Alex Milton
Alex is an academic, researcher and designer. As Programme Director of Irish Design 2015, he was responsible for leading and managing this government backed initiative which sought to increase the awareness, understanding and use of design in Irish society and business. The initiative delivered an 11-fold return on investment, and a direct economic impact of over €55 Million. He was subsequently commissioned by the Design and Crafts Council, Ireland to develop Ireland the Design Island – Towards a National Design Strategy. Launched in 2017, this publication was the first Government-endorsed design strategy In Ireland since the iconic 1961 Scandinavian Report.
He has authored 8 books including Product Design (published by Laurence King, and translated into five languages), and managed National and European research projects worth in excess of €1 Million. His creative work has been exhibited at numerous international venues including MUDAC Lausanne, Designers Block Milan, IMMA and 100% Design London.
A former Head of Design & Applied Arts at Edinburgh College of Art, he has taught and managed at a diverse range of institutions – including the School of Textiles and Design at Heriot-Watt University, University of Dundee, Edinburgh Napier University, Central Saint Martins College of Art & Design and the Central Academy of Fine Art, Beijing – with his students winning dozens of international awards. He has been a visiting professor at Manchester Metropolitan University, Aston University and University College Dublin and recently completed a Visiting Erskine Fellowship at the University of Canterbury, New Zealand.
Alex is chair of Design Educators Ireland, the representative body of third level design education providers in Ireland. He is a member of the National Design Forum and the Government’s EGFSN Design Skills Implementation Group, and leads a number of sectoral projects including Collaboration between Industry & Enterprise, and Developing Career Pathways in Design. He is also a Fellow of the RSA and Institute of Designers in Ireland. Alex sees creative education as having the responsibility and power to build a platform for positive cultural, economic and social change.
Gerbrand Bas
Henk is also member of the steering committee of Utrecht Creative Community (UCC). UCC is a cooperation between schools in the region Utrecht and organizations and companies of the creative industry. The ambition of UCC is to professionalize the people working in the creative industry and to increase participation in lifelong learning activities. As a […]
Georg Tremetzberger
Henk is also member of the steering committee of Utrecht Creative Community (UCC). UCC is a cooperation between schools in the region Utrecht and organizations and companies of the creative industry. The ambition of UCC is to professionalize the people working in the creative industry and to increase participation in lifelong learning activities. As a […]
Ruth Mayoral López
Henk is also member of the steering committee of Utrecht Creative Community (UCC). UCC is a cooperation between schools in the region Utrecht and organizations and companies of the creative industry. The ambition of UCC is to professionalize the people working in the creative industry and to increase participation in lifelong learning activities. As a […]
Gisa Schosswohl
Henk is also member of the steering committee of Utrecht Creative Community (UCC). UCC is a cooperation between schools in the region Utrecht and organizations and companies of the creative industry. The ambition of UCC is to professionalize the people working in the creative industry and to increase participation in lifelong learning activities. As a […]
Ella Broekstra
Ella Broekstra is an experienced HR manager with specific expertise in the cultural and creative sector. She gained this expertise in her previous role as HR manager at Stichting Omroep Muziek (The Dutch Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and Radio Choir), and as interim HR manager for Phion, the orchestra for Gelderland and Overijssel, as well as through assignments for NAPK, Nieuw Vide, and Rewire. Additionally, she served as the chair of the HR network of Dutch orchestras, as project leader for the Sector Plan for Culture, and as advisor to the Sociaal Fonds Podium Kunsten. Recently, she has worked as a freelancer on projects for Bibliotheek Rivierenland, NAPK, and Werktuig PPO, and as project leader for the HRM infrastructure on behalf of PACCT. Currently, Ella works as a projectleader Sustainable Employability and Professionalization for Platform ACCT.
Anna Ochmann
President of the ARTeria Foundation, a non-profit organisation based in Poland dedicated to supporting the cultural and creative sector, professional development of artists and creatives, including up-skilling and re-skilling opportunities, and innovations in arts education. She has experience in developing cultural policies, international projects and events focusing on international and transdisciplinary collaboration, transforming them into innovative practices for creative and sustainable transformation in cultural and creative ecosystems.
She has authored and co-authored numerous publications and participates in various international partnerships, networks and expert groups. She was a member of the Council of Cultural Organisations under the Minister of Culture and National Heritage in Poland.
Before ARTeria, Anna worked in the media (editor-in-chief of television and several newspapers) and as deputy director of a concert hall with an audience of 2000.
She has an artistic background – she is a painter and designer, graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow.
Esko Reinikainen
Esko is the Cyanotypes project officer for MyData, a global NGO headquartered in Helsinki that works towards ethical personal data management. He is also a boundary spanning cross-pollinator helping people understand how to navigate systems change. He has had a broad ranging career in fields as diverse as theatre, festivals, public service administration, innovation management, systems thinking and transformation management working in government institutions, as a company founder, and with non-profit associations and networks.
His fields of expertise include culture change, network analysis, systems thinking, innovation processes, service design, agile development, leadership development, complex adaptive systems, collective intelligence, facilitating participatory processes, foresights, creativity and storytelling.
He is currently helping groups make sense of the emergence of generative AI technology and the future impacts of them on various domains including the creative industries.
David van Traa
David van Traa has been a member of the Executive Board of the Amsterdam University of the Arts (AHK) since 1 April 2023.
Before taking up his position with the Executive Board, he was ultimately responsible for the development of the Zuidas business district as director of the City of Amsterdam’s Zuidas project. David has extensive experience in the city of Amsterdam, primarily in the field or urban development, culture and collaboration between knowledge institutions, the business community and the government.
David holds a number of executive and supervisory positions with various cultural institutions. He is a board member of Felix Meritis and Supervisory Board member of Stichting Nieuwe Helden (New Heroes Foundation), a collaboration platform for cultural creators.
Maria Hansen
Maria Hansen is Executive Director of ELIA, globally connected European network of Higher Arts Education. She worked in the performing arts for more than 30 years, in Canada and the Netherlands, served as board member of the International Society for the Performing Arts (ISPA) from 2009–2016 and received ISPA’s Patrick Hayes Award honoring transformative leadership in 2020. Maria is a member of the University Council of Nuremberg University of Music, board member of Oorkaan and (until recently) the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra. She chairs the Hogenbijl Foundation which awards two annual prizes in film making and classical music in the Netherlands. Maria has been passionate about environmental sustainability in the cultural field for many years. As managing director of the Municipal Theatre and Concert Hall Philharmonie in Haarlem, she was a driving force in achieving green certification for nine local cultural organisations. Maria currently leads the climate change package of SHIFT Culture and the establishment of a green certification program for cultural networks. She has represented ELIA as official partner of the New European Bauhaus initiative in several projects, including the New European Bauhaus Collective and Agents of Transformation, a project of international student conversations on the NEB.
