tutions) were appointed for each placement to perform the role of intermediaries. This is quite different from the approach taken by TILLT and Disonancias, which combine these different responsibilities within their organisations.
The three-part agreement template (see Appendix 3) developed by Arts Council England specifies that the aims of this organisation concerning the programme are: (1) to position Arts Council England as a pro-active agency, enabling groundbreaking placements, through the brokering and leverage of new partnerships; (2) to influence the policy agenda with respect to the needs and roles of artists within the context of the Creative Industries, especially in terms of knowledge transfer and knowledge exchange to be achieved by: monitoring the progress of placements, paying close attention to the needs and expectation of artists, and the experiences of both artists and host in relation to knowledge transfer and knowledge exchange, publishing the findings of this ongoing review, making recommendations for future action, contributing to ongoing debate surrounding policy development in this area; (3) to develop a new understanding of skills gaps and research needs of artists who wish to work in innovative contexts within industry; (4) to enhance the evidence base about artists working in research contexts, and (5) to establish a network of artists and host agencies for the future.
Interact method Without the time constraints that are entailed in organising a round of projects running in parallel (the Airis and Disonancias approach), Interact recruited host organisations differently for each placement. Some placements were international and others local, and they often grew out of opportunities that presented themselves. For example, Watershed, the intermediary arts organisation that facilitated the placement between Hewlett Packard and artist Hazel Grain, already had a history of collaboration with the HP research lab.
Similar to Disonancias, the Arts Council England disseminated the announcement of the call for applicants through their website and networks. The required application form asked artists for information about their background, merits and interest in the proposed placement, whose conditions (placement definition, length, access to host resources, payment) had been already described in advance. The applications received from artists were reviewed and shortlisted, then the host, the managing intermediary and the Arts Council interviewed the pre-selected artists. Selection criteria were the artistic excellence of the applicant's work, the extent of the applicant's ability 104