Nova Iskra and the consortium of ECHN project partners are hereby announcing the three-day international conference “How Work Works”,  from the 22nd to the 24th September in Belgrade. The event will gather together nearly 100 hub organizations from across Europe, the region and Serbia. The rather packed program will also host lectures from some of the leading educational organizations in the field of creativity – Fabrica from Italy and Hyper Island from Sweden.

The international conference How Work Works  is a part of the European Creative Hubs Network project, initiated by the British Council’s Creative Economy department, in which Nova Iskra participates together with partners from Greece, Spain, Germany, Belgium and Great Britain. More than 150 delegates, hub leaders and a number of European and regional stakeholders will come together in Belgrade at the first of the three forthcoming forums, in order to map the European eco-system of hubs active in the fields of education and entrepreneurship, and support their networking, knowledge exchange and capacity building.

echn-how_work_works-forum-fb_cover

The main part of the conference programme will be held on the 23rd and the 24th of September at the Yugoslav Film Archives, and will showcase keynote lectures, study cases, panel discussions, networking activities and several side events. The three main sessions are dedicated to the questions of space, community and business models of creative hubs. As a part of each session, three organizations will be presented, and then take part in a short panel discussion. The program will also host a lecture by professor Jovan Čekić (Faculty of Media & Communications Belgrade), while the theater director Paul Bourne (Cambridge Business School) will after his lecture guide the participants through an interactive action that explores the nature of networking, communication and creative thinking.  Those present at the opening will be addressed by Michael Davenport, Ambassador of the Delegation of the EU in Serbia.

The conference will be attended by managers of some of Europe’s leading creative hubs from more than 25 countries, including Betahaus (Berlin, Sofia), Waag Society (Amsterdam), Taktal (Glasgow), Fabrica Cultural (Madrid), Sektor5 (Vienna), Todos (Lisboa), Cable Factory (Helsinki), Stpln (Malme), The Roco (Sheffield), The Trampery (London), La Vallee (Brussels), Bios/Romantcho (Athens), Republikken (Copenhagen), Poligon, Roglab (Ljubljana), MOB makerspace (Barcelona), Atoyle Labs (Istanbul), The Fusebox (Brighton), Frappant (Hamburg), Design Terminal (Budapest) as well as numerous others, including all relevant local and regional initiatives.

Through its central theme and question – HOW WORK WORKS – the forum will investigate the shifting paradigm of work as seen through the prism of creative hubs, bearing in mind that these organizations have a key role in supporting young entrepreneurs and creative people across the continent and the development of local creative industries. A special publication – How Work Works: An inventory of effects –  produced for the occasion will be presented at the conference. It gathers seven critical texts dealing with the ongoing changes in the field of labour, by authors from Serbia, Great Britain and the United States, including visual contributions by the Belgrade-based artist Dušan Rajić.

The conference is closed for the public, but interested audience will have a chance to follow the soft opening of the conference on Thursday, 22 September at 7 PM at Bitef Theatre. On this occasion, two lectures will be given by the representatives of Europe’s leading educational platforms from the field of creativity – Fabrica (www.fabrica.it ) and Hyperisland (www.hyperisland.com).

Sam Baron, creative director of Fabrica (“the communication research center” that was founded in 1994 by the Benetton group and housed in an impressive complex that was designed by the renowned architect Tadao Ando) will address the methodology and the number of outstanding and award-winning projects realized at this leading European center for design. Jon Barnes from Hyperisland, on the other hand, will dedicate his lecture Organizational Evolution to the modern organizations and innovative strategies for their development and survival in the light of great social and economic changes.

ECHN project is co-funded by the European Commission, while the How Work Works forum is realized with the support of Ministry of Culture and Media of Republic of Serbia and other local partners.

www.creativehubs.eu / www.novaiskra.com