Ars Electronica is an internationally renowed Austrian institution connecting the arts, technology, science and society. On 5th of September, BCSSS managing director Stefan Blachfellner and BCSSS program manager Angelika Schanda were invited to visit the festivities in Linz, Austria.

The birthday party was followed by this year’s festival with the theme “Out of the Box – The Midlife Crisis of the Digital Revolution”, with over 500 exhibits and events. Artists and scientists from around the world contributed to a diverse ouevre of innovative installations and productions. A welcome opportunity for the BCSSS to think out of the box on its journey to develop systems thinking formats that will reach more diverse audiences.

Among the many projects presented, the award winner in innovative collaboration Ciutat Vella’s Land-use Plan (STARTS Prize 2019 – Grand Prize) exemplified a completely new form of urban planning through a combination of Big Data (data-driven diagnosis for research), KDD (simulation tool for proposals) and Citizen Participation (for co-creation) to ensure coexistence between economic activity and citizens’ quality of life. Watch a video documentary or visit the website of the ars electronica and the STARTS Prize to learn more about this outstanding systemic approach which combines social systems design with data driven modeling.

In 2017, the BCSSS and Ars Electronica formed a successful cooperation in the context of the 61st Annual Meeting of ISSS (the International Society for the Systems Sciences).