APPLICATIONS NOW CLOSED

The Interdisciplinary Academy is a European Solidarity Corps project organised annually by STPLN in Malmö, Sweden. Three young creatives are invited for ten months from the beginning of September until the end of June to form an in-house interdisciplinary creative team working on different tasks related to communication through a range of mediums and techniques. 

Each year looks different and the program is tailored to the specific skills and styles brought by the participants, as well as by the activities going on at STPLN. In addition, participants are invited to develop their own personal project throughout the ten months. The program is dynamic, hands-on and suitable for those looking to work in a creative environment with multiple different creative initiatives.

Each year, The Interdisciplinary Academy selects a different theme to explore.  

The theme for this upcoming year is HYBRID COMMUNITIES

Post-pandemic, we have noticed a shift in how people relate to shared physical spaces like STPLN and the increase of digital platforms and spaces in everyday life. The line between online and IRL is blurry and we find that kinda cool.  Through tools like Slack and Discord, Miro and Pinterest and countless more, we are able to share ideas and knowledge quickly, visually and effectively. These tools can be super useful, but what happens if they are used to build interest-based communities?

A SPACE IN TRANSITION / STPLN has been home to many different kinds of initiatives over the years: Makerspace, analog media lab, Coworking space, bicycle kitchen, recycle and redesign studio, a drone-racing club, yoga sessions and much more.  Since 2011, we have been able to host over 900 events a year covering the whole spectrum of the creative field.  However, in the summer of 2023 we will be moving to a new location which means a blank canvas that needs to be filled with new initiatives and projects.  As we go through this transition, it is important for us to have a strong community and to create a space that will invite new faces. 

How do you facilitate an online community? What role does an online community play when the members are able to meet up IRL? Why is community important for creatives, and how can digital tools be used to facilitate and build community?  Throughout the project, we aim to explore these questions and more through the different tasks that the participants work with and spontaneous collaborations that happen along the way. 

Participants will, through a hands-on task-based approach, explore this topic and its applicability to different cases throughout the program. The ten months will be filled with a range of tasks: creative and crafty, hands-on and DIY, strategic and brainy, and social and informal. At the end of the program you will be well equipped to develop a career in the Creative Industries, with an exiting new portfolio and an array of new skills, contacts and perspectives.

WE ARE LOOKING FOR…

Three aspiring, self-driven and creative ESC eligible participants who:

-Have an interest in both community building and the creative fields and wish to pursue a vocation in these fields

-Are entrepreneurial and show a willingness to learn and grow

-Are social and interested in the other activities happening around STPLN

-Are able to work in a dynamic team but also independently

-Learn by doing

-Have experience running their own thing, or being a part of a group in their field

-Creative skills appreciated: photography, filmmaking, web design, product design, illustration, audio recording, 3D modelling, general knowledge of the adobe creative suite

WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT

-Work alongside the team at STPLN with communicating ongoing activities, events and projects

-Collaborate with a range of actors from loose-knit groups to schools to public bodies to co-produce events ranging from talks and lectures to performances, exhibitions, conferences, festivals and more

-Gain full-time access to the facilities at STPLN (including a fully equipped makerspace, event venue, media lab, studio and workshop space) and a wide network of professional creative contacts to develop your own personal projects

-A room in a shared apartment with the two other participants

-€450/monthly stipend to cover personal costs, groceries, etc.

-A return-trip ticket to/from Malmö and wherever you are based

Check out the final publication here