Topic:Creative Transformation in a Constrained World: Multi-disciplinary Educational Projects

As we enter deeper into the 21st Century the rise of the Creative Economy becomes ever steeper and the need for new forms of Leadership, Creative leadership perhaps, has become clear to many of us. This is the form of Leadership, who see new opportunities for change, for creating a ‘better world’ also envisage new ways of realising that change in both a relevant and meaningful way. Thus enabling Transformational Innovation. These innovators need to be capable of a complex mix of knowledge, ability and indeed behaviour. This need is not new.

The crisis that our leading Universities face though their Education and Research endeavour is we have not yet found a sustainable way to equip our student graduates and our business partner learners with these three core aspects so as to Lead in this unfolding future.

At Northumbria School of Design, together with our Technology and Business focused Schools, we are developing a n integrated educational programme, which brings the Student learner, from any current or traditional disciplinary background, our Academic colleagues, social or commercial ‘enterprises’, citizen groups and others, together to ‘Learn’, research’ and to create New Ideas and Solutions of the future. Many Universities aim to do the same!

As those who are exploring the same path, there are many obstacles restricting our success, from the traditional models of University Learning and its organisational structures, the currencies of knowledge creation and publishing, the geography of a campus and including, in particular the learning and commercial needs and timing of the external (social & commercial) partners.

In this talk we will discuss some of these constraints and how we have begun to overcome them while maintaining the integrity of student learning, the needs of academic research and the aims and objectives of our external Partners. We call this Global Multi-Disciplinary Innovation. …and it’s beginning to deliver new forms of value in new and surprising ways, as the examples demonstrate!

Please, lets join our ambitions together!