RTU Together With Other EUt+ Members Working On A New Erasmus Strategic Partnership (KA203) Project AesTheTiCo

From March 2022 RTU together with other EUt+ members have started working on a new Erasmus Strategic Partnership (KA203) project AesTheTiCo. 

The project is coordinated by Professor Conor McGarrigle from Technological University Dublin (Ireland) who is also actively involved in the structural unit within EUt+ – the European Culture and Technology Lab (ECT Lab+). All ECT Lab+ partners are also actively involved in the AesTheTiCo project: TU Dublin, University of Technology of Troyes (France), Hochschule Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences (Germany), Riga Technical University (Latvia), Technical University of Cluj-Napoca (Romania), Technical University Sofia (Bulgaria), Cyprus University of Technology (Cyprus) and Technical University of Cartagena (Spain). 

ECT Lab+ aims to develop research in the arts, humanities and social sciences within EUt+ and focus on science and technology that includes philosophy of technology. AesTheTiCo focuses on the study of aesthetics and is already the secong ECT Lab+ project that has received funding and thus adds an additional dimension to the topics addressed by previously already approved ECT Lab+ project EthiCo. 

AesTheTiCo project aims to expand the notion of aesthetics within traditional engineering and product design curricula to include understandings from contemporary theories of aesthetics. The project is therefore promoting the integration of arts, creative arts and humanities, into Design and Engineering.  

During the Eut+ week in Dublin participants of AesTheTiCo discussed the wicked problems of our age, eg. climate crisis, data extractivism and digital colonialism, circular economies and material reuse, ecologically sustainable technological innovation, etc. New insights related to these complex problems, and a transdiciplinary cooperation, is crucial for analysis of our teaching methods and choice of future research directions.  

During the meeting in Dublin and in the following online meetings participants work on project tasks, are preparing for the first Intensive Study Programme, workshops, etc.

For more information about the project, please, contact the researcher and main contact person for the project from RTU, Ms Alisa Koroļova from the from the Faculty of Architecture: Alisa.Korolova@rtu.lv