Summary

Although there is an ever increasing demand for new technology and innovations in the economy and society in general, we currently know little about the conditions for stimulating creativity in relation to research and innovative activity. This book fills a significant gap in the literature by examining the environmental factors that encourage creative working processes for research and innovation. Uniquely, the book investigates creative environments rather than creative individuals which has been the traditional focus of most previous research.

The authors first explain what a Creative Knowledge Environment (CKE) is and then examine the phenomenon in a number of case studies at the micro, meso and macro-levels. By analysing the conditions and mechanisms conducive to creativity in both private and public institutions, they are able to identify the work environments which appear to best stimulate the creation of knowledge. They combine and integrate the previously rather disparate literature on creativity and innovation, and summarise what we know about creativity on the basis of current research in a range of disciplines. They also link their findings to contemporary debates about the knowledge society, the knowledge economy and knowledge management, and address relevant issues in science and technology policy relating to knowledge production and exploitation. The concluding chapter summarises what we now know about CKEs and how best to stimulate them, including a discussion of the policy implications and an agenda for future research.

Academics and researchers in the fields of science and technology policy, innovation management and business will welcome this original and insightful book. It will also be a useful reference for policymakers involved in knowledge management, and practitioners in R&D departments, universities and knowledge-intensive business sectors.