Ambassadors for European Creativity and Innovation Year present their “manifesto”

The ambassadors for the European Year of Creativity and Innovation 2009 handed a “manifesto” on creativity and innovation in Europe to European Commission President José Manuel Barroso on Thursday 12 November. The manifesto aims to help shape the EU's strategy for promoting creativity and innovation for the next decade and is one of the main achievements of the European Year 2009.

Speaking on this occasion, Mr Barroso said: “Europe needs such vision more than ever as we seek to lead global efforts to recover from crisis and tackle climate change”. He went on to add that the manifesto would help inspiration to be found for future work.

The Commission will soon be publishing a working paper on this strategy, submitting it for consultation.

The manifesto, which is the result of a collective effort by 27 ambassadors, includes seven priorities and seven lines of action that give strong impetus for change. The priorities will:

1) nurture creativity in a lifelong learning process where theory and practice go hand in hand;

2) make schools and universities places where students and teachers engage in creative thinking and learning through practice;

3) transform workplaces into learning sites;

4) promote a strong, independent and diverse cultural sector that can sustain intercultural dialogue;

5) promote scientific research to understand the world, improve people's lives and stimulate innovation;

6) promote design processes, thinking and tools, understanding the needs, emotions, aspirations and abilities of users; and

7) support business innovation that contributes to prosperity and sustainability.

The lines of action are: 1) investing in knowledge; 2) reinventing education; 3) rewarding initiative; 4) sustaining culture; 5) promoting innovation; 6) thinking globally; and 7) greening the economy. The ambassadors underline that it is urgent to bring about a change and to launch a new initiative.

Europe and its member states must, in order to break the current deadlock, grant their full attention today to creativity and innovation, they say.