On Thursday afternoon, June 30, the members network meeting was planned with Harmen Zijp as guest. He is connected to the De WAR incubator as an artist. Also, a number of board members were officially said goodbye with a word from FHI chairman Willem van Raalte.
By: Dimitri Reijerman
Zijp, together with Diana Wildschut, was at the cradle of the Amersfoort-based ConfusedThis unsubsidized cultural breeding ground aims to provide a broad audience with insight into the latest scientific breakthroughs.
The artist opened his argument by explaining the difference between an apple pie and a can of Coca Cola Zero. The audience did not immediately have a good explanation for this, so Zijp began his argument. He explained that at De WAR, among other things, an attempt was made to develop a lamp that can be switched on and off by simply thinking about it. This was followed by research into measuring brain waves with EEG and data analysis. Zijp stated that with such broad projects, you build networks in which there is always someone who knows more than you do.
The WAR organizes workshops that attract many people and have a high degree of knowledge transfer. There is also a fablab, a food collective that produces local food and a repair café. Furthermore, the incubator organizes its own festival, has developed a concrete printer, a citizens' council meets there and the Cooperative University of Amersfoort has been founded.
Top down versus bottom up
According to Zijp, we in the West have become accustomed to a top-down society, but with the current climate problems, geopolitical imbalance, raw material shortages and other world problems, he believes it would be better to focus on a bottom-up model. As a successful example, he mentions the principle of Creative Commons in relation to intellectual property.
A practical example in which De WAR itself was involved, was the development of the project Measure your City. Using simple and cheap hardware, including Arduino, a measuring device was developed to take measurements in one's own living environment and to investigate the consequences of climate change in the city of Amersfoort.
The core of Zijp's argument was that democratizing knowledge yields many benefits. It is a matter of the long haul, because according to the artist, connecting with government institutions in particular takes a lot of time.
Coke and apple pie
Finally, Zijp ended his argument by explaining what exactly is the difference between an apple pie and a can of cola. While the recipe for Coca Cola is a well-kept secret, the recipe for apple pie is completely open source. This allows everyone to make their own version of an apple pie, with many successful and less successful end results. It does encourage innovation.
In the closing discussion, there was some resistance from the audience to the ideas of De WAR, but there was also support. After all, many successful projects, such as the internet, started as a collaboration of scientists with open standards.
At the end of the inspiring afternoon, FHI chairman Willem van Raalte said goodbye to Gejan Starink (Financial Committee Treasurer IA), Marco Verhofstadt (Financial Committee Treasurer MT), Will de Groot (Federation Treasurer/Chairman IA), Piet van Veelen (Federation Board Member – Chair GA) and Jan de Vries (Federation Treasurer/Chairman IA/Advisor) with flowers and kind words. The discussion continued during dinner.
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