In this week’s Thursday Reflection, pupils at the Pilgrims’ School learned about the importance of the creative economy and the UNESCO Creative Cities Network. Pupils discussed the nature of creativity and innovation and shared any ideas they had. A special focus was on how we could reduce food waste at school.

Speaking of the World Creativity and Innovation Day, the UN say that, “There may be no universal understanding of creativity. The concept is open to interpretation from artistic expression to problem-solving in the context of economic, social and sustainable development…The creative economy too has no single definition. It is an evolving concept which builds on the interplay between human creativity and ideas and intellectual property, knowledge and technology. Essentially it is the knowledge-based economic activities upon which the ‘creative industries’ are based.

Creative industries are a highly transformative sector of the world economy in terms of income generation, job creation and export earnings. Culture is an essential component of sustainable development and represents a source of identity, innovation and creativity for the individual and community. At the same time, creativity and culture have a significant non-monetary value that contributes to inclusive social development, to dialogue and understanding between peoples. Today, the creative industries are among the most dynamic areas in the world economy providing new opportunities for developing countries to leapfrog into emerging high-growth areas of the world economy.” (cf. United Nations (2023) World Creativity and Innovation Day, available at: https://www.un.org/en/observances/creativity-and-innovation-day)

Dr Bryant
School Lay Chaplain & Head of Theology, Philosophy and Religion
Co-ordinator of SMSC