Creativity and Innovation in Groups

Description

The second in the series of AHRC workshops on Creativity and Innovation

Registration
You can register online by clicking on the link at the right hand side of the page.  There is a flat rate charge of £7.50 for each workshop.

Innovation is increasingly linked to collaborative research despite a traditional emphasis on the solitary researcher or lone creative artist.  What are the tensions between innovation and creativity in individual research or creative practice and collaborative work? The second workshop will explore the relation between the production of knowledge and creative innovation in groups, drawing on specific expertise in group psychology and intellectual property alongside case studies of collaborative practice in the Arts and Humanities, making comparisons with science and technology collaborations.

As researchers are required to make their research accessible to disparate communities, broadening dissemination and deepening public engagement, the collaborative group becomes increasingly focal. Often overlooked in the promotion of collaborative and interdisciplinary groups are factors required for groups to work creatively within institutions. Despite the value placed on collaboration by research councils, there is little systematic implementation or understanding of collaborative models. The workshop will explore and identify factors that promote or impede collaborative research by groups in academic institutions and practice-based research.

Questions to be posed include:

•    What are the demonstrable benefits of collaboration for creative innovation and how might these be identified?

•    What specific problems and/or creative processes are associated with working in groups?

•    How do current legislative practices governing accreditation and attribution of ideas (e.g. copyright law) impact on collaborative research and the wider innovative economy?

•    How can collaborative work best be fostered in the Arts and Humanities, and what are its benefits for the innovation economy?

Confirmed Speakers 

Sam Barrett (Music, University of Cambridge)
Peter Bloore (Visiting Fellow in Creativity, Centre for Creative and Performing Arts, UEA)
Barbara Bodenhorn (Anthropology, University of Cambridge)
Lorraine Gamman (Professor of Design Studies, School of Graphic and Industrial Design, Central St Martins College of Art and Design)
David Hendy (Author of Life on Air: A History of Radio Four, University of Westminster)
Michael Hrebeniak (University of Cambridge)
David Simoes Brown (NESTA)
Adam Thorpe (Reader in Socially Responsive Design, Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, Director of the Bikeoff Research Initiative)
Richard Wentworth (Director, The Ruskin School of Fine Art and Drawing, Oxford University)

For administrative  enquiries please contact mm405@cam.ac.uk.