Creative Knowledge Environments Research Articles

Enhancing creativity in activity‐based offices: A critical incident study of knowledge workers

This study investigated the effects of activity‐based offices (ABOs) on individual and group creativity. Adopting an interactionist perspective, we extended the theoretical framework of creative knowledge environments to find the link between ABOs and the concept of creative spaces. We employed the critical incident technique and collected data through interviews and participant observation methods for the case studies of three ABOs. The results show that privacy, noise level, and a distraction‐free environment were the main factors supporting employees' individual creativity, as were open spaces with zones for different levels of noise and private enclosed spaces. For group creativity, the significance of providing suitable equipment and furniture in ABOs was observed—collaborative and disengaged spaces were found to be the recurring spaces for group creativity. Additionally, employee preferences were noted as an important component to consider when looking at environmental features, types of spaces and types of creative activities in creativity‐enhancing ABOs.

What about virtual creative knowledge environments? Definition and modelling through case-based reasoning

Support for virtual creative knowledge environments is a new and challenging research topic in knowledge management research field. Starting from the definitions of creative thinking, creative space and creative knowledge environments, this paper reflects on how such concepts can be properly modelled. The adoption of the case-based reasoning paradigm has allowed to build up a conceptual and computational framework able to promote them from both the theoretical and practical points of view.

What about virtual creative knowledge environments? Definition and modelling through case-based reasoning

What about virtual creative knowledge environments? Definition and modelling through case-based reasoning

Women Resource Centres—A Creative Knowledge Environment of Quadruple Helix

Creative behaviour has been claimed to be a vital ingredient for the inventions and innovations that are indispensable for the dawning knowledge society. The causality between creativity, knowledge development and innovation ascribes creative knowledge environments an important role as work settings in which people produce new knowledge. The Creative Knowledge Environment approach reaches beyond the Triple Helix model—promoted in innovation policy and research—in its potential to acknowledge creative environments outside academia, industry and government. This is a relevant contribution since the public funding of Triple Helix constellations has been criticised for paradoxically consolidating old structures rather than opening up for creative change. In this article, the model of Women Resource Centres (WRCs)—developed in Sweden and internationalized throughout Europe—serves as an example of how creativity in the organization of joint action networks can make new knowledge and innovation prosper. These centres were initiated in order to promote gender equality in regional development policy, enhancing women’s realization of business ideas and innovations. The model of Women Resource Centres illustrates the need for further development of predominant models for promoting innovation. Suggested concepts such as Creative Knowledge Environments and Quadruple Helix have the potential to increase the diversity of actors and areas being acknowledged as important in the expanding knowledge economy, by including the civil society and creative industries. However, the example of WRCs exposes an aspect of creativity and innovation that is not properly addressed in the suggested models, namely the aspect of gender.

Fuzzy Concepts—A New Approach in the Description of Boundaries as Creative Knowledge Environments in Educational Sciences

Since the implementation of educational sciences as a discipline in universities, the society observes a permanent area of conflict between theory and application in pedagogics ("Pedagogics is always too late"). The history of this discipline shows that in the context of the general development of the society, this conflict creates boundaries. These boundaries are characterized by remarkable disruptions (fractality) of pedagogical academic contents of teaching and its implementation in contexts of application in daily routines. The crucial question is always the same: where does theory end and where do practical rules begin. The period of use of successful pedagogic concepts is also limited. This temporal limitation also indicates a creative area of conflict in the context of educational sciences. Because of these conditions, a diversity of creative knowledge environments are constituted. The problem of membership and the problem of assignment of pedagogic contents to theory or to application, and accordingly to disciplines dealing with similar contents is well known. We find the same problem already described in a more abstract mathematical way in the so-called "Fuzzy Sets": what are the degrees of membership of a single element x to a set A and to a set B at the same time? In the context of educational sciences,the same question is expressed as: what are the degrees of membership of a certain pedagogic content to theory which is taught in different departments on universities and to concrete pedagogic situations at school in the daily routines. It will be shown that by means of "Fuzzy Concepts"—a fuzzy set application in the context of humanities—it is possible to cope with these problems in an adequate way. This article focuses on the question how to design a fuzzy concept which is adapted to contexts already described. This fuzzy concept should fulfill the requirements of an adequate description of temporarily changing and evolving (fractal) boundaries of theory and application in pedagogical contexts as well as the identification of scopes and limits of integration of artistic and playful elements besides hardcore scientific facts in such concepts. In the first place, the objective of this article is to identify the potentialities and contexts in which fuzzy concepts represent an improvement in the daily pedagogic work and secondly to identify concrete creative knowledge environments in these evolving boundaries in the context of educational science.

Creative Knowledge Environments: An Interview Study with Group Members and Group Leaders of University and Industry R&D Groups in Biotechnology*

This study shows that effective knowledge management is essential in a creative knowledge environment of R&D groups in cutting‐edge fields such as biotechnology. To a great extent, knowledge management is revealed as a group leadership task. Moreover, group leaders emphasize group organization as a way to generate ideas, while group members are concerned with creative leadership. Group climates are unanimously perceived to be conducive to creative output. Theoretical starting points taken in creativity are seen as fostered by the environment rather than by individual characteristics. Data were collected by semi‐structured, oral interviews (N = 84) with group leaders and group members at universities and biotechnical companies in Sweden. Data were analysed by content and categorized accordingly. Future research on creative micro‐environments should focus on leadership issues and knowledge management.

Developing REALSpace

This manuscript is to provide an action research report on the issues behind the prototyping of a student-centered creative knowledge environment (CKE), which focuses on developing student responsibility, making learning meaningful, promoting overt knowledge construction, performing learner assessment, and showcasing learner achievements. The primary idea is to create an electronic knowledge space where students are enabled to learn through constructing rich portfolios of knowledge work. The issue of learner responsibility lies in student’s willingness to identify learning deficits, setting goals, managing the learning process, and monitoring the learning strategies they use. The issue of meaningful learning lies in providing students with realistic problems, which are conducive to the development of capable problem solvers. The issue of active knowledge construction lies in providing students with opportunities to engage in high-level thinking, reflection, and articulation activities, with suitable support to scaffold students in their pursuit of active learning.

Creative Knowledge Environments

The extent to which an individual's (or a group's) creative potential is expressed depends considerably on the environment in which that individual (or group) works. To understand scientific and technological creativity, one needs to analyze the interactions between individuals or groups and their environment. We put forward the concept of a creative knowledge environment (CKE) to examine the environmental influences on individual and group creativity. After reviewing the research literature relevant to creativity using the CKE framework, we identify the main influences promoting creativity at different levels of organization. The framework provides suggestions as to how best to stimulate CKEs to be more creative. The article concludes by identifying issues where further research is needed.

Creative knowledge environments for research groups in biotechnology. The influence of leadership and organizational support in universities and business companies

Creative knowledge environments for research groups in biotechnology. The influence of leadership and organizational support in universities and business companies

Creative knowledge environments for research groups in biotechnology. The influence of leadership and organizational support in universities and business companies

This study analysed how leadership and organizational support (LOS) influences creative knowledge environments for research groups in biotechnology. A questionnaire distributed to 90 (97% responding) university and business company researchers resulted in that leadership was rated higher than organizational support. First, leaders were more important to creativity than organizational support. Secondly, LOS differed to a limited extent between members and leaders, universities and business companies and excellent and less excellent groups. Thirdly, working freedom was rated higher in universities than in business companies. Fourthly, group members perceived they were more encouraged to think freely in comparison to their group leaders. Finally, innovation goals were more pronounced in excellent than less excellent groups.

Creative Knowledge Environments. The Influences on Creativity in Research and Innovation

Creative Knowledge Environments. The Influences on Creativity in Research and Innovation