RDCL::TOOLS

Launching in 2026, rdcl::tools supports the collaborative development of functional tools addressing digital authoritarianism, surveillance capitalism, propaganda infrastructures, and platform power, not through critique alone, but through artistic and technical interventions that result in usable alternatives.

We are looking for projects that go beyond concept and speculation to create functional tools, devices, and systems, including wearables, resilient communication networks, experimental software, interactive prototypes, and other inventive applications of technology. 

rdcl::tools is particularly interested in projects exploring the intersection of technology, creativity, and applied critical practice.Example areas include:

Resilient communication systems for high-surveillance or restricted environments

Open-source tools to address censorship, misinformation, and media manipulation

Critical AI applications such as bias detection, dataset forensics, and model interrogation

Wearable and embedded devices as experimental or socially-engaged tools

DIY privacy infrastructures and decentralized data management

These examples are indicative rather than exhaustive. rdcl::tools welcomes proposals that push boundaries, reinterpret technologies, or explore other inventive and practical applications not listed here.

We welcome media artists, hackers, engineers, scientists, creative technologists, and media investigators.

Project teams Apply with a developed proposal or an early-stage concept ready for intensive development. We're looking for ideas that are ready to become functional tools.

Individual contributors Don't have a project but want to be involved? rdcl::tools welcomes individual participants who want to contribute their time and expertise to one of the interdisciplinary teams forming around selected projects.

rdcl::tools selects projects through open calls. Selected projects receive funding of up to €10,000, mentorship, and technological expertise for the development of a working prototype or proof of concept. Selected teams are invited to a two-week physical residency for intensive collaborative development: Following the residency, teams continue developing their prototypes with ongoing support from the rdcl::tools network.

Supported by Wau Holland Foundation

rdcl::tools is supported by the Wau Holland Foundation, continuing the work of Herwart Holland-Moritz against totalitarian structures and for the unconditional support of human rights. The Foundation promotes global freedom of information and informational self-determination,supporting technical and legal measures that make knowledge accessible when it might otherwise be restricted.