Did you rip your most beloved pair of jeans or your favourite T-shirt? No worries. In Forum Groningen, the elderly will teach you how to repair your own clothing.

The garment industry has huge negative impacts on people and the environment. From processing raw materials to destroying or shipping discarded clothing. Blousem is committed to reducing the enormous mountain of clothing waste. They upcycle blouses: discarded, boring or broken blouses are turned into new, cool and salable items. They also give repair and upcycle workshops to show how to give clothing a second, third or even fourth life.

Until now, Blousem's focus has been on the environmental impact of clothing, but they also see opportunities to increase their social impact. That's why they set up 'Threaded Generations'. Blousem brings elderly and young people together with clothing repair and upcycling as a connecting activity. The elderly share their knowledge and the young people bring their company. The goal? Guaranteeing the craft skills of the elderly, reduce loneliness and increase awareness of textile waste: win-win-win!

During ESNS they will host a free clothing repair workshop in Forum Groningen on January 18 and 19 from 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM on floor 1 Oost. Bring a piece of clothing that needs fixing and discover how to fix it yourself!

Grimes clones her voice with AI, the Gorillaz provide an AR experience on Times Square, and Travis Scott becomes an avatar in Fortnite. These globally renowned artists all have the opportunities and resources to experiment with the most advanced technology.

How can we ensure that musicians in the Netherlands get the same chances and tools to work with the latest technology? And, importantly, how can they do this without affecting their freedom, ownership of ideas and privacy?

Open Culture Tech, an initiative by Thunderboom Records, is dedicated to the responsible development and applications of new technology in the music industry. Backstage at ESNS, they introduce various AI and AR tools and ask artists how they’d apply them. Eventually, they want to assist every musician in the Netherlands with equal opportunities and resources to work safely and autonomously with the latest technology.

In the Netherlands alone, more than 100,000 kilos of plastic festival bands are thrown away every year. PlantJeBandje developed an alternative to the current polyester bands and lanyards. They previously tested this strap, made from hemp and flower seeds, at Paradigm Festival.

These innovators have now also developed a more durable variant for the closure. This clasp will be tested by staff during ESNS.

Albird has developed an app that uses smart sensors placed in refrigerators/freezers to constantly monitor the temperature. When the temperature is too high you are automatically notified. In this way they are trying to prevent food waste.

They are placing these sensors in the freezers backstage to test if they work as they should.

Volta Energy specializes in building and renting solar-powered generators. They aim to provide the greenest possible energy at locations where no grid connection is available. With the Hydro-solar, Volta energy wants to ensure emission-free energy generation on site. Using fuel cell technology and hydrogen, they can generate the necessary backup power when solar power is not sufficient.

Backstage at ESNS, they provide green energy to the nightliner bus where BumaStemra hosts workshops for artists.

The tests at ESNS are powered by the provinces Groningen, Friesland, and Drenthe, the municipalities Groningen and Assen, Goeie Grutten, YES!Delft, Rijksdienst voor Ondernemend Nederland, and Erasmus Centre for Entrepreneurship.