Promoting Creativity and Innovation

Creativity in the arts and sciences is essential for a thriving knowledge economy. Recognizing this, countries across the world are mobilizing resources to promote creativity and innovation among their populations.

Stimulating interest in arts and sciences. Creativity does not appear in a vacuum. It draws on the wealth of past accumulated knowledge, or can emerge from making new connections between previously unrelated concepts. Promoting creativity, therefore, goes hand-in-hand with encouraging interest in arts, sciences and technology. Stimulating such interest can be considered as a first step in outreach campaigns to encourage creativity and innovation.

Dispelling myths.  One of the great myths about creativity is that some people are creative and others are not. Everyone has creative potential in them. Many, however, discouraged by a lack of success in creative activities (perhaps as children) come to perceive themselves as uncreative. Dispelling such myths and perceptions which prevent people from recognizing their creative potential is often a second step in outreach campaigns to encouraging creativity.

Showcasing creators.  At a third level, many outreach campaigns use competitions, awards and other activities to solicit creative input actively from the target audience. Whether local, national, regional or international in scope, numerous competitions in art, music, design, science and invention all share the goal of promoting creative activity.