I see creative capital as the capacity of our community to imagine and to express new possibilities through creative activity. It is inspiration, innovation and leadership. It requires curiosity and courage.
The creative arts—which flourish here at Victoria—are perhaps the purest expression of creativity but they are by no means the only place where creativity flourishes. Creativity is inherent to the research process, it drives innovation in design and it underpins the entrepreneurship that establishes new businesses and social endeavours.
At Victoria, we place a strong emphasis on a multidisciplinary approach to creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship. Of course, having an environment that is stimulating, encourages freedom of expression and gives people time to reflect is important, but we also recognise the importance of being open to ideas from outside our area of expertise. Ideas are better connected than protected—it is the coming together of new ideas that sparks new possibilities and that is at the heart of innovation.
We are developing an entrepreneurial ecosystem at Victoria. Our students are given opportunities to engage with others from different disciplines—writers with engineers, designers with health clinicians and scientists with 3D-printing experts. We have staff engaged in cross-disciplinary research and we have student entrepreneurship clubs.
Victoria will continue to foster an entrepreneurial spirit among our staff and students, nurture the ideas that spring from it and then partner with others who have the expertise to progress them. We already work closely with a number of government agencies and national and regional facilities based in Wellington and with businesses located in the capital city.
Expanding those partnerships and forging new ones will be a priority for us in the future.
Grant Guilford
Vice-Chancellor, Victoria University of Wellington
This article appeared in The Dominion Post Wellington Success supplement on Monday 28 July 2014. Click on the PDF link to read the whole Victoria feature.