Our Next Nature Future Lab plan received funding

Hooray! This just in: Next Nature Network is granted a significant contribution from the Dutch government intended to develop a Future Lab for design & technology in Eindhoven (and beyond). The news was announced today, during Little Prince Day—Prinsjesdag in Dutch— the annual event during which the reigning monarch of the Netherlands sets out the main features of government policy. And we are thrilled to share it with you.

The Minister of Education, Culture and Science announced today that she will set aside €500,000 annually for the period 2021-2024 for the establishment of a Next Nature Future Lab for design and technology with partners in Eindhoven. This government grant is an important foundation that allows us to create a national home where we can explore a future – in which biology and technology are fusing. Complemented by local funding and incentive funds the Next Nature Future Lab unfolds. 

Koert van Mensvoort, founder and creative director Next Nature Network: “Since a decade we explore potential futures to help people decide what future we actually want. This grant helps us to bring the conversation to the next level”.

The concept for the Next Nature Future Lab is based on the proposal that we delivered early 2020. In June our plan was positively assessed by the Council for Culture (a body established by law to advise the Dutch Government and Parliament on the arts, culture and media). Unfortunately no funding was attached to the positive advice. Yet in July, the House of Representatives nearly unanimously adopted a motion in which they requested the cabinet to reconsider the way in which our proposal plan, in collaboration with local initiatives in Eindhoven, could be eligible for government support.

Thanks to the government support, we can now work with various established parties in the fields of design and technology in Eindhoven (think Dutch Design Foundation, TU/e, Design Academy, MU Hybrid Art House and the Van Abbemuseum) to design the Future Lab. These parties each have an enormous (inter)national network and we can’t wait to join forces. Together we can offer whirling programs that will shed new light on societal issues from the perspectives of design and technology—and their mutual connection.

Excited? Good! Stay in the know and join us in the journey to explore a future – in which biology and technology are fusing: https://nextnature.net/join