CHIC INNOVATION CONSORTIUM
Our Bio-Tech Planet: the Future of Plants and Humans is a multifaceted end of year event that includes, amongst its other elements, important research and artistic creations from our partners in the CHIC Innovation Consortium. CHIC is a research and innovation project supported through the EU Horizon 2020 funding program looking at responsible innovation pathways for the development and application of New Plant Breeding Techniques (NPBTs). ASN has joined CHIC Consortium in the development of the project’s new art & culture based communication strategy in which we give artists and cultural actors an opportunity to work at the forefront of science and innovation. As part of the project, ASN engaged CHIC Artists in Residencies who will be displaying their artworks and contributing, alongside CHIC scientists, to our panel discussions and workshops at Our Bio-Tech Planet: the Future of Plants and Humans event.
CHIC Partners
The consortium includes 17 partners: three SME partners, an industrial partner as well as non-profit organizations and research institutes. Partners are located in 10 different European member states, one associated member state (Serbia) and in New Zealand. CHIC Consortium consists of researchers, subject matter experts and artists involved in the development & broad dissemination of the research on the root chicory. They share their knowledge & experience and are learning from each other, all in an effort to advance toward the goal of implementing NPBT’s in chicory.
ABOUT CHIC
CHIC is a €7.3 million project supported through the EU Horizon 2020 funding program. It aims at the establishment of a responsible innovation pathway for the development and application of New Plant Breeding Techniques (NPBTs) for root chicory as a multipurpose crop for the production of high-value consumer products, in line with societal needs and concerns. CHIC aims, also, to explore the interactions between technological potential and societal acceptance of modern plant breeding.
Internationally respected scientists are engaged with developing new techniques for practical applications on a global scale. By developing and implementing a set of new plant breeding technologies, CHIC will adapt the biosynthesis and architecture of root chicory. This will strengthen chicory as a production system for high-quality dietary fibres and establish it as a source of bioactive terpenes. The consortium will evaluate the technological performance of these new plant breeding technologies, as well as the safety, environmental, regulatory, socio-economic and broader societal issues associated with them and will strive to ensure responsible innovation and raise public awareness by involving stakeholders and considering their needs and concerns in all phases of the project. Through engaging CHIC Artists in Residence ASN´s new communication strategies can be put to use for this purpose.
CHIC ARTISTS IN RESIDENCIES
Two artistic residencies at partners research institutes/organizations were foreseen to be performed for the whole period of the project’s implementation. For that purpose, ASN has selected artists who applied through a competitive application process. Artists were selected based on the detailed descriptions and sketches of their proposed artworks and their experience and engagement within the art-science environment.
The chosen artists – Jill Scott & Marille Hahne and Anna Dumitriu & Alex May – are all deeply committed to the aims of linking scientific research and ideas with approaches used in digital art, fostering interdisciplinary work toward an exchange of cultures and milieus. Their projects – Aftertaste & Biotechnology from the Blue Flower – are planned as interactive, multimedia experiences, incorporating strong and innovative practices in science-based art. Their works will be on display at the Our Bio-Tech Planet: the Future of Plants and Humans exhibition at the Botanical Garden, Rome alongside other artworks that speak to the theme of the event and aid in disseminating ours and CHIC´s message around humans, plants and the future.
