On the Creativity of Young People

"Our future depends on the creativity of young people. And how to do you stimulate young people? By getting them to ask questions of themselves. This work is a battery of ideas, as Joseph Beuys would say, which can recharge and fire the batteries of young people." -- Anthony d'Offay (More)

Special People Deal with the Unknown and Unknowable and Make Things Up

[5 March 2009 - The Guardian (UK)] Facts are tedious. People who put great store by them even more so. Who wants to be stuck with the club bore or local know-it-all? Yet last week the country went weak at the knees before members of Oxford University's Corpus Christi quiz team, winners (and now, losers) of a TV panel show. Why? Just because they were able to chime back some speedy answers to some fairly arcane questions. Now they are being told they are special. They are not. Special people don't deal with facts; they deal with the unknown and the unknowable. Special people like to make things up. More

[Plus, read more in this same article about German artist Joseph Beuys -- "My life in art: How Joseph Beuys convinced me of the power of conceptual art" ... Beuys's strange work changes the status quo into a world where facts and fiction are indistinguishable]

Developing entrepreneurship among the world’s poorest

[McKinsey Quarterly - March 2009 Newsletter] In this video interview with Jacqueline Novogratz, posted alongside an excerpt from her new book, The Blue Sweater, she shares her experiences, from encouraging entrepreneurs in Africa to founding and running a "venture" philanthropy. More

Everyone an Artist

Global voices calling for the development of "every human being (as) an artist" (Joseph Beuys). Shot by Steven Dahlberg at Weimar Sommerkurse 2007 in Weimar, Germany.

The Valentine Peace Project

[11 February 2009 - Ode Magazine - Blog - By Susan Corso] The Valentine Peace Project was created to expand the vision of Valentine's Day to include public participation in creative peace action. On February 14 poems surrounding the themes of peace, love and community, will be wrapped around thousands of different flowers in various cities to give away. The mission is to rediscover some of the mystery and magic of love and how that relates to peace. What does Valentine's Day mean to you? More

Loneliness as Harmful as Smoking - Loneliness Affects Brain

[16 February 2009 - Psych Central News] A new study finds that social isolation affects not only how people behave, but also how their brains operate. University of Chicago scientists presented their research, "Social Emotion and the Brain," at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. The work is the first to use fMRI scans to study the connections between perceived social isolation (or loneliness) and activity in the brain. Combining fMRI scans with data relevant to social behavior is part of an emerging field examining brain mechanisms. Researchers found that the ventral striatum -- a region of the brain associated with rewards -- is much more activated in non-lonely people than in the lonely when they view pictures of people in pleasant settings. In contrast, the temporoparietal junction -- a region associated with taking the perspective of another person -- is much less activated among lonely than in the non-lonely when viewing pictures of people in unpleasant settings. ... John Cacioppo, one of the nation's leading scholars on loneliness, has shown that loneliness undermines health and can be as detrimental as smoking. About one in five Americans experience loneliness, he said. Decety is one of the nation's leading researchers to use fMRI scans to explore empathy. More

Selling Culture as an Economic Force ... Saving Federal Arts Funds

[15 February 2009 - New York Times] The challenge for culture boosters in Congress was to convince a House-Senate conference committee that the arts provide jobs as other industries do, while also encouraging tourism and spending in general. "We had the facts on our side," said Representative Louise M. Slaughter, a New York Democrat who is co-chairwoman of the Congressional Arts Caucus. "If we’re trying to stimulate the economy, and get money into the Treasury, nothing does that better than art." ... As the details of the final bill were being hammered out, tens of thousands of arts advocates around the country were calling and e-mailing legislators. Arts groups also organized an advertising blitz arguing that culture contributes 6 million jobs and $30 billion in tax revenue and $166 billion in annual economic impact. The tide turned. In addition to preserving the $50 million allocation, the final bill eliminated part of the Senate amendment that would have excluded museums, theaters and arts centers from any recovery money. "It’s a huge victory for the arts in America," said Robert L. Lynch, the president of Americans for the Arts, a lobbying group. "It's a signal that maybe there is after all more understanding of the value of creativity in the 21st-century economy." That Senate amendment, proposed by Tom Coburn, Republican of Oklahoma, had grouped museums, theaters and arts centers with implied frivolities like casinos and golf courses. More

On Education - Our Greatest National Shame

[15 February 2009 - New York Times - By Nicholas Kristof] So maybe I was wrong. I used to consider health care our greatest national shame, considering that we spend twice as much on medical care as many European nations, yet American children are twice as likely to die before the age of 5 as Czech children -- and American women are 11 times as likely to die in childbirth as Irish women. Yet I'm coming to think that our No. 1 priority actually must be education. That makes the new fiscal stimulus package a landmark, for it takes a few wobbly steps toward reform and allocates more than $100 billion toward education. ... So for those who oppose education spending in the stimulus, a question: Do you really believe that slashing half a million teaching jobs would be fine for the economy, for our children and for our future? More

Richard Florida on How the Crash Will Reshape America

[March 2009 - The Atlantic - By Richard Florida] The crash of 2008 continues to reverberate loudly nationwide -- destroying jobs, bankrupting businesses, and displacing homeowners. But already, it has damaged some places much more severely than others. On the other side of the crisis, America’s economic landscape will look very different than it does today. What fate will the coming years hold for New York, Charlotte, Detroit, Las Vegas? Will the suburbs be ineffably changed? Which cities and regions can come back strong? And which will never come back at all? More

How to fix the innovation gap: A conversation with Judy Estrin

[15 January 2009 - The McKinsey Quarterly] In this video interview, the author of Closing the Innovation Gap: Reigniting the Spark of Creativity in a Global Economy says we are living off the previous generation's research investments and thus failing to make the basic research investments needed to seed innovation in the future. Estrin taps her years of experience in nurturing Silicon Valley companies to describe what’s necessary to help new ideas thrive. She also offers some advice to the incoming administration on how to begin reinvesting in fruitful research. More

Ken Robinson Encourages Creativity, Passion and Talents

[15 January 2009 - Applied Imagination - By Steven Dahlberg, International Centre for Creativity and Imagination] Creativity writer and consultant Ken Robinson launched his new book, "The Element," last night at the Ridgefield Play House in Connecticut at an event sponsored by The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum.

Robinson began by reminding the audience of the power of the imagination. "All cities owe their existence to imagination," he said. "It's this power of imagination will take us into the future -- or not. And it's this kind of imagination that's most at risk. I think we squander it. Not only squander it -- but suppress it ruthlessly."

Robinson went on to talk about his concept of "the element," which includes:

1. Discovering what one's talents are. Doing something for which one has a natural aptitude. Doing something with which one resonates. "Many people have never discovered their real, natural talents."
2. Doing something one loves to do. "People achieve their best when they do what they love."
   

"Aptitude has to meet passion," he said. "And you'll never 'work' again."

He said finding one's element(s) is not only essential to finding personal fulfillment, purpose and meaning, but it's essential to the balance of our communities. Plus, he said it has a bottom-line economic implication. "We are living in times of absolute revolution," he told the audience of more than 500 people. "Revolution demands that we think differently."

He urged people to pay attention to what assumptions they make and what they take for granted. "Things we take for granted turn out not to be true," he said.

Robinson suggested this country has a "crisis of human resources" in which people area unaware of what they are good at, what talents they have, and how to do what they love to do. "Human resources are often buried deep," he said. "You have to go looking for them."

He said the conditions need to be right for these resources to reveal themselves -- and then one has to be ready to do something with them when they appear. He used the example of the flowering of the normally barren Death Valley in 2005 as an example how deeply buried seeds can lay dormant for scores of years waiting for the conditions to be right to sprout and flower. "Death Valley is dormant, not dead," he said.

Photo taken in the Ashford Mill and Jubilee Pass area by Ranger Alan Vanvalkenburg

As always, Robinson critiqued education's overemphasis on particular kinds of thinking and learning (a la his TED presentation on "Do Schools Kill Creativity?" which has been viewed online by a couple of million people).

"Education was devised to develop a particular type of talents," he said, adding that people think they are not smart because of the hierarchy of what kind of thinking is taught and shown importance.

Robinson shared what the three founders of The Blue Man Group are doing to address the lack of creativity in education. They have founded The Blue School. This will be something to watch -- if not participate in.

His final message came from the tag line of his book:
"Finding your passion changes everything."

===

I was honored to also participate in a pre-lecture Roundtable on "Innovation in Our Schools" with colleagues from education, arts, business and government. The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum hosted the Roundtable as a means of bringing together creativity advocates from different fields to move forward creativity and education topics. The question the Aldrich organizers asked was:

"What does it look like, feel like and sound like when all of the partners in a student's learning community (i.e. peers, teachers, administrators, parents, coaches, community organizations, businesses, etc.) model creativity and innovation in a way that serves the student?"

A brief summary of responses included suggestions to focus on:

• What "success" looks like and how it is defined -- and to include such components as passion, talents and creativity, as described above by Ken Robinson.
• Mentoring.
• The power of process.
• Communicating creative and critical thinking processes.
• The "making" of things.
  

Mead on Diverse Unity

[12 January 2009 - Higher Awareness] "If we are to achieve a rich culture, rich in contrasting values, we must recognize the whole gamut of human potentialities, and so weave a less arbitrary social fabric, one in which each diverse human gift will find a fitting place." -- Margaret Mead

Urban Education Commentary

[8 January 2009 - Annenberg Institute for School Reform] Annenberg Institute Executive Director Warren Simmons speaks out to president-elect Barack Obama, on ways to improve urban education. ... In this inaugural "speak out" message, Simmons suggests three areas the new administration can address:

• Building "smart education systems.”
• Changing the nature of teaching as a profession.
• Redefining the role of parents and communities in education.

These three proposals are far from the only areas of federal policy that affect education in urban communities. Our work, though, shows that they are high-leverage ideas that, if enacted, could substantially improve outcomes among urban youths. The Annenberg Institute stands ready to provide you and your staff any additional information you might need about these or any other ideas, and we will do whatever we can to help put these ideas into practice, if you so choose. More

WindhamARTS Hosts Creativity Networking With New York Composer/Violinist Roumain

[6 January 2008 - International Centre for Creativity and Imagination - By Steven Dahlberg] New York-based composer, performer and violinist Daniel Bernard Roumain will be featured at the WindhamARTS Collaborative’s Creativity Networking event, which will explore “Threads of Creativity in Art and Science.” It will be held Wednesday, January 7, 2009, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at The Annex at WindhamARTS, 866 Main Street, Willimantic, CT, 06226. The event is $5 and open to all; RSVP to 860-450-1287.

Roumain will be joined by artist Imna Arroyo, scientists Hedley Freake and Christian Brueckner, creativity educator Steven Dahlberg, and the public to explore the intersection of creativity, art and science. This event is in collaboration with the Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts and the University of Connecticut's "Year of Science 2009” project.

The monthly Creativity Networking Series is sponsored by the WindhamARTS Collaborative and the International Centre for Creativity and Imagination. It provides a regular forum for people to explore the many facets of creativity and to discover other people interested in creativity. Additional support comes from the Willimantic Brewing Company.

Roumain will return to Connecticut for a bicentennial celebration and performance of his composition, "Darwin's Meditation for The People of Lincoln," on February 12, 2009, celebrating that auspicious day of February 12, 1809, when Darwin and Lincoln were born within hours of one another. This performance launches the University of Connecticut’s "Year of Science 2009." More information about the performance is available here. Ticket information is available online.

ABOUT THE GUESTS:
Known for fusing his classical music roots with a myriad of soundscapes, Haitian-American artist Daniel Bernard Roumain (DBR) has carved a reputation for himself as a passionately innovative composer, performer, violinist and band leader. His exploration of musical rhythms and classically-driven sounds is peppered by his own cultural references and vibrant musical imagination. As a composer, his dramatic soul-inspiring pieces range from orchestral scores and energetic chamber works to rock songs and electronica. According to the New York Times, his "eclecticism was wide-ranging as ever" in One Loss Plus, DBR's evening-length, multimedia work for electric/acoustic violin, prepared/amplified piano, electronics, and video which debuted at BAM's 2007 Next Wave Festival. The second commission, which premiered at BAM's 2008 Next Wave Festival is "Darwin's Meditation for the People of Lincoln," a musical setting of a new pocket play by Daniel Beaty exploring an imagined conversation between Darwin and Lincoln featuring the chamber orchestra SymphoNYC, and internationally renowned Haitian recording artist Emeline Michel.

Artist Imna Arroyo was born in Guayama, Puerto Rico. Her work is in numerous collections including the Museum of Modern Art Library/Franklin Furnace Artist Book Collection, Yale Art Gallery and Schomberg Center for Research and Black Culture. She is a professor of art at Eastern Connecticut State University, where she has chaired the Visual Arts Department.
www.imnaarroyo.com

Hedley Freake is a professor at the University of Connecticut in the Department of Nutritional Sciences, with a joint appointment in molecular and cell biology. He holds a Ph.D. in physiology from the Royal Postgraduate Medical School in London. His research has been funded by National Institutes of Health and United States Department of Agriculture. His laboratory uses molecular approaches to address questions of nutritional significance.
www.canr.uconn.edu/nutsci/nutsci/hpg/freake.html

Christian Brueckner is a professor of bioinorganic and inorganic chemistry at the University of Connecticut, where he runs a lab that specializes in the synthesis of molecules with designed properties -- or, creating molecules.
bruckner.chem.uconn.edu/

Steven Dahlberg heads the Willimantic, Connecticut-based International Centre for Creativity and Imagination, which is dedicated to applying creativity to improve the well-being of individuals, organizations and communities. He is a faculty member and associate director of the Creative Community Building Program at the University of Connecticut. Dahlberg authored the foreword to the book, "Education is Everybody’s Business: A Wake-Up Call to Advocates of Educational Change."
www.appliedimagination.org

ABOUT WINDHAMARTS:
The WindhamARTS Collaborative is comprised of member arts organizations and individuals who came together in 2001 to foster and promote the arts and cultural life of the Windham region. Its goal is to maintain a multicultural, multidisciplinary, and multifaceted arts center where artists and artisans can interact with the public by sharing their creative endeavors.
www.windhamarts.org

Harvard Business School Discusses Future of the MBA

[24 November 2008 - Harvard Business School Bulletin] The MBA industry is in turmoil. Many business schools are revisiting their offerings to see if they still have relevance in the 21st century. And HBS is using its centennial year to convene worldwide experts on business education and plot its directions for the next 100 years. Key concepts include: Critics claim MBA programs put too much emphasis on theory and not enough on leadership in a global environment. A number of top MBA programs have retooled their offerings. HBS is looking at several change proposals, including the development in students of "soft skills." Whatever curriculum changes HBS ultimately adopts, the School will remain committed to the case method. More

Having Happy Friends Can Make You Happy

[5 December 2008 - Harvard Medical School] If you're happy and you know it, thank your friends -- and their friends. And while you're at it, their friends' friends. But if you're sad, hold the blame. Researchers from Harvard Medical School and the University of California, San Diego, have found that "happiness" is not the result solely of a cloistered journey filled with individually tailored self-help techniques. Happiness is also a collective phenomenon that spreads through social networks like an emotional contagion. In a study that looked at the happiness of nearly 5,000 individuals over a period of 20 years, researchers found that when an individual becomes happy, the network effect can be measured up to three degrees. One person's happiness triggers a chain reaction that benefits not only their friends, but their friends' friends, and their friends' friends' friends. The effect lasts for up to one year. The flip side, interestingly, is not the case: Sadness does not spread through social networks as robustly as happiness. Happiness appears to love company more so than misery. More

On Creative Leadership

[5 January 2008 - The Writer's Almanac] Journalist Herbert Bayard Swope
said: "I cannot give you the formula for success, but I can give you the
formula for failure -- which is: Try to please everybody."

On Writing and Community

[31 December 2008 - The Writer's Almanac] Junot Díaz said about writers:
"What we do might be done in solitude and with great desperation, but it
tends to produce exactly the opposite. It tends to produce community and
in many people hope and joy."

Museums alienate public from arts, says think-tank Demos

[9 December 2008 - Telegraph - London, UK] Most people feel "alienated" from the arts because many of the people who run them are "cultural snobs" who believe pursuits like opera and theatre need to be "defended from the mob," according to the think-tank Demos. More

Tony Buzan: Brain play - the never-ending story

[15 December 2008 - TrainingZone.co.uk] It's hard not to feel exhausted after talking to Tony Buzan, the brain-power guru best known for his Mind Mapping techniques, for Buzan is a man who never tires, who endlessly achieves and whose commendable positive attitude never fails - he is a veritable example of how to enjoy life to the full. Annie Hayes reports. ... Plus, "Seven Steps to Making a Mind Map." More

On Creative Thinking ... and Being

"Touch me with madness, that I might dance out this frenzy of reason." — James DePreist

Obama on Arts, Education, Science and Discovery in the White House

7 December 2008 - By Steven Dahlberg

A few hours ago, at the end of his interview with Tom Brokaw, President-Elect Barack Obama talked about the importance of culture, arts, education and science.

[7 December 2008 - NBC Meet the Press] MR. BROKAW: Let me ask you as we conclude this program this morning about whether you and Michelle have had any discussions about the impact that you're going to have on this country in other ways besides international and domestic policies. You're going to have a huge impact, culturally, in terms of the tone of the country.

PRES.-ELECT OBAMA: Right.

MR. BROKAW: Who are the kinds of artists that you would like to bring to the White House?

PRES.-ELECT OBAMA: Oh, well, you know, we have thought about this because part of what we want to do is to open up the White House and, and remind people this is, this is the people's house. There is an incredible bully pulpit to be used when it comes to, for example, education. Yes, we're going to have an education policy. Yes, we're going to be putting more money into school construction. But, ultimately, we want to talk about parents reading to their kids. We want to invite kids from local schools into the White House. When it comes to science, elevating science once again, and having lectures in the White House where people are talking about traveling to the stars or breaking down atoms, inspiring our youth to get a sense of what discovery is all about. Thinking about the diversity of our culture and, and inviting jazz musicians and classical musicians and poetry readings in the White House so that, once again, we appreciate this incredible tapestry that's America. I--you know, that, I think, is, is going to be incredibly important, particularly because we're going through hard times. And, historically, what has always brought us through hard times is that national character, that sense of optimism, that willingness to look forward, that, that sense that better days are ahead. I think that our art and our culture, our science, you know, that's the essence of what makes America special, and, and we want to project that as much as possible in the White House. More: Full Text of Interview (plus video)

Using the White House as a bully pulpit to promote ideas, creativity and learning would be a marked switch from the past eight years. What topics, people and ideas do you want to see showcased within these domains?

With Obama raising such possibilities, it's a good reminder to sign the petition online to support Quincy Jones' idea for Obama to create a Secretary of the Arts cabinet position, too.

On Creativity

"One must still have chaos in oneself to be able to give birth to a
dancing star." -- Friedrich Nietzsche

Encourage Obama to Create 'Secretary of the Arts' Cabinet Position

[December 2008 - Secretary of the Arts Petition] PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD! PLEASE INVITE AS MANY AS POSSIBLE TO SIGN! LET'S ALL WORK TOGETHER FOR A BETTER WORLD AND FUTURE!

    To:  President-Elect Barack Obama

    Congratulations and thank you for all you do.

    Your good friend Quincy Jones said: "...next conversation I have with President Obama is to beg for a Secretary of Arts."
    [November 14th 2008 WNYC interview by John Schaefer on "Soundcheck."]

    We the undersigned support Quincy Jones' plea.

Sign the petition here.

Kresge Foundation President Urges Foundations to Help Revitalize American Cities

[12 November 2008 - Kresge Foundation Press Release (via Philanthropy News Digest)] Private philanthropy must work at the heart, rather than at the margins, of the complex economic, social, political, and environmental problems plaguing American cities in order to contribute meaningfully to their revitalization and success, Kresge Foundation president Rip Rapson said at last week's CEOs for Cities national meeting. Speaking to an audience of mayors, corporate executives, and other urban leaders, Rapson applauded the work done by philanthropy in helping nonprofits improve the daily lives of millions of individuals in communities around the nation, but added that ways must be found to address the underlying problems that perpetuate those needs. Citing success stories in four urban areas, he urged large, privately endowed foundations to behave strategically with respect to cities by helping establish a vision for concerted action, working to align civic actors, aggregating risk capital, and connecting low-income people to the mainstream economy. Rapson emphasized the importance of strengthening cities by identifying bridges between low-income communities and regional economic opportunities and noted the work being carried out in Detroit through the New Economy Initiative, a $100 million fund established by the Kresge Foundation and nine other national, regional, and local foundations. Unless we identify and influence long-term leverage points capable of moving intricately interrelated public, private, and civic systems, we will make no contribution to breaking calcified patterns of disinvestment, inequality, and injustice," Rapson said. "We will not, in a word, make any enduring improvement in our citizens' day-to-day quality of life and their long-term trajectories of opportunity." Read the complete version of Rapson's remarks here.

A call for guts

[November 2008 - Ode Magazine - By Frances Moore Lappe] Like a lot of us, I keep asking myself, How did we get into this mess? Since humans have innate needs and capacities for cooperation, empathy and fairness, which science now confirms, why does so much suffering and destruction continue? For many, the answer seems obvious: Humans just aren't good enough; we need to become better people; we need to overcome selfishness and evolve into more caring and cooperative creatures. I disagree. More

Potential of Facebook to transform the future ...

Facebook and other social networking media is connecting people everywhere, everyday, all the time. Barack Obama's election is one example of the power of such technology in politics -- with the pending experiment and challenge of whether the same might apply in governing. Journalist Mona Eltahawy explores (below) how Facebook might help transform the Middle East.

Another potential area to consider ... How might social networking media help link the creativity of citizens in small towns and rural communities to positively shape and transform their communities? Creative community development is not just an urban issue. What ideas do you have for how this might happen?

[Fall 2008 - World Policy Journal] Check out "The Middle East's Generation Facebook" article by Mona Eltahawy, who writes in this piece:
"In 2005, activists breached not just laws against public demonstrations, but taboos of protesting against Mubarak himself, with street protests that focused on Egypt and its internal discontents. But that movement was perhaps too early to rally the masses and was criticized for being out of touch with the needs of ordinary Egyptians. The recent Internet-inspired activism has flipped the script -- the needs of the masses have sparked a wave of unprecedented activism among young Egyptians. Bloggers have been instrumental in the conviction of police officers for torture and in getting neglected stories into the headlines. The Internet has given young people like Shahi a space that does not exist in the 'real world.' They're using it to create grassroots groups and communities that will eventually translate into a real presence in society, and this bodes well for their ability to influence the futures of their respective countries. Generation Facebook might not be able to change their regimes today, but in building communities and support groups online, they are creating the much-needed middle ground that countries like Egypt desperately require. And, sadly, it is surely in recognition of that nascent power that regimes as aging, paranoid, and powerful as Egypt's Mubarak now arrest, imprison, and harangue bloggers and online activists. ... As Generation Facebook grows older and more assured in its ability to organize and unite, it will be confronting a potentially inexperienced leader in the form of Gamal Mubarak with potentially tragic and unforeseen consequences. ... I am confident that Generation Facebook is planting the seeds of an opposition movement that gives Egyptians, and by extension the whole region, an alternative to the state and the mosque. In 2033, I will be 66 years old. Nothing would make me happier than to see Shahi, Ibrahim, and Maha make my dream come true." More (PDF)

Change

"You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete." -- R. Buckminster Fuller

De Smet and Dahlberg to Share Willimantic’s Creativity at World Cultural Economic Forum in New Orleans

[24 October 2008 - International Centre for Creativity and Imagination - Willimantic, Connecticut, USA] Town of Windham First Selectman Jean de Smet and Willimantic resident Steven Dahlberg will participate in multiple sessions at the World Cultural Economic Forum (WCEF) in New Orleans, Louisiana, on October 30 and 31. The WCEF will bring together cultural ambassadors and leaders from around the world to explore ways of building cultural economic development opportunities. It is hosted by Louisiana Lt. Governor Mitch Landrieu and the Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism.

"Leaders from more than 50 countries are coming to Louisiana to take part in the WCEF," said Lt. Governor Landrieu. "Some of the world's brightest minds will be in New Orleans, dialoguing about best practices for growing cultural industries as a part of our global economy. Together, we will build economic opportunities by supporting creative and cultural industries such as food, film, music and art."

De Smet will represent Willimantic's stories of creativity and success in a panel on "Strategies for Developing Creative Industries," along with panelists from The Netherlands, Sweden, Romania, Ghana, South Africa, France and Ireland. This group will address programs and policies that support a productive cultural economy. They will share how countries and communities can address cultural economic development in all areas of the cultural economy – design, entertainment (film, music, live entertainment, and performing arts), literary arts and humanities, visual arts, culinary arts, and historic preservation.

Dahlberg, who heads the Willimantic-based International Centre for Creativity and Imagination, will chair a panel on "Engaging Creative Communities." This session will explore what creativity is, what it looks like in communities, how communities can engage citizens' creativity in shaping the community, and the poetry of cities. De Smet also will participate with panelists from Maine, New Orleans and England.

The WCEF includes three components: a two-day forum for world cultural economy leaders to explore best practices for growing cultural industries, a World Bazaar and Marketplace featuring artisans and vendors from around the world and across Louisiana, and more than 100 cultural Passport Events held across the state throughout October to showcase Louisiana's unique culture and heritage.

"We are delighted to sponsor the World Cultural Economic Forum in New Orleans this year," said Secretary Stephen Moret of Louisiana Economic Development. "The World Cultural Economic Forum provides Louisiana an opportunity to showcase its many assets to cultural economy leaders from around the world. The relationships we build with these leaders can yield investments in our economy for years to come."

World leaders from Australia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Canada, Denmark, Greece, France, Iraq, Italy, Mexico, Morocco, The Netherlands, Pakistan, St. Vincent & The Grenadines, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom will be among those represented at the WCEF.

George Pataki, former governor of the state of New York, and Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres, culture ambassador for the European Union, are among those leading sessions during the two-day Forum.

More about the WCEF

Eureka! How Distractions Facilitate Creative Problem-solving

[30 September 2008 - ScienceDaily] How many times have you spent hours slaving over an impossible problem, only to take a break and then easily solve the problem, sometimes within minutes of looking at it again? Although this is actually a common phenomenon, up until now the way that this occurs has been unclear. But new research in the September issue of Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, demonstrates the answer is more complex than simply having an "Aha!" moment. The new research, led in part by Kellogg School of Management Professor Adam Galinsky, suggests that unconscious thought results in creative problem-solving via a two-step process. More

The Life Cycle of Great Business Ideas

[1 October 2008 - strategy+business - By Bridget Finn] With the right support and judgment, the corporate "heretics" of today could become tomorrow’s most effective leaders. Thomas Huxley wrote that new ideas begin as heresies and end as superstition. He was referring to Charles Darwin’s The Origin of Species. The same might be said of management concepts today. In August, at the annual meeting of the Academy of Management in Anaheim, Calif., Art Kleiner brought together a group of distinguished management thinkers and practitioners to explore the evolution of management ideas. Kleiner is the editor-in-chief of strategy+business and author of The Age of Heretics: A History of the Radical Thinkers Who Reinvented Corporate Management, which traces some of the leading management practices of our time to people who challenged the conventional wisdom of their companies in years past. This edited version of the panel discussion shows how, in a variety of ways, the quality of management thinking has made a difference -- and how the most compelling business practices often have countercultural roots. The panelists are known for their leadership in the domain of management ideas. More

Predicting Future Happiness

[September 2008 - "Realism and Illusion in Americans' Temporal Views of Their Life Satisfaction" - PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE] Some people are naturally optimistic or pessimistic, but how accurately they predict the level of satisfaction they may attain in the future depends on a variety of factors, according to research published in PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE. In a study led by Brandeis University psychologist Margie Lachman, subjects were surveyed over a nine-year period. In the first survey, in 1995-1996, participants between the ages of 24 and 74 rated their satisfaction with life now, with life 10 years earlier, and with how life may be in another 10 years. They were asked the same questions again in 2004. Lachman and colleagues discovered that there are age-related differences in how individuals view both the past and the future; those age 65 and older rated the past and present equally satisfying but predicted that the future would be less satisfying. Those under age 65 were more optimistic about the future and believed they would be more satisfied a decade hence. "These more negative expectations from older adults may be their way of bracing for an uncertain future, a perspective that can serve a protective function in the face of losses and that can have positive consequences if life circumstances turn out to be better than expected," says Lachman. More

Gardner Promotes "Five Minds" for the Global Future

[29 September 2008 - By Steven Dahlberg - Report from the Global Creative Leadership Summit] "What kinds of minds do we want to cultivate?" asked Howard Gardner last week at the Global Creative Leadership Summit. "What kinds are most important?"

Gardner, who is a professor of education at Harvard University, described five minds that are important -- disciplined, synthesizing, creating, respectful and ethical -- and require different kinds of intelligence.

"You can't have it all," he said. "There are tensions between these kinds of mind." He suggested that education policies need to address these conflicting tensions. He further described each of these "minds":

• DISCIPLINED: knowing something well and working on it.
• SYNTHESIZING: the ability to deal with inundation of information; understanding what to pay attention to, what to ignore; and how to put this information together.
• CREATING: thinking outside the box; having new ideas. "You can't think outside the box unless you have a box," said Gardner. "You need the disciplined mind, too."
• ETHICAL: asking what one's responsibilities are as a worker or citizen; not "what are my rights?"
• RESPECTFUL: more than tolerance of differences; cultivating respect and emotional and interpersonal intelligence.

Gardner added that sometimes respect and ethics can clash.

"You can't develop all these minds in every single person," he said. "The society in which one lives decides what we should be emphasizing." For example, Gardner pointed out that some East Asian countries overemphasized discipline at the expense of creativity.

"Each person needs to figure out the right blend of these minds," concluded Gardner.

Gardner shared these ideas during the Global Creative Leadership Summit opening session on "What If? Scenarios: The Futures of Globalization." It was held September 21, 2008, in New York.

ABOUT THE SUMMIT AND SPONSOR: The Global Creative Leadership Summit, sponsored by the Louise Blouin Foundation, is a three-day forum that brings together great international minds -- including heads of state, CEOs, Nobel Prize-winners and acclaimed artists -- to address pressing global issues, including geo-economics, foreign policy, education, health, poverty and climate change. The Summit also has a goal to work with developed and developing nations alike in order to best address global issues. The Louise Blouin Foundation is an international nonprofit organization that seeks to provide a globalization platform to address challenges in such diverse areas as international trade, foreign policy, education and the environment through the lens of culture and neuroscience.

Are We Failing Our Geniuses?

[16 August 2007 - Time magazine] Any sensible culture would know what to do with Annalisee Brasil. The 14-year-old not only has the looks of a South American model but is also one of the brightest kids of her generation. When Annalisee was 3, her mother Angi Brasil noticed that she was stringing together word cards composed not simply into short phrases but into complete, grammatically correct sentences. After the girl turned 6, her mother took her for an IQ test. Annalisee found the exercises so easy that she played jokes on the testers--in one case she not only put blocks in the correct order but did it backward too. Angi doesn't want her daughter's IQ published, but it is comfortably above 145, placing the girl in the top 0.1% of the population. Annalisee is also a gifted singer: last year, although just 13, she won a regional high school competition conducted by the National Association of Teachers of Singing. Annalisee should be the star pupil at a school in her hometown of Longview, Texas. While it would be too much to ask for a smart kid to be popular too, Annalisee is witty and pretty, and it's easy to imagine she would get along well at school. But until last year, Annalisee's parents--Angi, a 53-year-old university assistant, and Marcelo, 63, who recently retired from his job at a Caterpillar dealership--couldn't find a school willing to take their daughter unless she enrolled with her age-mates. None of the schools in Longview--and even as far away as the Dallas area--were willing to let Annalisee skip more than two grades. She needed to skip at least three--she was doing sixth-grade work at age 7. Many school systems are wary of grade skipping even though research shows that it usually works well both academically and socially for gifted students--and that holding them back can lead to isolation and underachievement. So Angi home schooled Annalisee. But Angi felt something was missing in her daughter's life. Annalisee, whose three siblings are grown, didn't have a rich social network of other kids. By 13, she had moved beyond her mother's ability to meaningfully teach her. The family talked about sending her to college, but everyone was hesitant. Annalisee needed to mature socially. By the time I met her in February, she had been having trouble getting along with others. "People are, I must admit it, a lot of times intimidated by me," she told me; modesty isn't among her many talents. She described herself as "perfectionistic" and said other students sometimes had "jealousy issues" regarding her. The system failed Annalisee, but could any system be designed to accommodate her rare gifts? Actually, it would have been fairly simple (and virtually cost-free) to let her skip grades, but the lack of awareness about the benefits of grade skipping is emblematic of a larger problem: our education system has little idea how to cultivate its most promising students. Since well before the Bush Administration began using the impossibly sunny term "no child left behind," those who write education policy in the U.S. have worried most about kids at the bottom, stragglers of impoverished means or IQs. But surprisingly, gifted students drop out at the same rates as nongifted kids--about 5% of both populations leave school early. Later in life, according to the scholarly Handbook of Gifted Education, up to one-fifth of dropouts test in the gifted range. Earlier this year, Patrick Gonzales of the U.S. Department of Education presented a paper showing that the highest-achieving students in six other countries, including Japan, Hungary and Singapore, scored significantly higher in math than their bright U.S. counterparts, who scored about the same as the Estonians. Which all suggests we may be squandering a national resource: our best young minds. More

Creativity, Education and the Brain

[22 September 2008 - By Steven Dahlberg - Reporting from the Global Creative Leadership Summit] In his introduction to the panel on "Education, Creativity and the Mind," neuroscientist and moderator Antonio Damasio raised several questions about the intersection of these three topics:

• How might education promote cultural understanding? Not just skills and knowledge; but becoming citizens who understand the working of societies, or respect the well-being of the other.
• How might culture be used to promote the well-being of others?
• How might the arts and humanities fields be used in schools to promote cultural understanding?
  

Damasio is a professor of neuroscience at the University of Southern California and director of the Brain and Creativity Institute. He said classrooms and textbooks are no longer the necessary basis for what's going on in learning and education. When they are used, they need to be put to the right service to be effective.

He said one way that neuroscience can be used in support of education is to better understand how neurobiology illuminates the social process -- what brains are doing when they are engaged in social interaction..

Highlights and comments from the rest of this session:

• "Play is a child's work," said Hasbro Chairman Alan Hassenfeld. He is also working to set up one global human rights standard for toy safety.
• Seattle-based artist Susan Robb said she frequently asks students WHO they want to be rather than WHAT they want to be. She also suggested used Visual Thinking Strategies as a tool for helping young people understand art.
• Architect Richard Meier said that new thinking and new ways of rebuilding our cities -- such as post-Katrina New Orleans -- are being ignored.
• Australian neuroscientist Richard Silberstein said there's been an explosive pathologizing of ADHD with three- to nine-percent of the population supposedly afflicted by it. This caused him to wonder if some people being medicated for a pathological condition labeled "ADHD" might actually have something else going on. That is, might there be a spectrum of thinking styles, which ranges from more convergent and orderly thinking (the kind often found in classrooms) to more divergent and dynamic thinking. In a study that is just beginning to produce some results, he is finding connections between ADHD, high IQ and high levels of creativity. Using the Torrance Tests for Creative Thinking and neuroscience measurements, he is looking at connections between creative thinking and the way that regions of the brain communicate with each other. He said that the brain states required for focused work are not the same as those necessary for high creativity. Finally, he talked about the connection between motivation and hope and the importance of a neurobiology of hope. He said hopelessness lowers the neurotransmitters that make learning possible.
• Allan Goodman, president and CEO of Institute of International Education, said brains need safety. He talked about the issues of mobility and safety for scholars, especially in countries with high levels of threats and violence.
• Johns Hopkins neuroscientist Majid Fotuhi said that "learning requires a healthy brain." He pointed out the connection between obesity and dementia, and said that childhood obesity is affecting the brains of children both now and in the long term. Brains of overweight children do not get enough oxygen, which in turn affects the overall health and functioning of the brain.
• Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales talked about the importance of informal learning communities and how technology and informal processes can enhance and encourage creative exploration and the playing with ideas.
• Oxford neuroscientist Colin Blakemore raised the interplay between common sense, education, science and the brain. For instance, he asked why many schools have not changed their language-teaching curriculums to teach languages to children younger than 10, rather than in middle and high school were many students still begin learning languages. Brain research shows the brain's great capacity to learn languages in the first 10 years of its development, yet schools often teach language after the brain as foreclosed on its peak language-learning capacity. He advocated for a new biologically based science of education, which better integrates neurosciences insights about learning into how society does education. Finally, he talked about the importance of learning in real situations versus structured, metaphorical ways; and the importance of teachers conveying their own passion and enthusiasm. "Great teachers convey the great enthusiasm that drives them."
• MIT neuroscientist Nancy Kanwisher asked: How can education enhance our capacity to express empathetic understanding? How might we use the Web to create cheaper versions of cultural and educational exchanges for young people, given the great impact of such face-to-face exchanges?
• Oxford physiologist John Stein emphasized again the importance of active learning as a much better way for teaching children. He said many communities and schools have an obsession with safety that has outweighed the opportunities for play and for being in nature. Talking about visually dyslexic people, he said many of them are incredibly creative, though they have problems reading. He's interested in the ways and the why that dyslexics are creative. He also shared his research about the impact of poor nutrition on learning and the brain. He has found impaired brain cells in dyslexics and his research has shown positive improvements in some people when they increase their intake of vitamins, minerals and Omega-3 fatty acids. He said a deficiency in nutrition can lead to an inability to pick up social cues. In one of his prison studies, he found that by addressing nutrition deficiencies in prisoners, there was a one-third reduction in further offending.
• The Netherlands Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende summarized what he heard from these contributors: the importance of informal learning and its relationship to the formal classroom; responsible citizenship is core to a good society; the role of culture and art and whether one's country or community has a stimulating climate of culture; and the importance of education for positive social interaction.
• Gerard Mortier, director general of the Paris National Opera, said art is not an appendage of society, but at its center.
• Finally, Teachers Without Borders founder Fred Mednick asked how might we scale goodness?

ABOUT THE SUMMIT AND SPONSOR: The Global Creative Leadership Summit, sponsored by the Louise Blouin Foundation, is a three-day forum that brings together great international minds -- including heads of state, CEOs, Nobel Prize-winners and acclaimed artists -- to address pressing global issues, including geo-economics, foreign policy, education, health, poverty and climate change. The Summit also has a goal to work with developed and developing nations alike in order to best address global issues. The Louise Blouin Foundation is an international nonprofit organization that seeks to provide a globalization platform to address challenges in such diverse areas as international trade, foreign policy, education and the environment through the lens of culture and neuroscience.

Jane Goodall Seeks Creative, Engaged Kids Who Want to Make a Difference

[22 September 2008 - By Steven Dahlberg - Reporting from the Global Creative Leadership Summit] Jane Goodall, UN Messenger of Peace, made a gentle-yet-impassioned plea for society to support and encourage children's natural creaivity.

Drawing from her decades of work studying chimpanzees, she described how chimpanzee childhood is marked by sheer joy and the freedom to explore. She said that by exploring the social and physical world around them, chimpanzees learn not only their own strengths and weaknesses, but those of others around them, too. Chimps are curious, inventive and adaptive. They are able to pass on learning to others around them.

This natural creativity in early childhood is not unlike that of human childhood.

Yet, "we are depriving children of their childhood," Dr. Goodall said, because of the over-structuring of their lives and free time.

Dr. Goodall described the Roots & Shoots program that she founded to emphasize experiential learning with a focus on the outdoors and nature -- with its goal of "no child left inside." She said Roots & Shoots helps children develop their own passion, empowers them to come up with their own ideas, and provides opportunities for hands-on action in their communities.

Roots & Shoots participants choose projects that will positively impact people, animals and the environment. Through these hands-on experiences, Dr. Goodall hopes young people gain a better understanding of what it means to "live in harmony."

"Every single one of us makes a difference," she said, adding that she frequently speaks with young people whom have never been told this. "We all have a choice what kind of impact we'll make."

Dutch Prime Minister Espouses Creative Education

[22 September 2008 - By Steven Dahlberg - Reporting from the Global Creative Leadership Summit] Opening the session this morning on "Education, Creativity and the Mind," The Netherlands Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende stated it simply: "Creativity and education are so important."

He shared a story from Holland about a business-based, project-based curriculum where 13 year olds translate an idea into the reality of an entrepreneurial business -- managing all aspects of the process. He said the goal of this program is not to make every student a business person, but to recognize different ways of learning and of being creative.

He insisted that society should recognize the importance of children's natural openness and curiosity, and encourage them to follow their passions for things that matter. He said education should focus on developing children's talents.

"Every child carries a seed of creativity inside," the prime minister said. "It's up to us adults to help that seed flower."

Prime Minister Balkenende also described the Design Academy Eindhoven, which Time magazine has described as the "school of cool." This school, built in an old factory, is integrating the role of human and social needs with sustainable goals in design challenges. For instance, he asked how these students might design a transportation system that makes people want to use it instead of driving.

"Everyone has the right to an education that makes the seed of creativity grow and flourish," he said.

Salman Rushdie on Creativity

[22 September 2008 - By Steven Dahlberg - Reporting from the Global Creative Leadership Summit - New York, New York] Toward the end of a lunch conversation that just wrapped up between author Sir Salman Rushdie and Harvard's Homi Bhabha, a Russian audience member asked Sir Rushdie what his "theory of creativity" is. His response:

"I wish I had a theory of it. It's very hard to do. I don't know where it comes from. My experience of it is very chaotic; not ordered and disciplined."

Sir Rushdie went on to say that he just sits down and writes. The next day, he looks at what he wrote and much of it is garbage. Through the process of exploration of garbage, he said, you find yourself paying attention to things that are sticking around -- and eventually you have a book.

As a writer, Sir Rushdie said you "look at the world in which you live and respond to it." Of his approach to writing: "I go to the edges of the possible and push outwards."

He said the problem of being in the business of writing books for so long is that you "have to keep coming up with stuff to write about." When asked whether he feels like he's done enough short stories, he said, "no," adding that he may do more of them.

Finally, commenting about the topic of "human security" and his own experience of living a threatened life, he said: "There is no such thing as security -- only levels of insecurity." If one accepts that, he said, you can learn to function again.

2008 Global Creative Leadership Summit Kicks Off Sunday

I'll be blogging from this event again starting on Sunday ...

[17 September 2008 - Louise Blouin Foundation] A Hundred of the World's Greatest Minds -- Including Heads Of State, Nobel Prize Winners and Global CEOs -- to Attend Third Annual Global Creative Leadership Summit in New York City ... On September 21-23 at the Metropolitan Club in New York City, the Louise Blouin Foundation will bring together over 100 of the world's greatest minds and leaders from a wide range of disciplines for the 2008 Global Creative Leadership Summit. Following the success of the first two annual Summits, this year's gathering provides a unique platform to address the challenges and opportunities of globalization across fields ranging from geoeconomics and foreign policy and rule of law to education, health, poverty and the environment. Selected participant speeches from last year's event may be viewed on YouTube:

• Closing Remarks from José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, and Louise Blouin MacBain, Chairwoman of the Louise Blouin Foundation - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcyGK_JI0qI
• Remarks by Dr. Bingu wa Mutharika, the President of Malawi - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyy2uxGVJ1Y

Participating members confirmed for this year's event include: Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende of the Kingdom of the Netherlands; President Bingu Wa Mutharika of the Republic of Malawi; President Manuel Zelaya of the Republic of Honduras; President Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson of the Republic of Iceland; Nobel Laureates Henry Kissinger and Sir Paul Nurse; Director General of UNESCO Koïchiro Matsuura; technologist Craig R. Barrett, Chairman of Intel Corp; Internet Entrepreneur Craig Newmark of Craigslist; creative visionaries Sir Salman Rushdie and Richard Meier; Chairman and Founder of One Laptop per Child Nicholas Negroponte; attorney David Boies; psychologist Howard Gardner; biotech entrepreneur William Haseltine; blogger and editor Arianna Huffington; journalist Nicholas Kristof; and many others.

On Problems

"The problem is not that there are problems. The problem is expecting
otherwise and thinking that having problems is a problem." -- Theodore Rubin

Those with disabilities should likewise create

[30 August 2008 - The Jakarta Post] At the closing session of a recent international conference on "Creative Communities and the Making of Place: Sharing Creative Experiences" at the Institute of Technology Bandung, one of the keynote speakers concluded that in the end, the focus should be on people rather than on cities. This conclusion was certainly indisputable, because a city without people is dead. It is the people in their diversity who make a place lively. As shown by the present range of enterprises in Bandung, people are continually creating new things, either as a hobby, as an expression of art, for research purposes, or as a source of income. Gradually these creative products become an industry, called the creative industry. Not only do people do this creative work for their own benefit, but the urban economy flourishes because of these thriving businesses. ... The most underestimated are the disabled. They constantly face barriers to access physical infrastructure or opportunities for self development. They have the potential to make a significant economic contribution to the city, if only the environment could be more physically and socially friendly for them. People are creative by nature and so are disabled people. By excluding them from development opportunities, the society neglects a rich resource of talented and creative people. People who meet the standard of normalcy in performing creative work, predominate the creative industries. They are the ones who are healthy, agile, not disabled and have the financial resources to start an enterprise. Nowadays, young people are very much involved in creative industries. Thinking creatively, they produce goods with an economic value. Their free spirit means allowing people to be different, which is sometimes difficult in our conformist culture. By tolerating different ideas, their creativity emerges. More

Your Health: Einstein was an image streamer

[23 August 2008 - The New Straights Times - Malaysia] THERE are basically two types of meditation and they are diametrically opposed to each other. One is passive and the other dynamic. One attempts to still the mind while the other follows the vagaries of the mind and the thoughts that go with it. Most people are familiar with passive meditation. However, the concept of dynamic meditation -- called "image streaming" by researcher and educator, Win Wenger, is less well known. As discussed last week, this is a type of medication that Einstein may have used. Except that he described it as "vague play" with "signs," "images," and other elements, both "visual" and "muscular." "This combinatory play," he wrote, "seems to be the essential feature in productive thought." Win Wenger's project of the last 25 years has been to develop techniques and mental exercises, based in part on Einstein's methods. These work in the short term and seem to develop the mind's permanent powers. The Image Streaming technique that Win Wenger developed opens the mind to a flow of symbolic imagery as potent as that of any dream. However, unlike dreaming, you can practise image streaming while wide awake. Best of all, you can do it virtually any time, anywhere. More

Community: The Structure of Belonging - Peter Block

[26 August 2008 - Heartland Circle] Peter Block's -- author, consultant and partner of Designed Learning -- book "Community: The Structure of Belonging" articulates a potent design for creating living communities whenever and wherever people gather, through the realization that everyday acts of citizenship are acts of leadership. The radical notion that belonging to a community as a citizen leader can transform the human relationship to the planet, is both genius and imperative. More: About Peter's Work | Article: Leadership as Convening | Article: Community Handout

Creativity and Social Change - U of Connecticut Offers New Creativity Community Building Course

I am excited to announce that I will be co-teaching a new course on "Creativity and Social Change" at the University of Connecticut this fall. This is the first course being offered in the new Creative Community Building Program, which has been developed with an interdisciplinary team of university and community partners. This program will offer an emphasis in Creative Community Building as part of the Center for Continuing Studies' Bachelor of General Studies degree, as well as non-credit workshops and seminars for professional development. -- Steve Dahlberg, International Centre for Creativity and Imagination

CREATIVITY AND SOCIAL CHANGE
a new 3-credit course ... 7 weeks ... fall 2008

==========================
inspiration reinvent art intuition society creativity social sculpture engage change community ideas possibilities
==========================

Do you want to ...

• Unleash and harness your creativity?
• Use your creativity to transform communities?
• Understand how our thinking and imagination shapes, forms and reinvents society?
• Improve your creative community building skills?
• Learn creative thinking strategies to apply individually, in organizations and in society?
• Explore society as a complex system of social relationships and perceptions?

IMAGINE, CONNECT AND ENGAGE: Come and explore, integrate and expand your understanding of “Creativity and Social Change”!

Complete this full-semester, three-credit undergraduate course in just seven weeks! This course (GS 3088; section 90) is offered through the
Center for Continuing Studies at the University of Connecticut. Non-degree students also may register for this course on a space-available basis for personal/professional development.
Where: Bishop Center, University of Connecticut, Storrs
When: September 9 to October 23, 2008
Tuesdays and Thursdays, 6:00 to 9:00 p.m.
Who: Taught by Steven Dahlberg and Phoebe Godfrey
Info: Joanne Augustyn, 860-486-0460
www.CreativeCommunityBuilding.org

On Creativity

[3 August 2008 - Higher Awareness]
"Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world."
     -- Albert Einstein

"Just as our eyes need light in order to see, our minds need ideas in order to conceive."
     -- Napoleon Hill

"Anyone can look for fashion in a boutique or history in a museum. The creative explorer looks for history in a hardware store and fashion in an airport."
     -- Robert Wieder

Edutainment: the benefits of arts and crafts in adult and community learning

[March 2008 - Voluntary Arts England] A collection of inspiring and informative case studies from a range of adult learners and tutors highlighting the many benefits associated with participating in the arts and crafts through adult and community learning. With a foreword from Professor John Benyon (Institute of Lifelong Learning, University of Leicester), the publication also contains results from our national survey of adult learners along with information on where to find an art or craft course in your area. Hard copies are also available. More (PDF)

Social Entrepreneurship to Be Highlighted at the National Urban League Annual Conference in Orlando, Florida

[30 July 2008 - National Urban League] On Thursday, July 31, 2008, the Economic Opportunity Institute (EOI) will host the finals of the Social Venture Plan Competition at the 2008 National Urban League Annual Conference in Orlando, Florida. The competition, sponsored by The Prudential Foundation and FedEx Corporation, identifies and showcases
successful and replicable social ventures operated by Urban League affiliates, and serves as a model for innovative and sustainable public/private collaboration.

Teams from Cincinnati, Hartford, Jacksonville, Lorain County, New York, Philadelphia and Tucson will compete in the finals for over $100,000 in start up cash and consulting services to launch their social entrepreneurial and non-profit initiatives. The winners will be announced at the Whitney M. Young Gala on August 2, 2008.

The competition is sponsored by Prudential Foundation and FedEx and all of the finalists will receive feedback on their social venture plans from accomplished judges, Alfred Edmond (Editor-in-Chief, Black Enterprise.com), Julius Walls Jr. (CEO, Greyston Bakery), and Linda
Roach (Partner, Oakcrest Capital Partners).

In the face of declining support for endowments and the highly competitive nature of grant funding, nonprofits are increasingly integrating entrepreneurial strategies as a way to tackle social problems. They seek to earn capital in order to sustain their missions and, for many, build their capacity to consistently deliver services to the underserved. President and C.E.O. of the National Urban League, Marc H. Morial explains, "I envision an entrepreneurial Urban League movement that enjoys economic sustainability while empowering communities and changing lives. Social entrepreneurship is the new community service grant. FedEx and the Prudential Foundation are supporting the creativity and drive of our affiliates to provide the services that our communities demand."

The EOI Social Venture Plan Competition is simultaneously a practicum in competing for investment funds and also a vehicle to provide funding and in-kind services to those that demonstrate the greatest potential for success. This last round of the competition is open to the public and is a great opportunity for residents of the Orlando area to learn about opportunities in social entrepreneurship, and network with social entrepreneurs/Nonprofit leaders.

Established in 2003, the National Urban League's Economic Opportunity Institute (EOI) empowers communities and changes lives by promoting social entrepreneurship as a strategy to achieve sustainable social change.

National Communiversity Conference Draws 14 Communities From Connecticut to California

[29 July 2008 - Applied Imagination - By Steven Dahlberg - Windham, Connecticut, USA] Four Windham-area residents participated this past weekend in the first "COMV08: Communiversity Conference" in New Gloucester, Maine. Miriam and Mike Kurland, Abigail Ricklin and Steven Dahlberg joined 35 other people from 14 communities -- from California to Maine -- to explore how communiversities can invent a new community context in which people anticipate and transform challenges into opportunities for creative action.

The Windham delegation told the participants about Willimantic's efforts to build creative community. Their examples ranged from the Third Thursday Street Fest, the Boom Box Parade and Willimantic's historic Main Street to the Victorian Home Tour, the new Imagine Willimantic Communiversity group, and the new Creative Community Building Program being launched this fall at the University of Connecticut with community-based partners in Willimantic.

"This was an extraordinary gathering of people who spent three days focusing on positive aspects of what's working best in their communities," said Dahlberg, who heads the International Centre for Creativity and Imagination in Willimantic. "There was no whining or negativity -- just a group of people who want to share their communities' stories, figure out how to engage people in their communities, and help their communities learn and grow together."

The Imagine Willimantic Communiversity grew out of a visit to Willimantic in April from the Communiversity Conference organizer August Jaccaci. While in town, Jaccaci met with First Selectwoman Jean de Smet, people from community organizations, and citizens. He also led a public Creativity Networking event at the WindhamARTS Collaborative, at which he shared with the audience his concept of "Communiversity" and invited Willimantic to join a network of other cities and towns who are working to build a movement of communiversities.

Communiversities, according to Jaccaci, are about discovering new and world-changing ways to meet real needs in real places in real time -- with hope. Communiversities weave together ideas about community learning, creative communities and change.

"Communiversities are the sequel to the modern university," said Jaccaci. "We need to profoundly reinvent all aspects of society or we are history. This includes reinventing human learning so that it's continuous and includes all members of the family of life."

To deal with the accelerating nature of community change and transformation, Jaccaci told participants, "you have to go ahead of history, create it, and pull it toward you," rather than merely reacting to what happens.

Lawyer-turned-poet Anthony Burnini, who opened the second day with poetry, invited the participants to work in their communities to "unbury the talents that have been put in the ground" so that people might discover that they have something to contribute to their communities.

Participants spent the first day and a half sharing their communities' stories, which offer several possibilities for Willimantic:

• Gainesville, Ga. -- Gus Whalen shared how the Featherbone Communiversity emerged out of a reinvention of the Warren Featherbone Company. They transformed the company's old manufacturing space into a community learning center that includes a school of nursing, a children's museum, a business incubator, and a creativity center.
• Deer Isle, Maine -- Dom Parisi shared a vision for helping people take back control of energy costs. He has a 12-step plan for involving whole communities in making better energy choices everyday. He has particularly focused on what his community’s schools are doing about energy use and conservation, and wants to use communiversities to make that project replicable in other communities.
• Hope, Maine -- As towns consider how to brand and position themselves to the outside world, members of Hope have adopted "Hope is Hip" as theirs. As part of their Communiversity, they invited citizens to a meeting to talk about business or community issues. Forty-five people showed up. "This showed that people want to be connected and talk to each other," said Larrain Slaymaker. This group continues to meet each month at a different business where that organization can showcase itself and its products to the community.
• New London, Conn. -- Art Costa talked about how the Re-New London Council is seeking to focus on strengths and assets to build communities from the inside out and to improve their quality of life. They are exploring how to use land-value tax (versus land-use tax) as a tool for building sustainable economies in new ways in cities. Through their Farm-to-City initiative, they are seeking to feed their community with more local food. They also have a buy-local-first campaign for supporting locally owned and operated businesses.
• Portland, Maine -- Christina Bechstein, an artist and professor at the Maine College of Art, shared examples of how she uses the college's service learning program and arts-based projects to engage students and faculty with a community partner in a community project. She described this as "co-learning with the outside community" and talked about ways to make community challenges, such as hunger, visual and visible.
• Berkeley, Calif. -- Rand Christiansen is focusing both his doctoral studies and his Communiversity work on the concept of a "cosmology of love" in which he explores how love can help us address those things that keep us separate and how to create opportunities for people to excel in their potential. "Love is the wisdom of well-being," he said.

In the closing session, Jaccaci suggested that communiversities can help create the planet's next renaissance and wondered aloud: "What are the design specifications for this?" He recalled Margaret Mead’s encouragement to him of working to answer the question: How do you create models that are organic and natural as opposed to arbitrary and manmade?

The answer, Jaccaci said, is in intention -- whether one organizes around resonance and reverence or manipulation and control of others. Nature, he said, offers the best models to help people organize and design communities that function as creatively and efficiently as nature does.

Christiansen said that focusing on nature emphasizes a model of something that lives and breathes life, which is what people desire of their community. He suggested the sequoia tree as a model, with its broad reach and its roots that spread out and intertwine and support the grove.

“Nature is fundamentally symbiotic, full of mutually benefiting relationships,” Jaccaci said. “How might communiversities be this?”

The Imagine Willimantic Communiversity will meet to share more about the COMV08 experience on Tuesday, August 5, at 5:30 p.m. at Wrench in the Works, 861 Main Street, Willimantic. Anyone interested in finding out more or getting involved with this project is welcome to attend. In addition, Imagine Willimantic Communiversity Member Phoebe Godfrey will talk about this project at the Windham Board of Selectman meeting at 7:00 p.m. on August 5.

Creating Communiversities:
Partners in Whole Community Learning
By August Jaccaci

A Communiversity
Is a learning conversation
Within a whole family of life
In a place they hold in common
Dear to them all.
This conversation
Is a sharing of mutual needs
In a place of mutual dwelling
In a process of mutual learning
In a vessel of mutual hope.
This continuous conversation
Is the voice of the soul of life
Expressing the sanctity of all life
For the future of all life
In the home of all life.

Shaw on Imagination

"Imagination is the beginning of creation. You imagine what you desire,
you will what you imagine and at last you create what you will." --
George Bernard Shaw

From he that hath not: If you are at the bottom of the heap, mental processes may keep you there

[22 May 2008 - The Economist] New drugs may help to enhance people's mental powers. But a study carried out by Pamela Smith, of Radboud University Nijmegen in the Netherlands, and her colleagues suggests a less pharmacological approach can be taken, too. Their work, just published in Psychological Science, argues that simply putting someone into a weak social position impairs his cognitive function. Conversely, "empowering" him, in the dread jargon of sociology, sharpens up his mind. Dr Smith focused on those cognitive processes that help people maintain and pursue their goals in difficult and distracting situations. She suspected that a lack of social power may reduce someone's ability to keep track of information and make plans to achieve his goals. More