For an exciting three months I will be based Amsterdam in the Netherlands to undertake a short course called the Biohack Academy at the Waag Future Labsa. Ironically The Waag Future Labs are in one of the oldest buildings in Amsterdam. Before arrival I had assumed that Waag was an acronym but turns out it refers to weighing things because this used to be the location of the fairest scales in all of Amsterdam. This old building at various times has housed everything from masonry guilds to human anatomical dissections for public showcase (we can pretend the Rembrant was painted here). And now it houses Waag. An organisation rooted in at an old place but with a steadfast gaze towards creating a better future. "Oriented towards having a positive, lasting effect on our societies."
“Oriented towards having a positive, lasting effect on our societies”
To contribute to the development of a sustainable and just society "Waag works in a trans-disciplinary team of designers, artists and scientists, utilising public research methods in the realms of technology and society. This is how Waag empowers as many people as possible to design an open, honest and inclusive future.”
Personally one motivator for this trip was to see, in peron, a transdisciplinary organisation like Waag functions and to think about how this model could be translated into the Australian context. Speaking of Oz, I also find it ironic that I have flown across the world from the Asia Pacific to discover that Waag is situated in Amsterdam's China town equivalent and to live opposite Java Island. Of course the unfortunate Dutch colonial history is to thank for that! Follow along here.