Spaces enabling Radical Innovation

Question & Hypotheses
The central question of this workshop is: How can we create environments and spaces that best possible support the creation of new knowledge?

This workshop is based on two hypotheses:

• 1. Knowledge creation and innovation processes can be facilitated and supported (through the "right setting")
• 2. Radically new knowledge cannot be brought forth in a predominantly mechanistic context (structures, processes, systems, culture, etc.)

Enabling Space
Processes of knowledge creation are always embedded in a concrete physical space. But do "cool" spaces –in the sense of a sleek design– sufficiently support innovation processes? What about crucial other dimensions, such as emotional, social, cognitive, etc. spaces. If we agree that they are at least as important as physical spaces, the next question arises: How do we integrate these different spaces into a coherent Enabling Space? The concept of "Enabling Spaces" tackles the challenge of integrating all these dimensions in a radically interdisciplinary manner; this will be explored in the workshop.

Methods & Goals of this workshop
The theoretical foundations as well as real world projects will be presented as an input for triggering a process of collaboratively exploring these questions in order to achieve a more profound understanding of:
* the concept and role of enabling (structures) in the context of innovation
* the dimensions which are involved in enabling spaces and how these dimensions do interact with each other
* how an integration of structure and (knowledge) processes can be realized

Presenters:
Markus F.Peschl | University of Vienna, Austria | http://www.univie.ac.at/knowledge/peschl/
Thomas Fundneider | TheLivingCore, Austria | http://www.tfc.at | http://blog.fundneider.at/ | http://theLivingCore.com