The first year of the STARTS Ec(h)o project established the framework for the consortium’s annual activities and laid the foundation for various activities to be implemented in the project’s framework. During this period, the STARTS Ec(h)o consortium:
1) Implemented the residency open call and selected 10 artists out of 192 applications to participate in the residency and incubation program.
2) Implemented the STARTS Prize 2024: the 5 jury members awarded 2 Grand Prizes, 10 Honorary Mentions, and highlighted 18 Nominations out of 1308 applications received through the STARTS Prize Open call.
3) Organized the first edition of the AI&Music program at the Sónar Festival with 12 events which 125 000 visitors including 25 000 representatives of creative industries attended.
4) Actively disseminated the project at the annual events organized by the partners in the framework of Ars Electronica Festival and Sónar (in total 18 activities), and also additionally at 22 events in 9 countries in Europe and outside, with over 265 000 audience reached in total.
5) Carried out communication activities to promote the program, its approach, and its outcomes with 370 000 reached in total via STARTS.eu and STARTS websites, over 90 000 reached via 21 newsletters sent, and over 205 000 reached via 181 posts on social media on STARTS.eu and partners’ channels, with the estimated views of 1.3M for the media coverage.
6) Defined the framework for assessing residency methodologies and initiated research in this area.
7) Continued expanding the STARTS network by organizing dedicated events, such as STARTS Day at Ars Electronica Festival, and developing strategies for the projects at the intersection of art, science, and technology.
