Our training handbook available

Look at our training handbook at http://www.grace-project.eu/resources !

Your views on innovation matters for Europe

We would be pleased to have your views on the innovation co-generation model we have developed by filling in a short survey. Thanks for this! You might contribute to shape the European Innovation Agenda!

GRACE final conference

     

GENERATING RESEARCH PROJECTS THROUGH INTERACTION BETWEEN ACADEMIA AND ENTERPRISES
Final Conference
21 September 2012, Sala degli Angeli,
Suor Orsola Benincasa University
Via Suor Orsola 10, Naples, Italy
10-13.30 CET
See the conference programme here

GENERAZIONE DI PROGETTI DI RICERCA ATTRAVERSO L’ INTERAZIONE TRA l’UNIVERSITA’ E LE IMPRESE
Conferenza Finale del progetto
Napoli, 21 Settembre 2012, Sala degli Angeli,
Università degli studi Suor Orsola Benincasa
Via Suor Orsola, 10, Napoli
10-13.30 CET
Può consultare il programma al seguente link

The GRACE co-generation model

The GRACE co-generation model is a process itinerary which provides resources and guidelines on how to approach multistakeholders generation of innvation at different stages, i.e. preparation, project development and evaluation of results.You can read a description of our model here
We  have represented the model as an interactive map so to make it more accessible. Below is a snapshot, but you can access it as an interactive map at the following url: GRACE-overall model

You can also try our self-evaluation tool for project co-generation.
We would invite you to express your view on the model by fillling in a short survey. Thanks for this!

Poster session on GRACE at Industrial technologies Aarhus

Industrial technologies 2012 conference took place in Aarhus on the 19-21st of June 2012 and involved over 160 high profile international speakers from industry, government and research to discuss visions for European research and industry in 2020, how Europe can succeed in the face of global competition, and the form and impact of Horizon 2020. It hosted a poster session on the GRACE project.

GRACE position paper on Horizon 2020

Since we intend to promote further research, dialogue and policy developments on creativity and innovation, we decided to elaborate a position paper on the working document of the European Parliament, Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (17-02-2012) on “Horizon 2020 - The framework Programme for Research and Innovation (2014 – 2020)” . The paper received positive feedback from the Italian Ministry of Research, the conference of Italian rectors and a Member of European Parliament working on Horizon 2020, You can read our position paper here and comment it via our blog.

Start twitting...

Look at our new twitter channel at @graceconsortium !

GRACE project brochure

Below is our brochure. Thanks to our graphic designer for this!

How does creativity become innovation?

This post is drawn on Annamaria Testa’s article about the issue Theories and Practices of the Creativity published on the following website http://www.nuovoeutile.it/ita-creativita-innovazione.htm

The differences between creativity and innovation

If an idea is to be considered creative, it must not only break an existing rule but come up with a new, improved one. Indeed, creativity creates new rules. It is not just the first stage of innovation, but something unto itself. On the other hand, creativity and innovation are not simply two separate, important stages that follow on from each other in the development process but belong to different logical levels. Innovation is an economic and social phenomenon that involves groups. It requires investment, infrastructures and policies. It is the courage to take risks. It has a strong planning component and is the result of a specific business strategy. Creativity, on the other hand, is a mental, individual entity. It involves individuals or groups or individuals who work together and requires flexibility, skills, talent and focus as well as extraordinary staying power. It is often uncontrollable and relies on chance. It can be encouraged but it cannot be planned. A good businessman can understand the dynamics of innovation and control it by planning timeframes and investments. The dynamics of creativity, on the other hand, cannot be controlled and this can at times be very irritating. Groups of creative people can be complicated to manage and guide and objectives must be reached without getting lost in originality of thought. There is therefore a tendency to skate over the problem by incorporating creative development in a somewhat arbitrary way into processes of innovation that are equally complex but more manageable. However, the creative process cannot be rigidly scheduled and planned. This is evident if we look at companies that consider creativity to be a genuine strategic key for development. These companies, which include the Italian company Diesel and the American company Google, seem to share certain characteristics: an informal, pleasant and relaxed environment that is also highly challenging for individuals, incentive programmes that are not based on pay alone and bosses who have plenty of time to listen to someone with a good idea. Creative people do not need to be pushed into work - if anything, they tend to work too hard, be perfectionists and set themselves unreasonable standards. They value the fact that they have respect, reputation and opportunity and belong to an organisation that also has an excellent reputation far more than a purely financial incentive. They should not feel that they are being forced into rigid, inflexible ways of thinking and procedures but do need clear objectives and quality standards. They often have a strong social conscience and feel gratified to know that their work and devotion may help to change the world for the better irrespective of the field they work in.

Commentary

The article successfully highlights the difference between the concepts of innovation and creativity. Innovation is a social phenomenon which can be planned as part of specific business strategies whereas creativity is a mental concept that cannot be planned. Consequently, we can create work environments that foster creativity but we cannot expect to control it by imposing strict procedures or preconceptions, in fact the analysis of creative people and creative objects has demonstrated that most scientific and artistic innovations emerge from joint thinking, passionate conversations, and shared struggles among different people, emphasizing the importance of the social dimension of creativity (Bennis & Biederman, 1997; John-Steiner, 2000). On the one hand, interactions of humans with other humans and with artifacts and tools is not only needed but central to social creativity. On the other hand, people participate in such collaborative inquiry and creation as individuals, and individuals need time to think and reflect about their contributions to social inquiry or creativity (Fischer et al., 2005).