CA21102 COST Action “Toolkit of Care”

Summary The Covid-19 pandemic has further exacerbated existent inequalities worldwide. The cultural sector, which is very often described as precarious work, is one of the worst hit. The arts have been particularly hit hard by the pandemic in Inclusiveness Target, and Near Neighbour, countries, where governments provide minimal, if at all, financial support to creative practitioners and NGOs. More than just affecting the cultural production of these particular countries, there are international ramifications in that the rest of the world is also denied easy access to creative/technological advances and innovation that still takes place in the former - in other academic or other contexts. It is, then, especially relevant and timely to form critical networks of care within the creative industry of support communities. An interdisciplinary group of creative practitioners, academics, researchers and arts/crafts organisations that specialise in creative technologies and that have considerable experience in the production and dissemination of this kind of knowledge across Europe and internationally, have come together to form a “critical network of care”.

The Action’s network will collaborate to share their collective expertise and technical knowledge employed in creative ways to develop knowledge and methodologies of care. The main aim is to produce a well formulated and integrated TOOLKIT OF CARE and comprising articles, prototypes, audiovisual documentation, technical manuals, theoretical analysis, prototypes, and data. It will act as a model of how to successfully share knowledge and expertise across different geographical regions and social groups.

Specific Objectives To achieve the main objective described in this MoU, the following specific objectives shall be accomplished:
Research Coordination
● Develop an Archive of Care: An ‘archive of care’, comprising the various elements of the eventual TOOLKIT OF CARE as they are gradually produced will be developed and shared publicly, containing manuals, blueprints for prototypes, media documents, and data. The archive will be freely available for all to use.
● The production of a shared TOOLKIT OF CARE for cultural practitioners and researchers within the field of creative technologies, that cannot be achieved without international coordination: developing the shared toolkit requires international cooperation and knowledge sharing.
● Coordination of information collection, collation, and dissemination regarding critical methodologies of care in the creative industry.
● Development of knowledge needing international coordination: The Action will develop the creation and sharing of knowledge, amongst its members, particularly focusing on benefiting early career researchers, and/from Inclusiveness Target Countries through STSMs, meetings, and training schools and by providing grants to attend international conferences.
Development of a common understanding/definition of the subject matter: The Action's members will work together as a team to design a toolkit of shared resources and methodologies aimed at wider dissemination activities and 'sharing care' through the use of creative technologies.
● Fostering knowledge exchange and the development of a joint research agenda around a shared TOOLKIT OF CARE for researchers and cultural practitioners working at the intersection of science, technology, and culture.
● Acting as a platform and trans-national practice community for creative practitioners, researchers and NGOs from across Europe and North America within the field of critical creative technologies. The Action will work towards building a community that is self-sustained past the end of the Action.