghaire Institute of Art Design and Technology, from Dublin, Ireland. Together, these institutions collaborate around the common objective of jointly promoting high-level research, innovation and educational activities in the multidisciplinary field of Film and Media Arts and, through this collaboration, consolidate the central role of Europe as a world leader in the creative fields. These institutions, among four other HEIs, are jointly promoting the implementation of FILMEU – The European Universities Alliance for Film and Media Arts.
FilmEU_RIT involved the implementation of four TMs – Transformational Modules in view of ensuring the alliance R&I capacitation. The four implemented TMs were defined following the original indication for different TMs in the SwAfs H2020 call and are: [TM1] R&I RESOURCES AND STRATEGIC AGENDA brings together TMs “Developing a common R&I agenda” and “action plan & Sharing resources and infrastructures” indicated in the call; [TM2] IMPACT & ENGAGEMENT corresponds to TM “Engaging citizens and society” in the call; [TM3] TALENT corresponds to “Strengthening human capital” TM in the call; and [TM4] NETWORKING corresponds to TM “Exploring joint structures for common barriers and best practices” in the call.
The implementation of the transformational modules was designed across the Work program to ensure the Alliance's capacity-building through different transformations covering all selected domains.
Our transformational modules were conceived as a response to several challenges we identified:
A. the current status of film education in Europe, where film schools are traditionally tied to educational models of the conservatoires which are, for the most part, still distinct from the wider academia;
B. the current relatively “lower” status of artistic and practice-based research. The fact that artistic research is still a relatively young field contributes to greater difficulties in getting support and funding for research and a lower level of recognition of its impact and value.
C. lower levels of capacity at the Alliance level both in terms of trained and dedicated researchers and science management capacity among the partners
D. difficulty in acquiring funding for artistic and practice-based research.
Through the implementation of the four described TMs, the Alliance intended to increase its R&I capacitation and expand the uptake of artistic practice-based research in the Alliance and further on in Europe, which will in turn impact the creative sector and Europe’s positioning as a leader in this field, though responding to the Alliance’s more general objectives. FilmEU_RIT advanced this joint R&I agenda for artistic research. This involved enhancing capabilities, fostering collaborative structures to boost talent attraction, and amplifying the impact of the Alliance's research to improve its overall competitiveness.
FilmEU_RIT involved the implementation of four TMs – Transformational Modules in view of ensuring the alliance R&I capacitation. The four implemented TMs were defined following the original indication for different TMs in the SwAfs H2020 call and are: [TM1] R&I RESOURCES AND STRATEGIC AGENDA brings together TMs “Developing a common R&I agenda” and “action plan & Sharing resources and infrastructures” indicated in the call; [TM2] IMPACT & ENGAGEMENT corresponds to TM “Engaging citizens and society” in the call; [TM3] TALENT corresponds to “Strengthening human capital” TM in the call; and [TM4] NETWORKING corresponds to TM “Exploring joint structures for common barriers and best practices” in the call.
The implementation of the transformational modules was designed across the Work program to ensure the Alliance's capacity-building through different transformations covering all selected domains.
Our transformational modules were conceived as a response to several challenges we identified:
A. the current status of film education in Europe, where film schools are traditionally tied to educational models of the conservatoires which are, for the most part, still distinct from the wider academia;
B. the current relatively “lower” status of artistic and practice-based research. The fact that artistic research is still a relatively young field contributes to greater difficulties in getting support and funding for research and a lower level of recognition of its impact and value.
C. lower levels of capacity at the Alliance level both in terms of trained and dedicated researchers and science management capacity among the partners
D. difficulty in acquiring funding for artistic and practice-based research.
Through the implementation of the four described TMs, the Alliance intended to increase its R&I capacitation and expand the uptake of artistic practice-based research in the Alliance and further on in Europe, which will in turn impact the creative sector and Europe’s positioning as a leader in this field, though responding to the Alliance’s more general objectives. FilmEU_RIT advanced this joint R&I agenda for artistic research. This involved enhancing capabilities, fostering collaborative structures to boost talent attraction, and amplifying the impact of the Alliance's research to improve its overall competitiveness.
FilmEU departed from a situation where most of the participating HEIs are non-research-intensive institutions with a distinct focus on film and media arts education. In order to allow these institutions to transform themselves into research driven institutions, the clear and distinct focus of the project on practice-based-artistic research was central to our transformative efforts. All deliverables and milestones foreseen for the period were concluded and submitted on time.
FilmEU_RIT outcomes resulted in pathways toward future impact across the Alliance and beyond:
• The definition of our joint research agenda in coherence with our educational strategy;
• Setup of SPARC as a system of incentives to collaboration in research activities across the Alliance;
• Design of RIT office as a joint research support structure;
• Development of joint research activities in the form of several pilots that also integrated students
• Promotion of joint training initiatives and programs targeting both researchers (i.e MOOC on artistic research) or PhD students (i.e DOCTUS seminars)
• Setup FilmEU HUB as a form of cooperation on joint research and innovation infrastructures;
• Promotion of an original approach to entrepreneurship in the cultural and creative industries that resulted in the design and piloting of a novel project-based incubation model and the production of a transferable innovation toolkit.
• Testing and piloting of several joint structures and collaboration modules including a potential joint tenure track and common supervision model for PhD
• Design and implementation of a toolkit that facilitates the implementation of the Alliance Action plan towards R&I capacitation.
Through its implementation, FilmEU_RIT ensured the Alliance R&I capacitation and laid the foundational ground for future R&I collaborations and impact.
FilmEU_RIT outcomes resulted in pathways toward future impact across the Alliance and beyond:
• The definition of our joint research agenda in coherence with our educational strategy;
• Setup of SPARC as a system of incentives to collaboration in research activities across the Alliance;
• Design of RIT office as a joint research support structure;
• Development of joint research activities in the form of several pilots that also integrated students
• Promotion of joint training initiatives and programs targeting both researchers (i.e MOOC on artistic research) or PhD students (i.e DOCTUS seminars)
• Setup FilmEU HUB as a form of cooperation on joint research and innovation infrastructures;
• Promotion of an original approach to entrepreneurship in the cultural and creative industries that resulted in the design and piloting of a novel project-based incubation model and the production of a transferable innovation toolkit.
• Testing and piloting of several joint structures and collaboration modules including a potential joint tenure track and common supervision model for PhD
• Design and implementation of a toolkit that facilitates the implementation of the Alliance Action plan towards R&I capacitation.
Through its implementation, FilmEU_RIT ensured the Alliance R&I capacitation and laid the foundational ground for future R&I collaborations and impact.
FilmEU_RIT progresses beyond the state of the art by proposing an original mode of fostering research in less research-intensive institutions via practice based artistic research. This model will facilitate the emergence of a full fledge European University of Film and Media Arts with strong research capacity and a focus on innovation and entrepreneurship that will greatly contribute to the continuous positioning of Europe as a leader in the cultural and creative sectors.
FilmEU_RIT main impact is the development of a model for the implementation of a joint research agenda based on the concept of dynamic research clusters and the piloting of a number of projects that illustrate how to develop and implement specialised applied research in non-research-intensive Higher Education Institutions.
At the centre of this process is the development of the dynamic research clusters. The aim was to develop a taxonomy of dynamic research structures from the bottom-up rather than through predetermined classifications imposed from the top-down. These structures are conceived as fluid networks (or rhizomes) of researchers clustered around topics rather than as a strict hierarchy. These are piloted as dynamic research clusters. A dynamic research cluster is a model for interinstitutional and interdisciplinary research collaboration. The dynamic research clusters are envisioned to support pilot projects with various research frameworks and collaborative partners within and outside of the Alliance. The intention of the pilot venture is to explore the various forms of research collaborations, progresses and outputs. FilmEU_RIT promotes artistic research through the implementation of these dynamic research clusters in order to reach a research positioning of the Alliance as a critical cultural intermediary. Therefore, these dynamic research clusters do not exist on their own but are embedded in the FilmEU hub. The FilmEU hub is based on several infrastructures called labs that span the main areas of research and technical expertise on which the Alliance is focused. This model engineers the Alliance as a network that hosts dynamic research clusters supported by labs and operating along implemented joint pilot projects that represent various stages of relationships among members with the aim of achieving a successful collaborative network.
FilmEU_RIT main impact is the development of a model for the implementation of a joint research agenda based on the concept of dynamic research clusters and the piloting of a number of projects that illustrate how to develop and implement specialised applied research in non-research-intensive Higher Education Institutions.
At the centre of this process is the development of the dynamic research clusters. The aim was to develop a taxonomy of dynamic research structures from the bottom-up rather than through predetermined classifications imposed from the top-down. These structures are conceived as fluid networks (or rhizomes) of researchers clustered around topics rather than as a strict hierarchy. These are piloted as dynamic research clusters. A dynamic research cluster is a model for interinstitutional and interdisciplinary research collaboration. The dynamic research clusters are envisioned to support pilot projects with various research frameworks and collaborative partners within and outside of the Alliance. The intention of the pilot venture is to explore the various forms of research collaborations, progresses and outputs. FilmEU_RIT promotes artistic research through the implementation of these dynamic research clusters in order to reach a research positioning of the Alliance as a critical cultural intermediary. Therefore, these dynamic research clusters do not exist on their own but are embedded in the FilmEU hub. The FilmEU hub is based on several infrastructures called labs that span the main areas of research and technical expertise on which the Alliance is focused. This model engineers the Alliance as a network that hosts dynamic research clusters supported by labs and operating along implemented joint pilot projects that represent various stages of relationships among members with the aim of achieving a successful collaborative network.