creativity

One of Research magazine's ‘50 to Watch’ in 2007, Nick Coates oversees Promise's research activities and has a particular interest in the creative industries, education and the arts, language and semiotics and cross-cultural research. He is currently leading Promise's work with LSE Enterprise to produce a report on the history, application and benefits of co-creation.

At Lift11, Nick will tell us more about co-creation, how this idea has been around for many years but was put in the spotlight by communication technologies, and what to expect for the future of this young discipline.

Nick Coates

Consultant (UK)
Promise Communities
» View Lift11 speakers

Laurent Haug: Can you please define co-creation?

Nick Coates: Co-creation is defined by three key principles. First of all it’s about creativity and outcomes. Co-creation’s purpose is to create and embed ideas that did not exist previously. It’s not a debate, it’s about moving things on. In my experience it’s this progressive and practical aspect of co-creation that is most valued by clients.

Co-creation is also usually initiated by an entity with a goal in mind. Someone has to set the agenda and someone has to keep the show on the road. It’s not a free-for-all or completely democratic thing, rather it’s a process that is driven and clearly owned. Tight facilitation is a pre-requisite of successful co-creation.

Boundaries of space, boundaries of time. Who has this guy's phone number so we can extend him an invitation to Lift11?

The European Union dedicates year 2009 to creativity and innovation to raise awareness of their importance for personal, social and economic development; to disseminate good practices; to stimulate education and research, and to promote policy debate on related issues.

Lift France 09, being definitely in line with the objective defined, has been acknowledged as a key event of the European year and received the support of Directorate-General for Education and Culture in charge of the EYCI. Lift event is now published on the official agenda.

Lift is all about creativity and innovation. This has not escaped the European Commission's Directorate-General for Education and Culture, which has labeled Lift France one of the European Year of Creativity and Innovation's official events.

The European Year of Creativity and Innovation aims to raise awareness of the importance of creativity and innovation for personal, social and economic development; to disseminate good practices; to stimulate education and research, and to promote policy debate on related issues.

We are happy to be part of this initiative!

Clive van Heerden is creative director of Philips ‘Design Probes’ program. The projects he leads there include amongst others the exploration of electronic textiles for emotional sensing and expression as well as electronic tattoos that transform with touch.

Philips Design Probes is a dedicated ‘far-future’ research initiative to track trends and developments that may ultimately evolve into mainstream issues that have a significant impact on business. Emerging developments in five main areas are tracked - politics, economics, environment, technology and culture. The outcomes of this ‘far-future’ research are used to identify systemic shifts, with the aim of understanding ‘lifestyle’ post 2020. The main objective of this program is to stimulate the discussion and register feedback, challenging conventional ways of thinking to come up with concepts to stimulate debate.

On Friday afternoon, during the “New Frontiers” session, Clive will show us how to employ past technological failures to develop disruptive futures. For more information and to connect to Clive have a look at his LIFT page.

One of Lift Conference’s special treats is the Lift Experience, a series of projects and installations from artist and designers all over the world. Discover each installation on this blog, and check out the Lift experience page for more information!

The department Interactive/Media/Design at the Royal Academy of Art (KABK) from The Netherlands developed a Social Brainstorm Table, because paper is the start of great new things like innovations, conversations, designs, etc. You can doodle, draw and write on the top sheet while having a conversation and when you're done, tear it of, hang it on a wall! The tables consist of approximately 4,000 sheets of paper, so plenty of room for thought. Over time it transforms from active height to a more lounging height, so the more ideas you generate, the sooner you can relax! Meeting people, sharing your newly gained insights and ideas at LIFT has never been easier and more fun.

Created in partnership with ModoVanGelder.nl

For more information please contact Marcel Kampman at m.kampman@kabk.nl

What makes LIFT so much more that a meeting for techno-visionaries? As a perfect metaphor for Web 2.0, LIFT has succeeded in creating a new community made up of those of us who want to stay in tune with the world & to connect.

I came away from LIFT 07 and LIFT08 with the certainty that the Geneva get-together is not only a thrilling platform for the discovery and confrontation of new concepts, but is also fast emerging as a spearhead for a “New Switzerland”, a place that creates and attracts bold minds.

Laurent Haug – your imagination, zeal and zest are the driving forces of this venture. By merging with the daring inventiveness of Cristiana Bolli Freitas and Laurent Bolli, together you have allowed creativity to flourish, a formidable component to a gathering which might otherwise have been just ... another conference.

Sylvie, David, Sonia, Nicholas(s), Marc-Olivier, Mathias and so many others whose thoughtful dedication brought it all together, you too deserve our thanks!

The greatest compliment we can offer you is to consider that we are all now part of the vibrant community that you have created. Vive le LIFT! And say hello to all our new South Korean friends when you are there…

So what was LIFT08 like? For me: fantastic!
The Creativity Utopia Workshop went beyond my expectations. Now the kind of third-loop-learning workshops that I do are usually a bit rough on the participants, you are asked to think, think critically, and to think from a place deep within yourself. I am however fair enough to also give the participants the chance to put me on the spot and make me think then and there. I was on the spot a few times. It is all about authenticity and self-expression, and that is exactly what the workshop was about. Remember that I never claimed to know what creativity is, and I still do not know. Shani Lee did take fantastic notes and I had very valuable feedback from Yann Mauchamp with whom I spent the wee hours after the closing party roaming the streets and clubs of Geneva. Rough is a bit of the nature of my being and there is a certain kindness to that roughness that Yann offered a term for: amour vache.

Here we are in the first workshop and what do I find – I cannot connect to the wireless network. Immediately, a window arrives that I don’t understand, “Windows is disabling your network adapter.” I’ll use Word instead.

So anyway, I’m in the first workshop with Dannie Just, an interesting woman – a physicist, a writer undergoing deep analysis, exploding taboos. The biggest taboo in the past year she tells me has been exploding the taboo about therapy and payment for therapy.

Now we are looking at the content of the workshop. She is asking the question, “What would make the workshop successful for you?” and before that, Dannie feels there is another conversation in answer to the question,
“What do we have permission to do here?”

We’ve had the introductions. And how we want to use the time. She says only that there will be a ten-minute break at 9.50am and 10.50am. And we shall reconvene on the hour sharp.

Dannie says, "My disciplines are critical thinking and action research. I am a writer, I often think out loud. I am liberal and challenging in use of words and beliefs." Later, she apologises that her language is often littered with swear words.

An exchange with a young woman,
“You look curious?”
“I am wondering what will happen now?”
“What do you want out of life?”
“I don’t know?”
“Do you mind if I use this interaction to illustrate something?”
A hesitant yes.

What is your motive for coming to a workshop about creativity?
Yes, you are curious, but what is the motivation?
What do you dream about? What do you want to do with your life?

Well, I am up early and ready to pack my laptop away for the long journey. My printer is playing up, so I have carefully copied the ticket number into my notebook. I felt that really I should be doing it with a pencil stub, carefully licking the lead before writing each number.

I have chosen my workshops for tomorrow. I thought it would be hard, how would I choose between so many interesting titles. But then it was easy ...

Creativity Utopia Workshop

"Let us start with the truth, the naked screaming truth. The creative do not care about creativity, they simply create... "

Yes, I like that idea. I've been immersed in creativity since October (before then I didn't know it was anything to do with me).

But then, I read,

"... For me the past year has been one of exploding tabus. Yes, exploding tabus. Your mileage may differ, but I on my part have found no other way to deal with tabus. ... "

Hmm, I love destruction :)~

" ... Utopia, on the other hand is the divine soup from which our dreams are made of. Utopia is the primordial soup of imagination and limitation. Utopia is paradoxland uncharted! ... "

... primordial ...

"... In this workshop we will explore tabus, utopias and forget creativity."

I can do that!

And after that I read,

Industrial IdeaProduction or «Why is "Dare to Share" the key to reliable innovation?»

Samuel Mueller = "hopelessly infected with the idea virus and eager to recklessly spread it around."

Who could resist?