Active projects

Glassmaking Tradition meets Innovation

The project aims to develop an original methodology for the green and digital transformation of creative practices in glass processing and offer completely new tools – a carbon footprint calculator and a catalog with 30 business ideas for working in glass and creative entrepreneurship based on the principles of circular economy. These tools adapted to the green paradigm will help artists and artisans working with glass to be environmentally responsible and equipped to produce by hand without a carbon footprint

The project will create advanced tools for “smart” creative glassmaking – software to “gamify” glass processing to change the approach in creative glassmaking – so that knowledge transfer and certain stages of manual production can take place virtually, infinitely modified, shared, co-created, standardized in physical production or presented in metaverse galleries and other virtual and combined environments. Works with 3 experimental Laboratories for Creative Glass, in which these new tools will be tested, will result in a final exhibition in Ljubljana, as well as traveling exhibitions after the end of the project.

The results of this project will create a framework for a more efficient green transition of European hand glass production.

Responding to the specific challenges of working with glass as a material whose shaping not only affects the natural environment but also generates high costs (especially prototyping) and limits artistic and creative expression, the project will create advanced tools for “smart” creative glass production. The software for the “gamification” of glass processing, which the project will develop, will begin to change the approach to creative glass production – so that knowledge transfer and certain stages of manual production can take place virtually, endlessly modified, shared, co-created, standardized in physical production or presented in metaverse galleries and other virtual and combined environments.

Inspired by elements of glassmaking heritage and promoting their digital revitalization, the project will develop new models of preserving knowledge and practices in glassmaking, connecting them with contemporary creative processes and innovations.

The results of our project will be tested in three Creative Glass LABs for glass processing (in Ljubljana, Fensmark and Paraćin), where a group of European artists and creative entrepreneurs in the field of glassmaking will have the opportunity to experiment and realize 12 new works of art in glass under specially adapted conditions.

Project partners: Foundation for the Advancement of Economics, Belgrade (lead partner), Institute for Creative Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Paraćin – Creative Glass Initiative of Serbia, Centar Rog, Ljubljana and Museum Sydøstdanmark – Holmegaard Værk, Fensmark.

The project is co-financed by the European Union

Duration of the project: 2024-2027.

Innovative Carbon Footprint Calculator for Glass Art Presented at the Energy Conference in Zlatibor

At the Energy Conference held from April 14 to 17, 2025, at the Zlatibor Resort Hotel in Zlatibor, an innovative online carbon footprint calculator was presented. This tool was developed within the international project Glassmaking Tradition Meets Innovation, funded by the Creative Europe programme.

The digital tool is designed to help artists, artisans, and creative entrepreneurs working with glass to calculate the carbon footprint of various handcrafted glass creations.

The outcome of this project directly aligns contemporary artistic production with the European Union’s green paradigm, making it consistent with the goals of sustainable development and climate neutrality. The calculator aims to empower glass artists and artisans by making them more aware, responsible, and better equipped for a carbon-neutral future. Through this tool, creative practices become part of a broader European framework for reducing environmental impact and promoting the circular economy.

This innovative EU tool not only enables assessment of the environmental impact of glass production but also promotes active participation of the cultural and creative sectors in the green transition. The calculator is the result of interdisciplinary collaboration between partners from Serbia, Slovenia, and Denmark and is part of a broader goal to enhance the quality of glasswork within the European market.