Creativity and Peace: Teens Collaborate in Peace it Together

[29 June 2009 - Advertising Age] Fleming Creative Group, a Vancouver-based print/digital design agency, discovers how creativity and peace-building go hand in hand. Catherine Winckler, partner and creative director, explains. ... Can creative exploration contribute to peace? Can filmmaking become a mechanism to break the cycle of hate? Can a camp on Canada's West Coast effect change among youth in the turbulent Middle East? Like many who learned of Peace It Together's unique peace-building program of dialogue through art, we were intrigued by the possibilities. Since 2004, the not-for-profit has been bringing together Palestinian, Israeli and Canadian teens to collaborate in small, mixed-cultural groups, assisted by renowned volunteer filmmakers, editors and writers. In an idyllic camp setting, away from conflict yet still very much in the face of each other's preconceptions and prejudices, the youth produce short films about personally relevant issues. The result: a body of work that finds its way into their home communities and around the world, casting light on the conflict and educating in the process. More

Microsoft's Ballmer on Innovation

[18 June 2009 - The Executives' Club of Chicago] On June 18, 2009, Steve Ballmer, Chief Executive Officer of Microsoft Corporation, provided a dynamic and engaging presentation on "The Role of Innovation in Changing Economic Times" at the final Global Leaders Luncheon of the season. He spoke to over 1,400 members and guests in attendance. More (read and listen to speech)

Sir Ken Robinson: the creative thinker

[29 June 2009 - Personnel Today - UK] Author and creativity guru Sir Ken Robinson has been described as 'one of America's finest imports'. The Liverpool-born Los Angeles resident shares his thoughts on HR and its role in workplace creativity. [Q] Is there a place for creativity in HR? [A] That's the prime place for it. I've heard people say that the trouble is that you can't define creativity, but I define it as the process of having original ideas that have value. All three parts of that are important. There are three misconceptions about creativity ... More

Can governments till the fields of innovation?

[20 June 2009 - New York Times via Innovator Insights] This New York Times article briefly surveys the emergence of innovation agendas in government, aimed at addressing fields like energy, the environment, and healthcare as well as tackling issues in economic development and industrial policies. The United States, for example, is using the Bureau of Economic Analysis to develop statistics that "uniquely measure the role of innovation." Additional indications of national interest in innovation policy include Great Britain's Department of Business, Innovation and Skills, and Finland’s plan to become a major competitor in developing software and services, relating in particular to medical monitoring and preventive health. More

Are the Dynamics of Innovation Changing?

[28 May 2009 - MIT Sloan Management Review] Some argue that many of today’s biggest problems are in complex fields such as energy and  the environment — and that solutions will need to be multidisciplinary rather than the work of entrepreneurial inventors. More