The Example of BlueCity Lab
The digital and global society of the 21st century is rapidly changing the world as we know it. Technological advances are opening up seemingly endless avenues of research and innovation, paving the way for the expanding creative and cultural industries. A noteworthy trend has been the substantial effort to advance the transition from a linear to a circular economy, whereby “everything gets used” and waste is turned into new products. In addition to a radically different mentality on the part of consumers, it requires new forms of entrepreneurship and product design. The question that arises is whether the current education system in the Netherlands aptly prepares creative workers for the challenges of the new millennium.
BlueCity in Rotterdam provides a compelling case study by giving us a sense of how creative entrepreneurs manage to bring the principles of the circular economy into practice in the world of design. This essay offers a reflection on an extensive interview with BlueCity’s Emma van der Leest and Nienke Binnendijk, which was filmed on location on 30 April 2018. A short film with an impression of BlueCity Lab and excerpts of the interview can be found above this interview.
Pioneering entrepreneurs: BlueCity Lab
One of the most innovative initiatives in the Netherlands towards research and development of a more sustainable way of life is BlueCity Lab in Rotterdam. It offers an inspiring example of how creative entrepreneurs envision the economy of the future. Set in the former swimming pool Tropicana, this incubator invites scientists, engineers, artists and designers to experiment and explore how waste and bacteria can be used to develop new materials (http://www.bluecity.nl/en/).
The driving force behind this venture is biodesigner Emma van der Leest. She graduated from the Willem de Kooning Academy in product design and gained valuable experience as an intern at the Biocouture Studio in London (considered the world’s first bio creative consultancy). Emma pursues crossovers between science and art by developing new products in a sustainable manner. For instance, a leather-like material derived from a mix of yeast and bacteria was used to create a Biocouture bag, and the lamellae of mushrooms were incorporated into a side table (http://emmavanderleest.com). These and other projects propelled Emma van der Leest to be one of the most notable innovators in the circular economy in the Netherlands.
Feeling the need to add a business component to her venture, Emma invited Nienke Binnendijk to join the team. Nienke has a master’s degree in Cultural Economics and Entrepreneurship from Erasmus University Rotterdam, which instilled in her an entrepreneurial mind-set without losing sight of the idiosyncrasies of creative organizations. At BlueCity, she acts as a sort of lab manager but one who is also involved in the creative process. The conversation with Emma and Nienke revealed an intertwining of design, science and business, and a merging of two different skillsets and even different ways of thinking. While Emma adheres to a visual and conceptual approach, Nienke is more “textual” and more at ease with numbers. Yet they both share a clear mission and ambition. They find common ground in the idea that both entrepreneurship and product design are result-driven. Together, they have found ways to turn waste and other locally abundant resources into organically-grown new products. In other words, their partnership is mutually beneficial and instrumental in achieving the goals of BlueCity.
Designing novel products in itself does not necessarily make the lab sustainable. It therefore seeks broad societal impact through lectures and other ways of creating awareness and also seeks to make it viable from an economic perspective as well. As such, Emma and Nienke stress that BlueCity needs to be a multi-output enterprise by definition if it is to flourish in the years to come. It comes as no surprise that Emma is a published author and a freelance lecturer at Willem de Kooning Academy and the Design Academy in Eindhoven. Furthermore, BlueCity invites other start-ups to “create new waves” and offers space for a variety of events with the aim of establishing a beehive of creativity on the banks of the river Maas.
New forms of cultural entrepreneurship and RASL
The enthusiasm of pioneers such as Emma van der Leest is not just heartening but shows an optimism towards the potential for sustainable development espoused by these young creative entrepreneurs. The example of BlueCity Lab shows how artists and designers strive to realize societal impact through the pursuit of “brilliant blue ideas” and find ways to make them economically viable, taking their cue from Gunter Pauli’s book on the Blue Economy, which was initially published as a report of the Club of Rome in 2009. The idea that job growth and high standards, in terms of sustainability, can go hand in hand with innovative entrepreneurship has generated a worldwide following ever since.
Creative entrepreneurship is not just an innovative way of doing business, it also draws attention to the societal problems we face in terms of the environment and sustainability and inspires others to go down a similar path. Start-ups like BlueCity strive to change the mentality of consumer society, through a critical rethinking of the traditional linear chain of production, consumption and distribution. These kinds of ventures are impact-driven—rather than purely profit-driven—and aim to turn stakeholders into partners. This includes the users of the final product. And while corporate social responsibility (CSR) is seen merely as one aspect of the business model of traditional firms, it is at the very heart of BlueCity’s mission.
It appears that self-driven entrepreneurs (often on a freelance basis) who combine disciplines and do not approach their subjects in a one-dimensional way are often the trailblazers in the new economic ecosystem. The potential for value creation in the circular economy is vast, but are we adequately preparing young creative talent to deal with such a paradigm shift? Is the present educational system, whereby, at least in the Netherlands, art academies operate separately from the universities, equipped to train the next generation of creative professionals? It is true that art education programs are broadening their horizons, for instance, by offering modules on entrepreneurship, as is the case at Codarts in Rotterdam. But an integrated approach to the arts and sciences is largely still lacking, and it is not just the academies which are to blame. Universities have been slow to embrace alternative approaches to evidence-based research customary in academia, failing to give proper attention to practice-based inquiries that can yield fresh insights and novel methodologies.
The Rotterdam Arts and Sciences Lab (RASL) seeks to bridge these seemingly separate yet intertwined spheres. Like BlueCity, RASL pursues a marriage of science and art to provide “outside the box” solutions for the so-called wicked problems of 21st century. One of its main instruments is the Double Degree program which allows students to combine both an artistic and an academic education. In doing so, RASL offers a platform for the exchange of ideas between different disciplines, between the scientific and business modus operandi on the one hand and the artistic creative process on the other. It is commonplace to state that the language of science and art do not always match, and this is precisely where RASL seeks to initiate a conversation between students, artists and researchers with diverse backgrounds and interests. It fosters a fruitful dialogue, which leads to a cross-pollination between different disciplines. It does not imply that all artists should become entrepreneurs and vice versa, but rather it seeks to create an environment that stimulates experimentation in novel constellations of complementary expertise. Ultimately, the Double Degree program aspires to prepare new young creative professionals to deal with the precariousness of the fast changing labour market of the creative economy, especially in the cultural sector.
The example of BlueCity Lab demonstrates that current management manuals and models do not necessarily provide solutions to the demands of the new economy and that alternative forms of entrepreneurship are needed as a consequence. Entrepreneurship requires original ideas and input from the arts if it wants to incorporate the principles of the circular economy into the business models of firms and organizations. At the same time, there is no easy path towards a rewarding and economically sustainable career in the world of art and design in the 21st century.
When Emma van der Leest decided she wanted to pursue her interest in biodesign, she did not get accepted into a Material Science program at Holland’s premier technical university because she lacked an “adequate” scientific background. Instead, she experimented with growing bacteria on her own in her dorm room. And while it did not stop her from achieving her goals in the long run, her story reveals that we need to seriously reconsider how we nourish and educate the creative entrepreneurs of the new millennium. Therein lies the importance of RASL. Through transdisciplinary teaching and research on the cutting edge between the arts and sciences, it aspires to contribute to our understanding of the creative and cultural industries and provide new creative professionals with the necessary tools to make a difference.
