The papers delivered at the Creative Citizenship symposium were wonderfully eclectic in their approach to the topic, said convener Adrian Walter in his closing remarks.
Mr Walter, the dean of law, business and arts, said that initially there had been some debate over how the topic should be defined.
“In the end, I don’t think that mattered,” he said. “Speakers came to the symposium with a very clear definition in their own mind as how to define creativity and citizenship.”
Mr Walter said the most intense debate had occurred not over the discussions that related to policy in the arts, but to the nature of creativity itself.
He said Professor John Hartley, in his paper on the future on creativity on the Net, had challenged many people by his argument that much of the Net’s future innovation would be driven by teenagers, who were setting the agenda with their own kind of creativity.
It would be interesting, said Mr Walter, to see how government policy was able to match the development of this youthful exercise in creativity.
Mr Walter was struck by the recurring theme that creativity was not the domain or sole ownership of a professional class, but inherently belonged to everyone.
“I just love the idea, suggested by an audience member, that creativity is a natural resource, and that we should not abuse it or debase it or we might lose it,” he said.
* The Creative Citizenship symposium’s presentations are now available on audio from the symposium website.