The ECO-STAR North program supports innovators by providing tools and frameworks for Arts, Creative, and Climate Entrepreneurship. Our approach is uniquely shaped by a blend of community-based participatory research, interdisciplinary arts, and mixed-methodological applied artificial intelligence research.
Understanding the ECO-STAR North Methodology for Innovation
Think of ‘Environment’ as the ground beneath your feet—literally and metaphorically. This isn’t just about being “eco-friendly” or adding a recycling logo; it’s the foundational question of where your project lives and how it connects to the world.
Consider the full lifecycle of your work—from the materials you use, to the energy it consumes, to what happens when its journey concludes. Every idea exists within a larger story—the story of our planet, our communities, and our shared future.
How does your project honor the land, the water, and the air it depends on?
Is it designed to be a good ancestor, leaving the world better for those who follow? This is where you think in cycles, not straight lines. It’s an opportunity to design with intention, creating something that doesn’t just take from the world, but actively contributes back, becoming a regenerative force within its ecosystem.
This first step grounds everything that follows. Starting with the Environment, you anchor your vision in a deep sense of place and responsibility. You declare that your work is not separate from the world, but intimately connected to it. This shift transforms your perspective from building a “thing” to cultivating a living, breathing part of the world.
What We’re Learning:
We’re expanding the ‘E’ in ECO-STAR North beyond the typical corporate sustainability checklist. For us, it’s about embracing a worldview where the land is not a resource to exploit, but a relative to respect. This approach draws from Indigenous knowledge systems, which see the environment as a wise teacher. For interdisciplinary artists, this is transformative. Creation becomes not just a human act in a studio, but a dialogue with a specific place. Your materials have a story, your location has a spirit, and your art becomes a way of listening and responding to the living world around you.
ABOUT THE ECO-STAR NORTH PROGRAM
ECO-STAR North invites artists, educators, and community leaders to co-create a new path forward—where innovation grows from the land, the language, and the stories that have always been here.
This project launched in 2025 with generous support from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design Creative Entrepreneurship Program, Enterprise Development Group, The Arts Incubator Winnipeg, Art Borups Corners, the Manitoba Arts Council Indigenous 360 Program, The Labovitz School of Business and Economics at the University of Minnesota Duluth, The Ontario Arts Council Multi and Inter-Arts Projects Program , and the OpenAI Researcher Access Program.
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