World Creativity and Innovation Week in Ukraine was attended by more than 300 participants from Ukraine, France, Sweden, Georgia, as well as 12 creativity experts from Ukraine, Great Britain, Germany, Denmark, Italy, Finland and France. Most of the events took place online, with the exception of participation in the Chtiiing! creative festival in France.
The first event took place two weeks before the official launch of WCIW in the world - on April 1, the Creativity Ambassador in Germany Maren Baermann held an online workshop with 8 German facilitators and concerned German citizens to generate ideas for important problems of Ukrainian citizens and turn them into initiatives.
On April 15, we opened the week of creativity and innovation with a workshop conducted by British creativity experts Dave Birss "How to have ideas you wouldn't normally have", Iryna Shevchuk, Senior Manager of the European Business Association's Development Center, spoke about creativity as a skill of the future, and Creativity Ambassador in Italy Alessia Berti taught how to look for a creative Ikigai.
On May 17, Anastasia Spitsyna spoke about the unique experience of life during the war and peace, and spoke about the useful habits of self-restoration of the inner state in the most difficult living conditions. On the same day, the Creativity Ambassador in Ukraine Oksana Sedashova and the mediator Olena Fokina held a workshop to clarify the real needs of the civilian population of Ukraine - Challenging.
On May 18, Dorte Nielsen, the International Creativity Ambassador in Denmark, gave a wonderful seminar on "The Secret of the Highly Creative Thinker". On the same day, Oksana Sedashova and business instructor Natalia Kalinina helped to find ways to build a career and find a job in wartime - at the "Career Workshop: How to do your favorite thing when everything is falling apart." Then there was the Ideation Hackathon, where creative Ukrainians created projects to solve problems such as organizing high-quality psychological support for Ukrainians and providing housing for people whose homes were destroyed during the war.
Creativity Week in Ukraine continued in Nantes, France, at the Chtiiing! Creative festival, where three International Creativity Ambassadors - Oksana Sedashova from Ukraine, Valerie Reynaud from France and Sara Bengts from Finland - presented and spoke about the WCIW European Board. They held a Workshop "Create For Ukraine", which was attended by Ukrainians who came to Nantes for temporary protection, as well as the French who wanted to present good ideas to help Ukraine. The workshop resulted in three projects to be developed in Nantes, and a workshop based on the script will be held in major cities in France and other European countries.
Creativity is a superpower that can find solutions to complex problems. It is a powerful tool for achieving the Global Sustainable Development Goals, including 16 goal - Peace, justice and strong institutions. So it's time to think about what can be done for Ukraine today to support Ukrainians and rebuild the country after the war. In the near future, KROK Business School plans to organize training in creative thinking, search for partners to develop #CreateForUkraine creative projects and other business educational initiatives.