RUK is one of two networks, along with the KONS project that features several initiatives from Ljubljana as well as other parts of the country, to be picked as part of EUR 9 million call by the Culture Ministry, which has secured EUR 7.2 million in EU funds for the initiative.

RUK comprises the progressive cultural centres Delavski Dom Trbovlje, PiNA Koper and Maribor's Kibla.

Borut Jerman of PiNA Koper told the press that Austria's Linz served as a good example of the challenge ahead, seeing "business cooperate on a daily basis with artists, creatives, in resolving the most demanding issues raised by technological and social development".

"It sounds ambitions, utopian, but I think we're capable enough, have enough international connections, have worked together for years and we believed we can also build such an environment in Slovenia," he added.

The key purpose of RUK will be the use of art-based research to soften the sharp borders between life sciences and social sciences in areas like information and communication technology, humanisation of technology, virtual and augmented reality, robotics, biotechnology and nanotechnology.

One of the first tasks will be establishing demand for creative services in business, with cooperation already being established with various companies, including Japan's robotics company Yaskawa and energy utility Gen-I.

The projects planned range from combining virtual reality with cultural heritage and all the way to efforts to use plastic waste as building material.

According to Aleksandra Kostič of Kibla, the initiative has committed to concrete results, which include executing the pilot projects and making them market-feasible by 2023.