Creativity, Montreal and Barcelona Style
A unique encounter among members of the industry, students, researchers and decision makers
February 19, 2009
HEC Montréal and the University of Barcelona are joining forces again this year to offer a truly innovative intensive training program: Summer School on Management of Creativity in an Innovation Society. The program will run for two weeks, from July 3 to 18. For the first week, participants will gather in Montreal to attend a series of workshops on creativity, and to meet leading local creators. The second week will follow the same formula, but in Barcelona, on Catalan soil.
The Summer School is intended for managers and professionals seeking to improve their organization’s capacity for innovation, professionals from creative industries and the management consultants who guide them, as well as for representatives of institutions supporting innovative businesses. There will also be room for professors and graduate and postgraduate students from different disciplines involved in managing creativity and innovation.
“In today’s socio-economic context, with its far-reaching changes, it is important for organizations to be able to constantly reinvent themselves, by offering new products for consumers and perfecting business models founded on processes and practices that have been collectively redefined,” explains Laurent Simon, Co-Director of the MosaiC research and transfer centre, which is in charge of organizing the training.
“It has never before been so important to think about the world, markets and business from a different perspective. Given these challenges, the Summer School plans to takes its inspiration from Montreal and Barcelona, two well-known creative hubs, to meet with creators, question them, share with them and experiment together, so as to think of the organization differently and renew strategies, practices, processes and products,” he adds.
From Montreal to Barcelona
The Montreal part of the Summer School will include visits to some of the city’s creative hotspots, such as the Olympic installations and the Cité des spectacles. Theme days, such as a day at the new Bell Campus on Nuns’ Island, will offer a chance to look at creative communities and intellectual property in a creative economy. The “Ubisoft and Cinema” day will focus on managing creative teams and talent and include a roundtable discussion with the heads of some innovative businesses. The Canadian Space Agency and the Cirque du Soleil are also on the program on these exclusive days.
In Barcelona, participants will be transported to the heart of a city world renowned for its artistic and architectural achievements. Participants will visit the 22@barcelona urbanization project, which is transforming a former industrial district into a neighbourhood where production spaces, research centres, private homes and green zones will all coexist. The city’s oldest restaurant, Las 7 puertas, will also organize a culinary creation workshop for participants.
The Summer School offered by HEC Montréal and its Spanish partners will give participants sufficient time to learn and reflect, so that they can apply new innovative practices in their respective fields. Applications will be accepted until February 27, inclusive.