Title: The impact of culture on creativity.

Author(s): KEA European Affairs

Organisation(s): European Commission (Directorate-General for Education and Culture)

Categories: Arts, culture and education, Arts, culture and society, Arts, culture and the economy

Objectives: To examine the notion of creativity as well as the various factors that can stimulate it; to understand the effective and concrete contribution of culture to creativity; to examine the links between factors that stimulate creativity and culture.

Key Findings: The study develops the concept of culture-based creativity to characterise creativity that stems from art and cultural production activities. It argues that culture plays a major role in the development of new products and services, driving technological innovation, stimulating research, optimising human resources, branding and communicating values, inspiring people to learn and building communities. Culture-based creativity is an essential feature of a post-industrial economy and plays a key role in generating social innovation. Society in turn plays an important role in developing and advancing creativity, as do education and learning. Arts education fosters imagination, intuition and divergent thinking which nurture creativity.

Methods: Review of existing studies on creativity; review of existing national strategies and initiatives to stimulate creativity across the EU; consultation of a wide range of cultural stakeholders, through interviews and roundtable discussions; quantitative and qualitative assessment of the factors identified.