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''Brightlands Arts; that's what I would love to see''

Brightlands guest column: Servé Hermans

I’ve always wanted to take a vacation there. “No, we’re not going to France this year; we’re going to Brightlands.”

It seems like a great destination. I imagine it to be like Singapore, a sort of Garden City. An urban environment with lots of greenery, where on one corner, Mark Post is grilling cultured meat burgers in a food truck, and on another, Bram Tankink is printing new bikes using 3D technology. At the local market, you can buy produce that grows under purple lights and is a feast for the eyes.

I’m so happy that Brightlands chose this name because it triggers my imagination. After all, words like “triple helix” or “knowledge axis” are essentially beyond my comprehension, along with all the other things the bright minds at the four campuses come up with, devise, figure out, invent and explain.

And yet, over the past few weeks, a few things became a little clearer to me. As the program director for the 2022 King’s Day celebration in Maastricht, I naturally wanted to show the crowd our province’s most innovative side. When this is the goal, Brightlands has the solution.

During the preparations, we got a glimpse at so many projects. I spoke to a lot of people. Through this process of discussing all these special Brightlands projects, it turned out that these Brightlands companies and projects are less “hocus-pocus” than they seem at first glance. We chose four best practices to showcase to the group of royals, as well as the 3.5 million people watching the celebration at home.

I was so inspired that I started wondering why there isn’t a Brightlands Arts campus in addition to the Smart Services Campus in Heerlen, the Maastricht Health Campus, the Chemelot Campus in Geleen and the Campus Greenport Venlo. After all, where is the innovation in the art and culture sector in Limburg? Where is the link between educational and training programs, government and the market? Is something like this possible in the arts?

Read more on the Brightlands website

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