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Download the Festival canvas here
Download all the worksheets here
A lot of innovations fail. Often because a prototype is not sufficiently tested before it is put on the market. To speed up innovation processes and better understand the potential and limitations of sustainable ideas, we should validate our assumptions more frequently and earlier. In 2017, over 20 European partners joined forces to facilitate start-ups with European festivals as places for experimentation in the Interreg North Sea Region project Inno-Quarter. We believe festivals are great playgrounds for sustainable experimentation because, as temporary mini-societies, they can offer real-life contexts with similarities to the real world in a rather safe, fun and laid-back atmosphere.
The Festival Experimentation Guide is an extensive collection of learnings gathered from the Inno-Quarter project and was developed by the NHL Stenden University of Applied Sciences. With the Festival Experimentation Guide we provide sustainable innovators, start-ups, incubators, festival organisers, researchers, students, government representatives and anyone else that wants to contribute to sustainable innovation, insight into and practical tools on how festivals can be used as places for sustainable experimentation.
DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES
The value of innovation is not purely technical, but also emotional. At a festival you can give people that are not directly involved in the development of innovations, the opportunity to discover and embrace innovations in a non- intrusive way.
You should not see a festival as a separate part of what an engine for innovation should be. A festival should actually be part of an innovation ecosystem so it can make an extra contribution by enriching the system.
A festival is a puzzle piece that could be consistently implemented to have a testing field for innovation. From a start-up perspective, but also from the perspective of traditional companies, festivals could offer a sustainable methodology to test innovations. To gain broad feedback and to figure out if there is a market fit. I believe that the more unknown is taking place the better it is to have useful feedback about the innovation.
Festivals are interesting cases for personal development and offer many different aspects to do research and development. It’s learning by creating! As festival organisers we are planning for opportunities. You could say: planning some kind of framework. By experience we know that the framework will get content from the surrounding environment. We never know what new stuff will come to us, but we know there will come a lot of new stuff! We are kind of prepared for that.
We see festivals as a sustainable innovation lab, we use festivals to try out new ideas and projects. It’s a good arena to do this, because it’s a small society, where we can prototype new ideas: our own ideas as well as start-ups can test their idea. We use the festival to innovate, it’s a really good platform for innovation.
A summer school at a festival can be valuable for education. It brings the education out of the classroom into a very inspiring environment.
It does a lot for the students’ creativity. They learn the social skills and knowledge, to collaborate with other people and it boosts their creativity.
HOW TO USE THE GUIDE
“The Festival Experimentation Guide is made up of two parts: The first part is an extensive introduction on why festivals are interesting places for working on sustainable innovation. The second part is a practical 7-step approach helping you design, implement and evaluate your very own festival experiment using 10 so-called Building Blocks. The building blocks focus on a specific aspect of your festival experiment and vary from describing your innovation and sustainability ambition, to scoping your festival challenge, identifying your guinea pigs, deciding on your experiment method, and listing your necessary resources. To support your journey, the guide has an extensive collection of practical experience illustrated through 24 case examples, many practical tips, ready to download worksheets and references to further reading. Together, the contents of this guide will provide you with all the right tools to start experimenting at a festival!”
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Aranka Dijkstra
Aranka has a background in Architectural Engineering, an annotation in Sustainable Development and an interest in bridging the gap between science and practice. Currently she holds a position at the AMS Institute, an institute well-known for their urban living lab approach. Contact Aranka via https://www.linkedin.com/in/arankadijkstra/
Marije Boonstra
Marije has a multidisciplinary background in psychology, culture and media studies. She is currently working as a researcher and student coach at NHL Stenden University of Applied Sciences. Contact Marije via https://www.linkedin.com/in/marijeboonstra/
Illustrations by Senne Trip, sennetrip.com, Graphic Design by Wouter van Tilborg woutervantilborg.nl, Web Design by Dennis Sieperda dennissieperda.nl
Realising the Festival Experimentation Guide was a co-creative process that would not have come into existence without the bright ideas, hard work, favourite fails, perfect and less perfect practices, proofreads and practical help from our colleagues, our partners, participating innovators and other enthusiasts:
Age van der Mei – DUINN
Albert Ruiter – Provincie Fryslân
Amanda Campbell – Comp-A-Tent
Amanda Campbell – Comp-A-Tent
Andersson Sinnika – Region Halland
André Wollin – M01N Startup Camp
Anita Sant’Anna – ResearchOnTheGo
Anna Louise Trudslev – Aalborg University
Anna Petersson – High Five
Anna van Nunen – Innofest
Anne Madrid – Welcome to The Village
Ann-Mari Bartholdsson – Region Halland
Anouk de Jong – NHL Stenden University of Applied Sciences
Arjen van der Zwaag – Welcome to The Village
Arnold Tukker – LDE Centre for Sustainability
Aryan Oosterbroek – DORP Summer School
Bernou Ozinga – DORP Summer School
Bert-Jan Butijn – DORP Summer School
Bouke Groen – De Bron
Bianca Pander – Welcome to The Village
Brian Baldassarre – TU Delft
Brigitte Feenstra – Provincie Fryslân
Carla Kornelia Smink – Aalborg University
Chris McCampbell – DORP Summer School
Christiaan Glerum – Innofest
Cor Simon – DORP Summer School
David Zomer – Provincie Fryslân
Demi Staal – DORP Summer School
Dennis Sieperda – Provincie Fryslân
Dilip Gruijter – MadNes festival
Dieter Castelein – Greener Power Solutions
Douwe Luijnenburg – Welcome to The Village
Eddy Derksen – Provincie Fryslân
Emma and Linuz Söderberg – Dumpa
Ellen van Bueren – TU Delft
Eric Voight – NHL Stenden University of Applied Sciences
Erik Ruth – Nordic Surfers
Esther Philips – LDE Centre for Sustainability
Eva van Netten – Welcome to The Village
Evelien van Leeuwen – DORP Summer School
Femke Haccou – AMS Institute
Fenna Plaisier – LDE Centre for Sustainability
Fides Lapidaire – Broodje POEP
Francis Heckman – proACT Solutions
Friso Visser – Innofest
Geert Vermeegen – DORP Summer School
Gertjan de Werk – LDE Centre for Sustainability
George Brandenburg – Burgs Foods
Govert Reeskamp – Lab Vlieland
Gun Hedlund – Nordic Surfers
Han Brezet – Aalborg University
Hans-Paul van der Snee – Innovatiepact Friesland
Hendrik Hinrichs – KlimaKarl
Henk Rigter – DORP Summer School
Herman Kiesel – HOWEST Hogeschool West Vlaanderen
Hooman Nassimi – Society in Motion
Iris Bos – Welcome to The Village
Jakob Baungaard – WorldPerfect
James Molkie – Comp-A-Tent
Jan Elsner – University of Bremen, Chair in Small Business and Entrepreneurship (LEMEX)
Jan Konietzko – TU Delft
Jan Portheine – KarTent
Janneke Stuive-Stelpstra – DORP
Jasper Williams – LDE Centre for Sustainability
Jelle Valk – WERC
Jeroen de Boer – Frysklab
Johan de Vries – DORP Summer School
Jörg Freiling – University of Bremen, Chair in Small Business and Entrepreneurship (LEMEX)
Judith van der Wal – NHL Stenden University of Applied Sciences
Kirsten Hillebrand – KlimaKarl
Klaas Akkerman – Greener Power Solutions
Leendert Verhoef – AMS Institute
Leslie Dronkers – Saru Soda
Lieselotte Vantomme – HOWEST Hogeschool West Vlaanderen
Linda Ammerlaan – DORP Summer School
Linda Vermaat – Innofest
Lotte Brouwer – DORP
Louise Holwerda – NHL Stenden University of Applied Sciences
Madelein Stiekema – 24MAD Productions
Marcel Brouwer – DUINN
Maria Vase Petersen – Worldperfect
Marije Kamphuijs – Van Wijnen
Maria Louise – Minufood
Marleen Zoon – NHL Stenden
Mitchell van Dooijeweerd – DGTL Revolution
Monique Taverne – PACE, UMCG
Moritz Ambrust – Patavinus
Nina Schjoldager – Aalborg University
Olav Huizer – WERC
Paul Schurink – Green Events Nederland
Peter Joore – NHL Stenden University of Applied Sciences
Peter Scheer – Semilla Sanitation
Peter Uppman – Region Halland
Phil Brown – TU Delft
Quynh Duong Phuong – University of Bremen, Chair in Small Business and Entrepreneurship (LEMEX)
Rasmus Hørsted Jensen – Worldperfect
Rasmus Nørgård – Grums
Roos de Nijs – DORP
Rosa de Vries – Millow
Ruben Bosch – Welcome to The Village
Rutger Smit – Welcome to The Village
Sabine Mijnes – DORP Summer School
Sander Peltenburg – Burgs Foods
Sheila Martina – NHL Stenden University of Applied Sciences
Shivaani Harmsen – LDE Centre for Sustainability
Simon Tijsma – Provincie Fryslân
Sjoerd Bootsma – Welcome to The Village
Sofia Hellman – Region Halland
Sophie Vanwijnsberghe – HOWEST Hogeschool West Vlaanderen
Søren Stochholm – Worldperfect
Stefan Kunst – Provincie Drenthe
Sybrith Tiekstra – Aalborg University
Thomas Baron – University of Bremen, Chair in Small Business and Entrepreneurship (LEMEX)
Tobias Tisell – Region Halland
Toine Andernach – Performer Coaching
Tom Fopma – DORP Summer School
Tom van Huisstede – Photographer
Wilbert van de Kamp – Innofest
The Festival Experimentation Guide is licensed under Creative Commons license BY-NC-SA. This license allows reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format for noncommercial purposes only, and only so long as attribution is given to the creator. If you remix, adapt, or build upon the material, you must license the modified material under identical terms.
